Son of David
Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-12
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy
Faith Fellowship Church – December 15-16, 2018
We have been studying the Legacy of Leadership in the Kings of Israel.
• In our last study we came to the most famous king in all of Israel, King David.
• We just met him as a boy, a shepherd, in a town called Bethlehem.
Today we want to look at the story of the birth of Jesus and how David, a king from 1000 years before Jesus, is very much a part of this familiar story.
Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)
[26] In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, [27] to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. [28] The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” [29] Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. [30] But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. [31] You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” [34] “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” [35] The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. [36] Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. [37] For nothing is impossible with God.” [38] “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)
[18] This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. [19] Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. [20] But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. [21] She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” [22] All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: [23] “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.” [24] When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. [25] But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Luke 2:1-12 (NIV)
[1] In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. [2] (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) [3] And everyone went to his own town to register. [4] So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. [5] He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. [6] While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, [7] and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. [8] And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. [9] An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. [10] But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11] ** Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.** [12] This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
• That is a lot. The only person mentioned more is Mary, the mother of Jesus— 8 times.
• Joseph is only mentioned 5 times.
• The name Jesus just 4 in these verses.
The very
• With just a little knowledge of the Christmas story we have to scratch our heads.
• Wasn’t Jesus the son of Joseph, a carpenter from Nazareth?
• Yes, Jesus was the legal son of Joseph.
• And Joseph was a direct descendant of Abraham and David.
• This is where the term “son of David” comes from.
So Jesus, in His
• But that’s not all.
• The Gospel of Luke chapter 3 also traces the lineage of Jesus through His mother, Mary, who was also a descendant of King David.
• Jesus was a descendant of David by bloodline through Mary.
Why does that matter if Jesus was the Son of
• Jesus is often called “Son of God”, but He also referred to Himself as “Son of Man.”
• Both are very important.
One of the names of Jesus is Emmanuel, “
• The ‘God’ part and the ‘Us’ part of that are both important.
• Both His divine nature and His human lineage are part of His identity.
• Christmas is about the birth of the only true “God-Man” in history—fully God and fully human.
So
• He must be important.
• The Name David is mentioned 928 times in the Bible.
• The only name to appear more is Jesus– at 1243 times.
• David is mentioned even more in the Bible than Moses at 828 times.
• The name God or Lord appears 11,745 times.
• He is the only David in the Bible. No one was ever named after him. That makes it easy doing a word study.
We met David as the
• The Prophet Samuel went to anoint the next king in the Little Town of Bethlehem.
• Just a few miles south of Jerusalem.
• Bethlehem is one of two places called “The City of David”.
• David will later make Jerusalem the Capitol of Israel and it will be called “The City of David”.
David was anointed by the prophet Samuel to become the
• He was to replace King Saul, who had failed to walk in obedience to God.
David was the shepherd boy who killed the giant
• David became best friends with Jonathan, the son of King Saul.
• He also became an enemy of King Saul.
Later, David was the one everyone thought of as the
• He was certainly not perfect.
• But he was “a man after God’s own heart.”
There are
• This was part of his identity as the Son of Man, fully human, though fully divine.
• The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of many prophecies regarding the family or seed of David.
2 Samuel 7:12-13 (NIV)
• [12] When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. [13] He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
• 2 Samuel 7:16 - Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
Later, the Isaiah prophesied… Isaiah 11:1-4 (NIV)
• [1] A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. [2] The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him– the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD– [3] and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; [4] but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Isaiah 11:10 (NIV)
• [10] In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
Jesus was addressed a number of times as “
• Either by people seeking mercy or healing. (Matthew 15:22; 20:30).
• Or by those greeting Jesus on Palm Sunday—“Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21:9).
This was a
• They understood exactly what the people meant when they called Jesus “Son of David.”
• They taught that the Messiah would be the descendent or “son of” David.
• Yet, blinded by their own religious pride, they couldn’t see what the blind beggars could see.
• The Messiah they had been waiting for all their lives was here.
• When the religious leaders heard the people hailing Jesus as the Savior, they became enraged (Matthew 21:15) and plotted to destroy Him (Luke 19:47).
Jesus even talked about the
• How could it be that the Messiah is the “son of” David when David himself refers to Him as “my Lord” (Mark 12:35–37; cf. Psalm 110:1)?
• If He is David’s Lord, He must be greater than David. (Mark 12:37)
Messiah was to be more than a
• Jesus later said in Revelation 22:16, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David.”
• Jesus is both the Creator of David and the Descendant of David.
• Only the Son of God made flesh could say that.
So
• This gave people some markers to look for—a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of the greatest king, David.
• But why did Jesus, the Messiah of God, Emmanuel God with us, have to be born of David—“Son of David”?
• We don’t know.
Messiah “Son of David” represents two things…
• David was both the very
• There was no king ever better than King David.
• There was no king worse than King David.
• He did the very best of things.
• He did the very worst of things.
• This is our plight as broken, frail, humans.
Jesus came to redeem
• To walk in human flesh as the “Son of Man.”
• To walk as God made flesh, the “Son of God.”
• He walked in the same flesh of temptation that David did, yet was without sin.
• This made Jesus the perfect high priest—Mediator between God and Man.
Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)
For we do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.
Jesus came to redeem us—
• To do that He had to be Son of God.
• To do that He also had to walk in human flesh.
At Christmas we rejoice, but what are we rejoicing in?
• We rejoice that Jesus has come.
• We cry, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us.”
• We rejoice because Emmanuel, God with us, has come to save us.