“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They answered him, “David’s.”
Jesus asks the Pharisees a question that seems simple—“Whose son is the Christ?”—but in fact it contains the deepest theological meaning. The Pharisees immediately answer, “David’s,” because all the Jews knew from the prophecies that the Messiah was to come from David’s line (2 Sam. 7:12–16, Isa. 11:1). Yet their answer is limited to outward origin: they view the Messiah as merely David’s heir—a man, not the Son of God. Jesus’ question aims to lead them to a higher truth: to understand that the Christ is at the same time David’s son and David’s Lord, that is, He has both a human and a divine nature. This verse prepares for Jesus’ next explanation, by which He will reveal the Messiah’s true identity as God incarnate.