Matthew 22:34-46 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 22:34-46 on biblegateway.com
Verse 34When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, Verse 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Verse 36"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Verse 37He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' Verse 38This is the greatest and first commandment. Verse 39And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Verse 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Verse 41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: Verse 42"What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." Verse 43He said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, Verse 44'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? Verse 45If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" Verse 46No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Devotion
Israel did not need a political warrior-king in the time of King David. They already had one. So why was it, then, that David's words kept coming up 1,000 years later as the country was looking for the Messiah? What "Lord" was David pointing to? Jesus. And he boxed in the Pharisees along these same lines, these Pharisees who had attempted to box in God.
Don't think that we are a whole lot better today. We do similar things: ignoring God's sovereignty, deciding for ourselves what "being saved" ought to look like.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV)
Prayer
God, there are many times when we think we know better than you. We don't. We can't. Please train us in obedience and care. Give us the benefit of your mercy that is renewed through your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.