Jesus, the son of David (Matt1)

Key verse Matt 1:1

Merry Christmas! Donald Trump prefers “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays.” Thanks to him (?), many of my colleagues said “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.” Let’s greet each other, saying, “Merry Christmas.” What a blessing that we have Christmas! Let’s praise God for sending Jesus the Lord to us. Last time we studied Jesus the son of Abraham. Today we will talk about Jesus the son of David.

One day two blind men followed Jesus and called out loudly, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matt 9:27; 20:33) The other day a Canaanite woman desperately cried out to Jesus, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” (Matt 15:2) When Jesus was entering Jerusalem, the crowd shouted in joy, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” People called Jesus Son of David. What does it mean that Jesus is the son of David? I pray that we may know Jesus the Son of David and call out for him as the people did so that we too can have their faith, joy and thanks.

Let’s read Matt 1:1: “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah, which means the anointed one like king, priest, or prophet. In the context of this book, however, the Messiah refers to king. We will study why Jesus is the Messiah the son of David so that we can understand the true meaning of Christmas.

David and his kingdom

Let’s first talk about who David is. Acts 13:22 describes David in this way: “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” God called David a man after his own heart because David did everything God desired and willed. David understood what God wanted and followed it. His heart and mind was synched with God’s. That was the reason God was pleased with him and made him king over Israel. What kind of person was David then? And what kind of king was he?

First, David was a good shepherd.

When David was young, he was a shepherd for his father’s flock. While shepherding the flock, David often saw a lion or a bear carrying off sheep from the flock. Then he immediately went after it and fought with it to rescue the sheep, risking his life. Probably, he got hurt while fighting with those wild animals. But David somehow killed them and saved his flock. Why did he risk his life to save the sheep? A while ago, a man was hospitalized after jumping into an about 200 degrees hot spring to rescue his dog. Why? It was because he loved his dog so much as he loved himself. Likewise, David risked his life to rescue his flock because he really loved them as parents love their children.

God was pleased with shepherd David so much that later he appointed him as king over Israel. But Saul was jealous of David and David had to flee. Many times he was close to death. He said in Ps 23 that he walked in the darkest valley. He ran for his life. He lived in wilderness or in foreign counties. He even pretended to be insane to save his life. But people gathered around him. 1 Sam 22:2 read, “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.” Why did they gather around a fugitive? The people who came to David were all in need. They knew David’s genuine concern for people. They knew that David would hear them, understand them and help them. David was a shepherd wherever he went and whatever situation he was in.

After Saul died, the people of Judah came to David and asked him to be their king, saying, “…the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’” (2 Sam 5:2) Even after he became the king of Israel, he still shepherded his people. He put people over any other things even his life. One day when God stoke down the people of Israel because of David’s wrong doing. David could not bear the pain and cried to God, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.” (2 Sam 17) He truly loved his people as a shepherd loved his flock. David was a king but he was always a shepherd.

Second, David was a man who lived before God and for His name. 

One time when Israel battled with the Philistines, Goliath mocked Israel and defiled God’s name. Hearing this, David got so upset. He could not stand such mockery. In holy anger, David said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied…This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.” (1 Sam 17:45-46) He fought to honor God. For the sake of God’s name, he did not hesitate to fight with Goliath such a big giant. David was zealous for God. 

David was a man who revered God. He feared God and lived in sight of God. One day when he was hiding in a cave to avoid Saul’s pursuit, Saul happened to come into the cave to relieve himself. It was a godsend to end his suffering at once. But he only cut off a corner of Saul’s robe instead of killing him and then he was conscience-stricken. It was because Saul was a king God anointed. David regretted that he disrespected God by touching the anointed one. His deed could be justified by people but not by his conscience. This showed how much he revered God and so respected God’s servants. He lived in the sight of God.

David was also a man who truly appreciated God’s grace for him and loved God. After David became a king over Israel, he first brought the ark into Jerusalem where he lived. 2 Sam 5:12 reads, “Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” He knew what God had done for him and Israel and what God wanted him to do. He was so thankful and happy that he danced before God with all his strength when the ark was coming in. But it seemed too much so his wife despised him, saying, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” Then David said to her, “It was before the Lord, who chose me…when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.” (2 Sam 7:20-22) David could do anything if he could honor God. To honor and please God, he could lower him to the bottom. He truly loved and honored God.

As such, David was a man of God who put God first. He loved his people and revered God above. He lived to please God and did everything God wanted him to do. He especially reigned over his people as God wanted. 2 Sam 8:15 reads, “David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people.” Psalm 78:72 said that David shepherded his people with integrity of heart.” David was a shepherd king. God was pleased with David – his shepherd heart, his fear of God and his love for God. Truly, he was a man after God’s own heart. So God blessed his kingdom. 2 Sam 5:10 read, “And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.”

The highlight in David’s life was when he wanted to build a house for God. David was sorry that he lived in a palace while the ark of God remained in a tent. (2 Sam 7:2) So he wanted to build a house for God. God was pleased with David and then gave him an amazing promise.

“12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, 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 Sam 7:12-13)

God promised David that he would raise up a king from David’s offspring and establish his kingdom forever. God blessed David and he would bless his descendants and his kingdom as well. At this, David said, “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!”

Then David finished serving God’s purpose in his own generation and died. His son Solomon became the next king of Israel and he built the house for God. But he was not the one God promised. And over time the kingdom became corrupt and forsook God. Later, Israel was destroyed by foreign countries and the people were exiled. They scattered around the world. Though some of them came back to their land, they were still harassed and oppressed by surrounding countries. 

Who was the king God promised to David then? Where was the kingdom he promised? It seemed that the promise was broken because of their unfaithfulness to God. But God never failed his promise. He reassured them through prophets that he would send the one he promised without fail.

Ezekiel was one of the exiles. In suffering, he looked forward to the coming of the promised one. God said to Ezekiel in 34:23-24, “23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.” He also said in Ezekiel 47:24, “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.”

Jeremiah was a prophet when Judah was destroyed. God said to him, “The days are coming…when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.” (Jer 23:5-6)

The point of these prophecies was that God would send a shepherd king like David and establish a kingdom of justice and righteousness. How was this prophecy fulfilled then?

Jesus and his kingdom

About 400 years passed since then. One day the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:31-33)

Finally, God sent the one whom he promised to King David. He was Jesus. Jesus was born by the Holy Spirit between Joseph, who was a descendant of King David, and Mary. Jesus was the one God promised King David in 2 Sam 7:12-13: “I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, 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.” Jesus came as the son of David and fulfilled what God had promised.

Like David, Jesus came as shepherd king. Matt 2:6 read, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

During his public ministry, Jesus preached and healed people. A man with leprosy begged Jesus on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was filled with compassion and he reached out his hand and touched him. “I am willing. Be clean.” (Mark 1:40-41) Jesus healed so many people until late night. He even healed a man with a shriveled hand on Sabbath in front of the Pharisees who were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus. (Matt 12:9-14) One time he wanted to have a break with his disciples in a quiet place. Then he saw a large crowd coming to him. He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. (Mark 6:29) He taught them the word of God and fed them, giving up his break. He shared their pain and suffering together and led them to God. Jesus came to serve not to be served though he was a king. (Mark 10:45)

Finally, he laid down his life for all people. Jesus said, “7 … Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.” (Heb 10:7) He said that he came to do the will of God, which was to give himself as sin offerings for humankind. Like King David, Jesus was after God’s own heart and obeyed God’s will and desire in reverence of God. Though he was God in nature, he became obedient to death on a cross. (Phil 2:6,8) He willingly gave himself as sacrifices on a cross for us.

God exalted this Jesus. By his death and resurrection Jesus has defeated Satan and received all authority in heaven and on earth by God. (Matt 28:18) He became King of kings. And through Jesus God has established his kingdom on earth as he promised.

David was a great king. But he was not without sins. And his descendants and his kingdom perished because of their sins. It was necessary to build a new kingdom by someone who would be like King David but without sin. Jesus fulfilled this by his death and resurrection. Now we know that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of David, God promised to King David. King David was the shadow of the Messiah and his kingdom was the model of the kingdom God would ultimately establish. His kingdom is the kingdom God originally promised to Abraham. God said to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation…I will make you nations of you, and kings will come from you.” (Gen 12:2; 17:6) This kingdom is the kingdom Jesus has established and it lasts forever as God promised to David.

What kind of kingdom is it then? How is the kingdom of God different from the worldly kingdoms? In Gen 18:19, God said, “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

Isa 9:7 reads, “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

Psalm 89:14 reads, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”

The kingdom of God is not a political kingdom. The kingdom of God is of justice and love. This is the kingdom where everyone is just and righteous before God and love each other. There are no more sins in the kingdom of God. The people of the kingdom live holy according to God’s word. This is the kingdom Jesus has established by his blood. He not only saves us from our sin and Satan but also enables us to live holy before God. That is why he came to this earth. He is the promised king, the only true king for us.

This year America was so noisy because of the president election. Americans have selected Trump as the next president. However, there are still many people who argue about the election. Which tells us that “who becomes the president” is an important matter to everybody. Why? It is because the president has power to change things for people. The president can set the course of this nation and affect our economy and our daily life. Recently, Koreans have impeached President Park because of her scandals. She and the people around her have done so many bad things. It was suspected that hundreds of innocent high schoolers died in a sinking ship in 2014 because the government did not handle the matter properly for their political reasons. Korean people have suffered so much from the corrupt government. Even now hundreds of thousand people come out to the street to protest against the president. All this shows the importance of who reigns over us. Our happiness hinges on who reigns over us. I am not talking about president only, however.

According to a research, the number one reason employees quit their job is a bad boss. We workers spend most of our daytime at work, normally five days a week. It is very stressful to have a boss who is unfair, demanding, and careless. One time I had to quit my job because my boss was so mean and unfair. Many church members leave their churches because of their pastors. Many graduate school students from their bad advisors. Business people are stressed out by their picky customers. I am sure that you are one of these. Our bosses, advisors, coworkers, and customers impact on our happiness or at least affect our daily life. We belong to someone or to some organization. We are under someone for work, for study, or for some other reasons. They are like our kings. People under a bad king suffer whereas people under a good king are happy.

However, regardless of what boss, advisor or coworker we have, we cannot be happy without our king Jesus. It is because no one can solve our sin problems and lead us to the kingdom of God other than Jesus. Jesus is the king of justice and love. What a blessing that we have this Jesus as our king! This year you may have difficulties at work, in school, and with your children. I can’t comfort you. I don’t even understand your suffering. But our king Jesus knows you. He understands you and your troubles. He is here now to comfort you. He is here to save you from your sins and lead you to the kingdom of God. He is telling us, “I am your king… 28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt 11:28-29) Do not try solve your problems by yourself. You can’t. Instead, come to him and accept him as your king. He will take care of you. Remember that he died for your sins and your wounds. Here is Jesus your king.

Let’s read Matt 1:1. “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Jesus is the Messiah, the promised king who has come to reigns over us in justice and love as King David did. May the Lord give you peace and joy. I wish all of you Merry Christmas! 

By David Yun