Footnotes

1. Mark 12:35 Every king was an “Anointed” (Messiah or Christ), and Ps 110, which is cited here, is an acclamation addressed to a king. The Israelite tradition was utterly convinced that the Anointed One par excellence would belong to the dynasty of David (2 Sam 7:1-17). Then, too, many psalms, including 110, were attributed to David. Against this background Jesus asks a question based on this psalm, with the intention of carrying the thought a step further: he suggests that the Messiah’s origin is mysterious and that his kingship differs from that which his contemporaries await. The early Church will use the same psalm to show that the Resurrection of Jesus is his authentic enthronement as Messiah (see Heb 1:3; 5:6; 6:20; 7:11, 21; 10:12-13).
2. Mark 12:35 The audience of Jesus is not specified here; in Matthew he is speaking to the Pharisees, and in Luke to the scribes.