For today’s post will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Will the Messiah be a descendant of David?

Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes shows a Bible contradiction:

Yes

“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” ( 2 Samuel 7:12-13)

No

“And Jesus began to say, as He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.”’ 37 David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.” (Mark 12:35-37)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

When dealing with skeptics’ claim of Bible contradictions it seems one can never be reminded enough of what exactly is a contradiction. A contradiction occurs when two or more claims conflict with one another so that they cannot simultaneously be true in the same sense and at the same time. To put it another way, a Bible contradiction exists when there are claims within the Bible that are mutually exclusive in the same sense and at the same time. Logically speaking a “Yes” and “No” to the question “Will the Messiah be a descendant of David?” would be a logical contradiction. However we must look to see if the passages used to show “Yes” and “No” to the question were properly interpreted. If it turns out the skeptic does not have the right interpretation of the verse used to demonstrate “Yes” or “No” to the question then we have demonstrated that there is not a contradiction. The Skeptic Annotated Bible is right to say that 2 Samuel 7:12-13 shows the Messiah will be a descendant of David. The Hebrew word for “descendant ” in 2 Samuel 7 is זָ֫רַע. Literally the word זָ֫רַע is “seed.” It is a Messianic title for the Messiah. זָ֫רַע has its root and “seed” idea (pun intended) back in Genesis 3:15. In Genesis 3:15 we see the beginning of the Messianic hope of the one who will come and crush Satan which will be explained more further along after Genesis 3:15. Here in 2 Samuel 7:12-13 it shows that of all the many descendants of Adam we have the narrowing down to the line of David where the Messiah would come from. The Skeptic Annotated Bible is not right to say that Mark 12:35-37 shows the Messiah will not be a descendant of David. Nowhere in the passage does it say that the Messiah will not be a descendant of David. There is no denial here that the Messiah will be from the lineage of David. In Mark 12:35 we see Jesus asking the religious leaders the question “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? ” But asking the question is in of itself not a denial that the Messiah will not be a son of David. Readers might wonder what is going on in Mark 12:35-37 with Jesus’ question. Jesus was asking that question to challenge the religious leaders’ understanding and idea of the identity of the Messiah and not to question the Davidic root of the Messiah per se. Of course since Jesus is God there is a sense in which Jesus would be greater than David though in Christ’s humanity He is a descendant of David. This here is not a problem for Christian theology but it is a problem for a theology that has a low view of the identity of Christ. Interpreting Mark 12:35-37 to say that the Messiah would not be a descendant of David also does not make sense in the larger context of the book of Mark. Again remember context is important. In Mark 10:47-48 we see Mark favorably recorded Jesus being addressed as the Son of David. So to interpret Mark 12:35-37 as a denial of the Davidic root of the Messiah when it doesn’t even state that in the first place and also in light of the contextual flow of the book of Mark is rather problematic. Since Mark 12:35-37 does not demonstrate that Christ is not a descendant of David we therefore do not have a Bible contradiction with verses that shows Christ is a descendant of David. This is another sloppy messy reasoning and interpretation by the Skeptic Annotated Bible.