Jesus is the Son of David

 And the crowds that went before Him (Jesus) and that followed Him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”    

Matthew 21.9

The Son of David is a title for Jesus because He is the most important of David’s children and grandchildren.

Look around you. Do you see anything that will last forever? God promised one of the Kings of Israel something that would last forever. What could it be? 

The second king in Israel was David. As a young man he was a shepherd, and he sang songs to God because he loved and trusted in Him. David trusted in God’s strength when he protected sheep against lions and bears. When he was a little older, David trusted in God’s strength when he fought the giant Goliath and killed him. 

Everyone cheered for David’s courage that day. God cheered to see his heart. God knew David loved Him and had faith in Him. He chose David to be Israel’s king. David made many mistakes and sinned, but he kept trusting that God was good. David would turn to God and tell Him how he felt, even after he had sinned. 

God made a promise to David, “your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” This meant his children and grandchildren would always rule over Israel. After David died, his son did become king. But before too long, the nation of Israel broke apart. Enemies came into the land and took many of God’s people away to other countries in exile. It seemed like Israel was destroyed forever. 

What about God’s promise to David? God never lies, but He often does things differently from how we think He should. Jesus is called the “Son of David” because He is David’s great-grandson (27 greats). Like David, Jesus had a heart that was faithful to lead God’s people. The people of Israel saw this and called Jesus the Son of David. They thought He was a king who would lead a battle to defeat their enemies. 

Jesus, the Son of David, did come to be a King. But Jesus created His kingdom in the hearts of everyone who trusts in Him. God’s promise to David is true because God knew Jesus would come later in David’s family. Jesus would have a forever house, a forever kingdom, and a forever throne in heaven and in the hearts of His people. 

Jesus came to earth to protect His people in a greater way than defeating one giant. By dying on the cross, He defeated the sin that separated them from God the Father. One day Jesus will come again and show that He is King over all creation! We will see that Jesus’ kingdom is greater and more majestic than David’s kingdom ever was. Everyone will see Jesus on His forever throne. Jesus is the forever King. Jesus is the Son of David.

Here God makes His promises to David.

2 Samuel 7.12, 16

When God promised David a forever kingdom, who would be the forever King?

God fulfilled His promise to David differently than David could have expected. How might we miss seeing God’s fulfilled promises in our lives?