The Son of David

2024-02-23

Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? (Matthew 22:42-45)

The people made a big deal about Jesus being the Son of David. This certainly recognizes that the Christ was the branch from David’s line that would restore the kingship to Israel and deliver them from their enemies. “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jeremiah 23:5).

The phrase “Son of David” is a Messianic title as well as a genealogical statement. The Scriptures reaffirm that this is correct. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1; cf. Matthew 1:6; Luke 3:31). Jesus Christ certainly fulfills all this.

Joseph, the one who would have raised Jesus as a child according to the flesh, was also called the son of David. This is part of why Jesus would be the Son of David. “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 1:20). Mary would also have been descended from David. Even with her cousin Elisabeth from the tribe of Levi (Luke 1:5), she could be descended from David because the tribe is derived from the father’s line. In our culture, having cousins with different last names demonstrates this truth.

Blind men, one of which was Bartimaeus, called Jesus the Son of David by faith when calling out for their healing. They rightfully recognized Him as the Messiah. “And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord” (Matthew 9:27-28).

On Jesus’ triumphal entry, the crowd called Jesus the Son of David. They thought He would come and establish His Messianic kingdom right then. “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9).

Even the Canaanite woman who was not of the children of Israel called Jesus this Messianic title. “And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil” (Matthew 15:22). She recognized His authority over the devil’s power.

However, the phrase “The Son of David” does not go far enough. He is the eternal Son of God. “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17:5). “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

Jesus started a new human race in which we must be born again into, because the race of Adam is condemned in sin. “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

According to the flesh, sure, Jesus was born as a descendant of David. He was born of the virgin Mary. But He existed long before the Adamic race. Any fascination with Jesus’ earthly family and genealogy misses the entire point. With the Jews, they were focusing on David as His earthly ancestor. For centuries of Christianity, many were focusing on His mother Mary according to the flesh. Jesus revealed Himself as something far above these earthly relations. “If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?”