The Text
35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David?
36 David himself says by the Holy Spirit: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’
37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
The Devotion
Acts 2:32-36 (CSB) “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says:
The Lord declared to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.’
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
The Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the promises of the Old Testament.
Read the Old Testament. Flip the page. Then read:
Matthew 1:1 (CSB) An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
What does that mean to you and me–not necessarily Israelites.
Ah, go to the Psalm of David where both Mark and Peter quote:
Psalm 110 (CSB)
A psalm of David.
1 This is the declaration of the LORD to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion. Rule over your surrounding enemies.
What did Christ come to do?
The people of this time wanted him to overthrow the Roman occupation. Dig a little deeper and they wanted Christ to cleanse out all non-Jewish people–Gentiles, Samaritans (impure Jews in the eyes of the Jews of that time) because everybody else was the enemy.
God did not send his one and only Son to drive out enemies that we have made up in our minds.
Colossians 2:13-15 (CSB) And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.
Christ came to save us from our real enemies: sin, Satan, demons, hell, and death.
Your make-it-up, fairy tale enemies who don’t agree with you, don’t worship God like you do, and generally oppose your way of life. Newsflash: they are not your enemy because they can’t really do anything to you. “But they seek to steal, kill, and destroy us.” No that is the Devil. Satan and his demons can tempt you to sin and let you get swallowed up into the undercurrent of the wrath of Christ because you refuse to repent of your sin.
Christ came to save us.
And when Christ died on the cross–not just lived or resurrected or ascended–but his death on the cross, that disarmed sin, Satan, and demons, and put them to open shame.
Christ told the scribe, “You are close to the kingdom of God.” This reality that Christ is victorious is the kingdom of God.
How close are you to the kingdom of God? Are you in it or are you being conquered by sin and death. Are you in it because you repent of your sin and trust and obey the Son of God who is God. Are you in the kingdom of God because the Triune God has made His home in you.
Are you in the kingdom of God?
The Discussion
1. Curious--did the Israelites during the time of the ministry of Christ knew and acknowledged that Christ was the Son of David?
2. If Christ is the Son of David, then what particular promise of God is Christ fulfilling?
2 Samuel 7:8-16 (CSB) “So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a great name for you like that of the greatest on the earth. I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies.
“‘The LORD declares to you: The LORD himself will make a house for you. When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals. But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’”
3. Think of the specific audience that Mark is writing to: the occupied Jews and the Romans of that time. Think about how the Romans were persecuting the Christians yet the New Testamant, starting with Mark's gospel, was over-emphasizing that the Romans are not the enemy.
4. How does your perspective changes when you figure out who the real enemy is in your life?
The Prayer from the Psalms
Psalm 18:1–12 (CSB)
1 I love you, LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death were wrapped around me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.
5 The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
6 I called to the LORD in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the mountains trembled; they shook because he burned with anger.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils, and consuming fire came from his mouth; coals were set ablaze by it.
9 He bent the heavens and came down, total darkness beneath his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his hiding place, dark storm clouds his canopy around him.
12 From the radiance of his presence, his clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.
You are my All-in-all.
Beyond my Provider, it is by your very thought that you hold me together. By your will, I am pointed in your direction. By your great Spirit, I have strength.
You give unlimited might for this very weak man.
You put an immovable foundation beneath my weary feet.
You are my home where I can peacefully lay to rest.
You are my rescuer and it is in your arms, I know I am coming home.
You are my shield and my enemies’ fiery arrows lay to waste around me.
You are my command and the flame around my heart burns with desire for you.
You are my salvation and it is now that I am abundantly alive.
You are peace and you have removed all sin in me and around me.
Now, I sing to you—I sing love songs of joy for your sweet name. I sing love songs of peace for your incredible name. I sing long songs of hope for your awesome name.
Hell has no hold on me. Sin has no clutches on me. Satan has no claim on me. Demons have no touch for me. Death has no sting for me.
O Lord, my great God, you have moved heaven, earth, and hell just to come rescue me. Only you could turn the Infinite into the finite, the spirit into flesh, the invisible visible, righteousness for sin, holiness for filth, justice for corruption, love for my sake, and Word incarnate.
You rescued me because You loved me. I have done nothing to deserve your love or not even your glance. But before the mountains were formed, you saw me when I was at my worst. You saw me when I lusted after women. You saw me when I craved apathy and laziness. You saw me when I lied. You saw me when I stole. You saw me when I cursed your name. You saw me. You saw me in my sin and you knew me. You knew me and you loved me. You loved me and you chose me. You chose me and you called me. When you called out to me, you saved me.
I love you, Lord and it is in Your Name, I pray.
Amen.
The Resources
Calvin’s Commentaries.
by John Calvin.
Baker. 2009.
Olive Tree
Mark: An Expositional Commentary
by R.C. Sproul.
Reformation Trust Publisher. 2011.
Goodreads
New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark
by William Hendriksen.
Baker. 1981.
Goodreads
The Gospel according to Mark: The English Text With Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)
by William L. Lane.
Eerdman’s. 1974.
Goodreads
Mark (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT Volume 2)
Edited by Thomas C. Odin & Christopher A. Hall
IVP Academic. 2005.
Goodreads
Mark (The Story of God Bible Commentary Series)
by Timothy G. Gombis.
Zondervan Academic. March 9th 2021.
Goodreads