Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey the week before His crucifixion. On that day, which we now call Palm Sunday, the crowd proclaimed Him to be the Son of David (Matthew 21:9). On the following Tuesday in the temple, Jesus asked the Pharisees a question: “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose Son is He?” They replied, “He is the Son of David” (Matthew 22:41-42). From the Old Testament, they knew that the Messiah would be a descendant of David, their greatest king (2 Samuel 7:13–14; Psalm 132:11; Isaiah 9:7; Jeremiah 23:5).

Jesus drew their attention to Psalm 110:1, a prophetic verse written by David and the Old Testament Scripture most referred to in the New Testament (Acts 2:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:20-21). David wrote, “The Lord said to my Lord” (Luke 20:42). To paraphrase, he was stating, “The God of Israel said to the Messiah.” David calls the Messiah “my Lord” and declares that He is exalted to the highest place of honour (vv.42-43). If the natural order is that a father is superior to his son, Jesus confounded them with this question: “Since David called the Messiah ‘Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” (v.44). Jesus implies that the Messiah was more than just David’s son. The Messiah is God’s Son. The Messiah is David’s Lord, who is the Lord of all. In revealing His true identity, Jesus declared His authority, superiority, and deity.

Earlier, Jesus had privately asked His disciples, “But who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15; Luke 9:20). To which Peter declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Today, Jesus is asking us this same question: “But who do you say I am?” Your salvation and eternal destiny depends on what you think of Christ.