Why David’s Son Is His Lord

In Matthew 22:42-46 Jesus asks the Pharisees:

“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the spirit call him lord, saying, ‘The LORD said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet”’? Therefore, if David calls him lord, how is he his son?” No one was able to offer him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask him any more questions.

The implication of Jesus’ question — how can a descendant occupy a position superior to his ancestor? — has an interesting parallel in the story of Joseph in Genesis 37:9-11. Jacob initially rebukes the extraordinary idea represented by Joseph’s dream: the younger son would somehow be elevated above the rest of the family.

The Word Biblical Commentary notes that the Hebrew word translated “rebuked” means “reprimanded” and is frequently used of God rebuking nations or the wicked:

“It is an expression of great authority, often as here tinged with anger…. Despite his deep affection for Joseph, Jacob feels that this time he has gone much too far.”

Yet Jacob did not simply dismiss the dream. Genesis specifically says that “his father kept the saying in mind.”

Why?

Because dreams could function in Scripture as a means of divine revelation, and Jacob himself certainly knew what it was like for God to reveal His purposes through dreams. In other words, Jacob did not totally dismiss the possibility that God had extraordinary future plans for his son.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges similarly says that Jacob “secretly cherished a presentiment of its fulfilment,” pointing forward to Genesis 42:6:

“Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.”

The very brothers who had mocked the prospect of Joseph ruling over them now bowed before him. The principle is now made visible: God can exalt a younger descendant to a position of authority over those who naturally preceded him. That helps us understand Jesus’ question in Matthew 22.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary notes concerning Matthew 22:44 that, in the Jewish culture of the time, for a father or ancestor to call his descendant “lord” would have appeared inconceivable. Yet Scripture itself demonstrates that God can overturn the normal hierarchy through His own sovereign appointment. Jesus therefore silenced his opponents by confronting them with something they had failed to reconcile: the Messiah is genuinely David’s son, yet God exalts this son of David so highly that David prophetically calls him “my lord.”

And Psalm 110:1 tells us exactly what sort of “lord” he is:

“Yahweh says to my lord [adoni]: ‘Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.’”

The Hebrew is adoni — “my lord,” my human superior — not Adonai, the title used for the Lord God. So David is not calling his descendant Yahweh. Yahweh is the first LORD in the verse. He tells David’s lord to sit at His right hand until He puts his enemies under his feet.

Peter later makes precisely this point. After quoting Psalm 110:1 in Acts 2, he concludes:

“Therefore let the whole house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both lord and Messiah — this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).

God made Jesus Lord.

There are other biblical examples that make the cultural point even clearer. When Solomon became king, his own mother Bathsheba “bowed and prostrated herself before the king” (1 Kings 1:31; compare 2:19). Solomon remained her son, but his God-given royal office placed him above her in rank.

And Jacob repeatedly addressed his own brother Esau as “my lord” and called himself Esau’s “servant,” while bowing to the ground seven times (Gen. 33:3, 8, 13-15).

So there is nothing inherently divine about being called someone’s “lord,” nor is there anything impossible about God elevating a younger person or descendant above someone who naturally preceded him.

That is precisely the point the Pharisees could not answer.

How can the Messiah be David’s son and yet David’s lord?

Because the God of David exalts David’s human descendant above David himself.

The answer is sitting there in Psalm 110:1: the LORD, Yahweh, is God, and David’s adoni is his exalted descendant, told to sit at God’s right hand.