When We Only Have a Human Perspective

Scripture:

Mark 12:35    While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶ 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.” ’

³⁷ David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

Observation:

These few verses are tucked into Mark’s gospel and may seem a bit confusing. We don’t find a question from the listeners, but rather from Jesus, himself and it refers to his identity as Messiah. Peter has already revealed his understanding of Jesus as Messiah, but it is still a faulty perspective. Peter sees Jesus as potentially, an earthly or political Messiah. This would help us understand the reference to David — a warrier and a king. However, Jesus poses a conundrum, for if Jesus is seen as a son of David, how can David also call him Lord? This would not be possible from an earthly perspective. Jesus is actually revealing his dual nature to the crowd: Jesus is the son of David through human descent, but he is Lord because he is the Son of God. The problem was that the people only had a human perspective and could only see Jesus as having descended from David. Therefore, they could not see him as the type of Messiah that he was. They were still looking for someone who would overthrow the government. The crowd listened with delight and maybe they were beginning to understand. However, the temple authorities were not delighted with what Jesus was insinuating. 

Application:

We can find ourselves there in the crowd. Either we are with those who are delighting in what Jesus is saying, or we are grumbling. Without recognizing it, we maybe grumbling and hanging onto our human perspective. We live in a society that has become almost singularly focused on the material: we believe in that which we can touch, feel, smell and taste. At the same time, belief in the things unseen and trust in God are almost viewed as unrealistic. The result is a society that has become inwardly focused, placing trust in humanity above all else, and creating fear and anxiety at new levels because humanity can’t solve all the problems. This is exactly what happens when we live life from a human perspective alone. 

Recognizing that Jesus is Lord is the first step toward freedom. When we recognize that the soul and body are always connected — there is no dichotomy — then we realize our need for this Messiah. Jesus is Lord over everything and this raises us up to have a perspective far beyond the human. We are wholistic creations of a wholistic God. Jesus didn’t just come to overthrow the political authorities of the day, he came to set all of humanity free. There’s a much bigger picture at work here than we can see with our human perspective. The kingdom of God is much larger, beautiful and expansive than we can imagine and Jesus creates a pathway for our participation in that kingdom. 

Jesus was inviting the crowd into a new understanding and this created delight. We, too, ought to delight in these words. They provide welcome rest for our weariness. It’s time to lift up our eyes and see the whole picture and realize the entirety of what Jesus has provided. Only then will we learn to live beyond a human perspective. 

Prayer:

Lord, may your perspective be my perspective. Amen.