In Mark 12, Jesus had responded well to the Sanhedrin (the Jewish council) and the three groups that came to Him with a question—the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes (Mark 12:13-34). Upon His third answer, it says “after that no one dared to ask him any more questions” (Mark 12:34). However, that does not mean Jesus was finished.
Jesus’ Question About the Messiah (Mark 12:35)
After answering the scribe well, Jesus turned to the people in the temple and criticized the scribes (Mark 12:35-37), even saying to “beware of the scribes” (12:38). Jesus had asked His own question regarding what the scribes taught:
How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? (Mark 12:35, ESV)
The scribes were the experts in the Old Testament law. And Jesus had just dealt with a scribe who came to Him in 12:28, asking about which commandment is “most important” (ESV) or “foremost” (NASB). In response, Jesus answered, “love God” with your whole being and “love your neighbor as yourself” (12:30-31).
But here in 12:35, Jesus is addressing a specific teaching of the scribes regarding the Christ. (The Greek word Christos translates the Hebrew Messiah, both meaning “anointed one.”) Jesus was not saying the scribes were wrong to say the Christ is David’s son. Rather, He builds on their correct belief.
This concept of the “anointed one” (Christ/Messiah) is tied with Old Testament priests, prophets, and kings being anointed with oil. We see examples in the Old Testament of all three offices being set apart with oil. And Jesus fulfills all three offices. Thus, the concept of Messiah in the Old Testament goes beyond any one prophet or king. Rather, there was hope in one man who embodied all three offices—the Messiah.
As for context, we should not miss the detail that Jesus asked His question about the scribes “in the temple” (Mark 12:35). Jesus had earlier raised the issue of His identity to the disciples in private—“Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). And Peter answered, “You are the Christ” (8:29). But now He raised the issue of His identity publicly in the temple.
Where did the Jewish teachers go in the Old Testament to show the Christ was the son of David? One of the clearest passages is 2 Samuel 7:12-16, where God said to King David:
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring [lit. “seed”] after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.
In one sense, 2 Samuel 7 is about David’s son Solomon, who would build God’s “house” (temple). But in another sense, this is surely about a future son of David. God would establish the “seed” of David, and he would be a “son” to Him (“me,” v. 14). In this way, David’s kingdom would be established forever.
Jesus clearly fits this description. As Matthew’s Gospel opens, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). Matthew connects the Christ/Messiah with David’s son, and he shows Jesus was David’s son by Joseph’s legal line. Jesus was even called the “son of David” in Mark 10:47, where the blind beggar cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Some New Testament passages even connect back specifically to the language of David’s “seed” in 2 Samuel 7:12. This is seen in 2 Timothy 2:8, where Paul says, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David”—literally the “from the seed of David” (ἐκ σπέρματος Δαυίδ). Paul also tells us in Romans 1:3 that Jesus is God’s “Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh”—literally “born from the seed of David” (γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος Δαυὶδ).
David’s Lord in Psalm 110 (Mark 12:36-37)
Returning to Mark 12, we see that Jesus was setting things up for His question. He first asked how the scribes called the Christ the “son of David.” He then quoted the Old Testament, saying:
David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.’” David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son? (Mark 12:36-37, quoting Psalm 110:1)
Jesus said that David spoke this “in the Holy Spirit,” showing that God breathed out His Word through the authors of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). As David said in 2 Samuel 23:2, “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.” Peter said something similar in Acts 1:16—“the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David.”
Jesus in Mark 12:36 was quoting the first verse of Psalm 110, one of the most famous psalms. And Jesus’ point was dependent on the Psalm having David as its human author. David’s authorship of Psalm 110 is disputed by some modern scholars, but the superscript at the top of Psalm 110 says, “A psalm of David,” and Jesus affirms David’s authorship (suggesting the superscripts are in fact correct or even inspired). David has to be the author of Psalm 110 to make Jesus’ point, as it is David who is referring to his Lord—“The Lord said to my Lord.”
Psalm 110 is a psalm about the Messiah’s reign. It mentions a “scepter” and says, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” (v. 2). But it is a priestly reign—“You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (v. 4). Thus we see the Messiah is both priest and king. In earlier Old Testament history, Psalm 110 was sung at the inauguration of the kings of Israel. But it was clearly about the future Messiah. Psalm 110 is actually the most quoted OT passage in the NT, quoted or alluded to 33 times, including 1 Corinthians 15:25, where Paul clearly identifies Jesus as the Messiah of Psalm 110—“For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
The Hebrew of Psalm 110:1 reads as follows, “The LORD [YHWH] says to my Lord [Adonai].” So we have a psalm by David about YHWH speaking to David’s Lord. Who is this Lord of David? In Mark 12:37, Jesus observed that “David himself calls him Lord,” in reference to the Messiah (Psalm 110:1). Jesus then asks a question, “So how is he his son?” In other words, how is the Messiah the son of David?
Now Jesus does not provide us with the answer. At least what is written here in Mark 12 is rhetorical. The answer is implied. If David speaks of YHWH speaking to David’s “Lord,” and this Lord is the Messiah, then the Messiah is greater than David. The Messiah is more than David’s son. The Messiah is also God’s Son. Thus, Jesus is teaching Trinitarian theology in Mark 12.
Jesus’ Trinitarian Theology
Yet Psalm 110 is also full of Trinitarian theology. For we have God telling the Messiah to sit at God’s right hand (v. 1). God then pronounced the Messiah to be a priest—“You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (v. 4). The Messiah is at God’s right hand, and together they judge the nations (vv. 5-7).
Now Psalm 110 does not explain all that is going on. But here we are reading it in combination with 2 Samuel 7, where the Messiah is called the son of both David and of God. And now Psalm 110 identifies the Messiah as David’s Lord. So the Messiah is son of David, Lord of David, and Son of God. Together these passages establish the Messiah as part of the Triune Godhead. God the Father speaks to God the Son, the Messiah. And as Jesus (the Son) notes, the Holy Spirit speaks through David to record it (Mark 12:36).
By the time Jesus taught this in Mark 12, the Jews had understood the Messiah to be David’s son. And the Messianic connections to Jesus are obvious. So it is no surprise that rabbinic literature after Jesus tried to avoid connecting David’s son to the Messiah. The Jews even stopped interpreting Psalm 110 messianically for about 200 years after the time of Jesus. But then they later resumed the messianic interpretation around 250 AD. By then the church and Jewish synagogue had clearly separated.
We already mentioned that the Messiah was anointed as prophet, priest, king. But there are also passages speaking of the Messiah being anointed—not with oil—but with God’s Spirit. 1 Samuel 16:13 connects the anointing of oil and the indwelling of the Spirit, saying, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.”
Isaiah 61:1 connects the Spirit and anointing—“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Jesus quoted this passage in Luke 4:18, and then said to the synagogue, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Acts 10:38 explicitly says that Jesus is anointed by God’s Spirit—“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (and the anointing was connected with John’s baptism in the prior verse, Acts 10:37). In reference to the Christ (John 3:28), John the Baptist said, “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure” (John 3:34).
Therefore, Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament—prophet, priest, and king. He was anointed by God’s Spirit to accomplish God’s work, which took place in His baptism in Mark 1:9-11 (also Matthew 3:16). And His anointing by the Spirit led Jesus to fulfill His offices of prophet, priest, and king in His life, death, and resurrection. Jesus is the son of David. But He is also the Lord of David. And that is because He is the Son of God who took on flesh in the person of Christ.
Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. “Why was our mediator called Christ?” asks the Westminster Larger Catechism. “Our mediator was called Christ, because he was anointed with the Holy Ghost above measure; and so set apart, and fully furnished with all authority and ability, to execute the offices of prophet, priest, and king of his church, in the estate both of his humiliation and exaltation” (WLC 42; cf. WCF 8.1, 3)
Anointed by the Spirit to Suffer and Die
As the Messiah, this means Jesus came to save. He came to proclaim God’s Word, the gospel of the kingdom. But He also came to bring the kingdom, which He did by fulfilling the Old Testament. He came to be the final sacrifice for sin. All the bloody goats and bulls, the daily offerings, the Day of Atonement performed once per year—it was all pointing to the day Jesus died on the cross. Jesus the Messiah was anointed to die. He was empowered by God’s Spirit to suffer for us, and He was empowered to rise from the dead, guaranteeing our future resurrection.
After Jesus asked His question in Mark 12:37 about how the Christ is David’s son, it says, “And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him” (NASB, 1995). The crowd “enjoyed” Jesus’ teaching. Some in the crowd surely enjoyed the teaching merely because they were impressed by Jesus. We should be impressed by Jesus. But it is not enough to be impressed by Him. We must also embrace Him.
To embrace Jesus as your Messiah, that is what brings true joy in life. Once we embrace Jesus, we can sit at His feet and enjoy His Word—enjoy reading it, studying it, hearing it taught. Do not just enjoy the intellectual stimulation of listening to Jesus and studying His Word. But may Jesus Christ be your Lord, just as He was David’s Lord.
