Mk 12:35-37
Servants: A problem confounded Mark’s community: How can the Messiah be a descendant (son) of David, if David himself calls him Lord (Master) in Ps 110:1? The Messianic expectation revolved around a descendant (son) of David. The Messiah was expected to be a warrior-king like David, the prototype of the savior. David had extended the borders of Israel as far as they had ever been pushed back, and he gave the people a period of unity and peace.
Servants: A problem confounded Mark’s community: How can the Messiah be a descendant (son) of David, if David himself calls him Lord (Master) in Ps 110:1? The Messianic expectation revolved around a descendant (son) of David. The Messiah was expected to be a warrior-king like David, the prototype of the savior. David had extended the borders of Israel as far as they had ever been pushed back, and he gave the people a period of unity and peace.
So, if David calls his son “Lord” (Master), can the Messiah be a son of David who, in referring to the Messiah as Master, is implying that he is a slave? A slave (David) cannot be greater than his Master (the Messiah), yet the Master (the Messiah) is a descendant (son) of David.
Mark resolves this problem for his community by reducing everyone to the status of a slave. According to Mark, everyone is powerless; every person is dependent upon every other individual. Anyone who wishes to be first must be the last of all and the servant of all (cf 9:35; 10:43-44). The example is set by the Son of Man who comes, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (cf 10:45).
David is correct in calling the Messiah his Master, for David was a slave of God (the Messiah). It is also correct to refer to Jesus as the son of David, for he, too, was a slave, a servant of those he came to save. In effect, there are no Masters—only slaves—as far as Mark is concerned.
This answer to this question, which is predicated of the scribes, indicates that in the early Church, both Judaism and Christianity accepted the presupposition that the Messiah (Christ) was a descendant (son) of David.