Matthew 22:44 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

NIV: 'The Lord said to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.''

NASB: ‘THE Lord SAID TO MY Lord, 'SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET'?’?

CSB: The Lord declared to my Lord,'Sit at my right handuntil I put your enemies under your feet'?

NLT: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’

KJV: The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

NKJV: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?

Jesus has asked the Pharisees a challenging question of His own: whose son is the Christ? Christ is from the Greek word Christos, a translation of the Hebrew word Mashiyach, meaning "Messiah." They have answered, rightly, that the Christ is the descendant of David (Matthew 22:41–43). Jesus does not correct them (Matthew 1:1,17), but He does challenge the implications of their answer.

Nearly everyone agreed that Psalm 110, written by David, was about the Messiah. In the first verse of that Psalm, King David calls the Christ "Lord." Now Jesus quotes the verse to show what He means (Psalm 110:1). Breaking it down, David writes that "the Lord" [God] said to [David's] Lord [Christ] to sit at [God's] right hand [the place of greatest honor]. Jesus is asking why David would call his "son," meaning his own descendant, "my Lord" who sits at the right hand of God unless the Christ has some significant status beyond being David's son.

This Old Testament reference is mentioned many other times in the New Testament, and for good reason (Acts 2:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Hebrews 1:13; 10:13). The divine status of the Messiah is a clear teaching of the Old Testament.

Matthew 22:41–46 records Jesus reversing the dialogue with the Pharisees, who have been asking Him trick questions. He rhetorically asks them whose son the Messiah is—knowing they will rightly answer that Messiah is the Son of David. Jesus then quotes from the Psalms and asks why King David calls the Christ "my Lord" if the Christ is his son. This raises the issue of Christ's divinity and totally stumps the Pharisees. This incident is also mentioned in Mark 12:35–37 and Luke 20:41–44. In fact, religious leaders completely stop asking Him questions from this moment on.

Continuing a dialogue with hostile religious leaders, Jesus tells a parable comparing the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast which ends up being attended by those not initially invited. He answers trick questions about taxes, marriage, resurrection, and the Law of Moses. These responses are the source of common English idioms such as "render to Caesar…" and "many are called but few are chosen." Finally, Jesus asks how the Messiah can be both the son of David and the Lord of David. None can answer Him, so they stop challenging Him in public.

This chapter extends an exchange between Jesus and several groups of religious leaders in the temple. The previous chapter concluded with two parables about the failures of the religious leaders. This chapter begins with a third parable, about chosen guests who refuse to attend a wedding feast. Jesus then fields questions from several religious groups, who fail in their attempts to trip Him up. His wise and profound answers silence all of them. At this point, Jesus launches into a full-throated condemnation of the Pharisees in chapter 23.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.