“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
– Isaiah 9:6-7
And so we look at today…
Son Of David
The phrase “Son of David” was a term for the messiah long before Jesus stepped onto the scene (and before this mention in Isaiah). It was in reference to the promise that God made David:
“And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” -2 Samuel 7:16, 1 Chronicles 17:14, Psalm 89:3–4
We were directly reminded of this promise when the angel visited Mary to tell her of her pregnancy:
“And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” -Luke 1:30–33
The promise/prophecy that the Messiah would come from the linage of David is one that extremely important – because it couldn’t be manipulated.
We don’t have a choice in what family we are born into, or where we are born. Yet there are multiple prophecies of Jesus’ birth and lineage.
It’s as if God wanted to remind us that He truly is God and knows the beginning from the end.
Side Note/Fun Facts:
When prophecy was given that the Messiah would be from the lineage of David, we have to remember that the household name/right to the throne of David, would come from the father.
This is problematic for the Messiah who was prophecied be born of a virgin. But not a problem for God.
We see that the book of Matthew (who care about prophecy) traces Jesus’ family tree to David through Mary, who is the virgin that was prophecied to give birth to the Messiah.
Luke, on the other hand, is a gentile, who trances Jesus’ family tree through Joseph to David (and even back to Adam) to show the simple humanity of Jesus.
This means that Jesus fulfills this promise to David (and other geneology promises) regardless of how you slice it, which is pretty cool.
Now, we’ve already covered many aspects of God’s plan, but there’s a special lesson to be learned from seeing this prophecy of David’s legacy that we shouldn’t miss:
God works through us, to bring results beyond us.
It’s amazing when you read the lineage of Jesus and see the names of people who were directly involved in bringing us the Messiah.
A bunch of nobodies,
broken people,
problem people.
Some of them great people of faith,
Others, not so much.
But they were involved in the greatest family tree of all time.
I bet many of them wished they had been born into a different family at some point.
Had different parents.
Different life situations.
Different genetics, skillsets, economic status.
But if they could have known that they would have been the grandmother, great-grandfather, or even great-great-great grandfather of the Messiah Who would bring salvation to the world…
They would have looked at their role differently.
I don’t know what will come of your time here.
I don’t know who you will impact.
What family trees you will be a part of.
None of us do.
But God does.
And one day, we’ll get to see the complete picture
And stand amazed at what God has done.
So, take a moment. Read the names in this list.
Some of the names might look familiar,
Others, not so much.
But God used each and every one of them.
And He is using you too,
for a greater purpose than you can see right now.
Matthew 1:1–17
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
Luke 3:23–38
“Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”