Son of David or Lord?
Ordinary Time
Today's reading · Mark 12:35-37
While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said: How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet. David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son? And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
Jesus is asking a theological riddle in the temple, and the crowd loves it. That detail matters: they're delighting in this. He's not lecturing them or proving something to an audience of insiders. He's pointing at a real tension in the scriptures that everyone in the room knows but hasn't quite pressed on. David calls the Messiah his Lord. So how can the Messiah simply be his descendant? The answer, of course, is that he's both. And more than both. The Son of David who is also David's Lord; human and divine, held together in one person. The crowd heard something electric in that question. They didn't have the full answer yet. Neither do we, not fully. But we lean into the mystery with them, knowing that the one asking the question is himself the answer.
Today's intention
I'll let the mystery be big today instead of shrinking it to fit what I already understand.