In this way should we question children; in this way from what we know of his forbearance and condescension do we believe that JESUS would have dealt—that indeed He did deal—with Galilean fishermen or Samaritan women; but not in this way did He deal with the Pharisees. He made an objection to their answer—He seemed to reject it as wrong. He asked how can that be. “How then doth David in spirit (by inspiration) call Him LORD?” If David call Him LORD, how is He his son? and He put them to silence, and turned away from them. He was not _pleased_ that they were so far orthodox as to say the “son of David,” instead—as so many Jews would erroneously have done—of “the son of Ephraim.” He did not lead on, “What else? whose son besides? you have but in part traced His parentage. Consider, what are you taught more?” No! He seems to contradict them—to say, He is not David’s son; He is David’s LORD—and He leaves them in apparent perplexity. Brethren, if you are in the habit of considering what you read, this passage of Scripture must at some time have occasioned you more or less difficulty. Why should Christ have apparently repudiated His true parentage? Why should He have darkened instead of enlightening these imperfect theologians? It was because they had knowledge, but perversely abused it; because they were partial in learning and teaching the Scriptures; because they contented themselves with low thoughts respecting Him. They were not uninformed heathen: they were not tyros in the school of divinity. They were _teachers_ of the Word of GOD—they possessed His whole Word (as far as then written), and they were familiarly acquainted with all the contents of that Word. Theirs was the ignorance of men enabled to be wise, and responsible for wisdom: it was the corrupt misconception of what was palpable and easy to conceive aright. Human pride, false tradition of their own invention, self-interest, wilful short-sightedness, or, at the best, culpable contentedness with low and imperfect doctrine, had caused them to utter, perhaps to conceive, only half a truth, when it was in their power to know the whole truth. It was then in accordance with that teaching of His in parables—dark sayings hard to understand—it was on the principle that “he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he seemeth to have,” that He who hardened Pharaoh’s hard heart, and chose not Esau for not choosing Him, now darkened the understanding of the Pharisees, and made them blind because they would not see.