Then Jesus said to them, "Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."' David calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?" (Luke 20:41-44)   Jesus has been peppered with questions ever since arriving in Jerusalem's temple.  But after silencing all his opponents, Jesus takes on the role of questioner himself.  Everyone knew that the Messiah would be a Son of the David, thee Son, in fact.  The terms were synonymous.  And when people referred to Jesus as the Son of David, he never took any offence.  Luke was, in fact, at pains in the first couple chapters of his gospel account to tell us that Jesus was the Son of David.  He was fit to be the Messiah.  His credentials checked out. But now Jesus throws a wrench into the whole works.  How can the Messiah be both David's Son and David's Lord at the very same time?  No answer is given.  No one responds.  Jesus doesn't explain.  The narrative just moves on. People's expectations of the Messiah were different than the Messiah that Jesus was.  They were looking for a new earthly King to fight their earthly battles for them, and reclaim their earthly land from Rome.  All their hopes lay within human reach.  But would David have need to refer to one of his merely human descendants as Lord? Only God can save in the ways that we need saving.  Which are earthly ills, yes.  We need saving from the earthly, unjust, violent oppression of war, like what we see playing out in Ukraine under Putin's aggression.  We need saving from earthly abuse and its impacts, as our sisters and brothers in the Meeting House feel acutely right now following Bruxy Cavey's dismissal this week for sexual abuse.  We need saving from disease, as we know from two full years to the day—today—of suffering under a pandemic.  But we also need saving from a spiritual ill that shoots through and undergirds it all: sin. Only the Son of God himself can do both.  Only if Jesus is Lord and Christ can he save us from everything that destroys and disfigures life.  Only if he is both human and divine—imminent and transcendent, near enough, but also big enough—can he save us from our sins and all their effects.  Thanks be to God: Jesus is not merely the Son of David, but also the Son of God.  He is Lord and Christ.  And even today: he reaches down to save, heal, and redeem us from all our violence, abuses, disease, and pain as only our Lord God can do.  But as our human King, he is also close enough to us to comfort us in our sorrow and enfold us into his care.  He is our Lord King, and in all this, we belong to him.  

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