Until now the religious leaders had questioned Jesus about His teaching. Now He asked them about theirs (Matt. 22:41). Matthew's account of this incident is the longest.
12:35 Jesus responded to the situation before Him. He wanted to know the sense in which the teachers of the law believed that Messiah was David's son. The Old Testament clearly taught that Messiah would be a descendant of David (2 Sam. 7:8-16; et al.). The leaders believed this, but their understanding of Messiah's relationship to David was only that of another victorious Jewish king from David's dynasty.
12:36-37 Mark focused the readers' attention on Jesus' authoritative teaching by omitting the Pharisees' answer, which Matthew included to discredit them (Matt. 22:42). How could Messiah be both less than David (his son) and more than David (his lord) at the same time?
". . . Jesus uses his superior knowledge of the legal and prophetic writings to justify his actions and to defend against criminal accusations."298
Psalm 110:1 showed that the Messiah was not only David's junior in age but also his senior in rank.299He is the Son of God, God as well as man.
"Only through the Virgin Birth does Jesus possess the dual nature that allows Him to be both David's Son and David's Lord."300
Mark's record of the crowd's positive response to Jesus' teaching further stressed its authority. Israel's religious leaders challenged it, but the multitudes acknowledged it.
