Tue Dec 2

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the words David and Lord.

Reading

Mark 12:35-37—Bow Before the King

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

God had long promised a Messiah.
David, in Psalm 110, said his descendant would be his Lord.
This makes clear that the promised Messiah is more than a man.

Questions

(some read the ?s before notes, then ask them after)

Who does David call the Messiah?
Who made the Messiah Lord?
How must we respond to this divine Messiah?

Notes

(See Saturday for authors. Today’s notes are from a commentary on Mark by Steve Wilmshurst)

The Jews and their teachers understand that God is going to send a Messiah, a Christ—a specially designated leader who will rescue his people and reign over them as king. He will be a descendant in direct line from the great King David. That is the great national hope … that all the Jews share. …

Jesus’ question is this: ‘How can the teachers say that this Christ is going to be David’s descendant when David himself describes him as his “Lord”?’ … David is calling this coming Messiah ‘Lord’; but no one—certainly no one of the greatness and majesty of King David—would call his own descendant ‘Lord’. The ancestor is the superior one. So, as we would say today, ‘What’s that all about, then?’

No one knows. No one can answer, because what Jesus has just shown them is that the coming Christ has to be more than merely man. He has proved it from a psalm they know is about the Messiah. He can’t just be a human king, because he is David’s ‘Lord’. They can’t answer the question, but we can. We know what this means: what Jesus at this point is only hinting at—that he himself is the Christ, that, yes, he is the Son of David, and that he is far more than mere man. That is why, speaking by the Holy Spirit, David looks ahead and calls Jesus Christ ‘my Lord’. That is why Psalm 110 becomes the New Testament’s favourite Old Testament Scripture, quoted more times than any other—because here we see the glory and majesty of Jesus revealed ahead of time.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 110b, 88a

Prayer

Rejoice that David’s descendant is his, and your, Lord.
Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.