34 But the Pharisees hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, came together:
Pharisaei autem audientes quod silentium imposuisset sadducaeis, convenerunt in unum :
35 And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him:
et interrogavit eum unus ex eis legis doctor, tentans eum :
36 Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
Magister, quod est mandatum magnum in lege?
37 Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.
Ait illi Jesus : Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et in tota anima tua, et in tota mente tua.
38 This is the greatest and the first commandment.
Hoc est maximum, et primum mandatum.
39 And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Secundum autem simile est huic : Diliges proximum tuum, sicut teipsum.
40 On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.
In his duobus mandatis universa lex pendet, et prophetae.
41 And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them,
Congregatis autem pharisaeis, interrogavit eos Jesus,
42 Saying: What think you of Christ? whose son is he? They say to him: David's.
dicens : Quid vobis videtur de Christo? cujus filius est? Dicunt ei : David.
43 He saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying:
Ait illis : Quomodo ergo David in spiritu vocat eum Dominum, dicens :
44 The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool?
Dixit Dominus Domino meo : Sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum?
45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
Si ergo David vocat eum Dominum, quomodo filius ejus est?
46 And no man was able to answer him a word; neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Et nemo poterat ei respondere verbum : neque ausus fuit quisquam ex illa die eum amplius interrogare.
Jesus turns the question around
This is where the Gospel takes a dramatic turn.
Jesus asks the Pharisees:
“What think you of Christ? Whose son is he?”
They answer:
“David's.”
That's correct as far as it goes. The Messiah was indeed to be the son of David.
But Jesus then quotes Psalm 109:
“The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou on my right hand…”
And Jesus asks, essentially:
If the Messiah is merely David's descendant, why does David himself call Him “Lord”?
That's the puzzle.
A son normally comes after his father, and yet David calls this descendant “Lord.”
This is much more than a clever argument.
Jesus is leading them toward the realization that the Messiah is greater than merely a human descendant of David.
He is David's Son and David's Lord.
For Christians, that's pointing directly toward the mystery of the Incarnation:
Jesus is truly man, descended from David, and truly God.
And notice how Matthew places this right after the Greatest Commandment.
The Gospel begins:
Love God with everything you have.
And then ends by asking:
Who is Jesus?
That's not accidental.
The One we are commanded to love above everything else is standing right there before them.
Jesus is revealing something about who He is
