Son of David

Scriptures: Matthew 1:1-17; 12:1-6 & 38-42; 21:1-17; 22:41-45 & Psalm 110

Title: Jesus, Son of David

Structure:

• Introduction
• Greater than Solomon
• Greater than the temple
• Greater than David
• Conclusion

Introduction:

One of the good things about being an adult is that your feet stop growing

–         And that’s a good thing because it means you can buy a pair of shoes that are the right size and they’ll keep being the right size

–         When you are a child your feet are always getting bigger, so when you buy a pair of shoes that fit it’s not long before they become too tight and you have to curl your toes up at the front

I have here a child’s chair from the Sparrow’s Sunday school

–         This chair is great if you are four but it’s not so wonderful if you’re 40

–         Most of us could probably sit in this chair if we had to but it would be too small – we might have our knees up around our ears or we might find it difficult to get up

 

Today we continue our sermon series on the titles ascribed to Jesus

–         So far we have looked at Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father, Mighty God and ‘Lord’.

–         This morning we consider the title, ‘Son of David’ – as in King David

–         Jesus didn’t go around calling himself the ‘Son of David’ but he accepted it when other people called him that

–         What we find though is the title ‘Son of David’ doesn’t really fit for Jesus

–         It’s too small, like a pair of shoes you’ve grown out of or a kindy chair

–         Jesus isn’t just the king of Israel, his realm is much larger than that

 

Greater than Solomon:

In the ancient way of thinking the life of a father is continued in his son

–         To the ancient mind a son fulfilled the purpose of a man’s life

–         We don’t necessarily think that way today but in the world in which the Bible was written they did think that way

Two of the gospels place Jesus’ family tree near the beginning

–         Matthew’s gospel in particular opens with the verse…

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Matthew then goes on to list the line of male descendants from Abraham, through King David and all the way down to Joseph, the husband of Mary

–         In doing this Matthew is making it clear that Jesus is royalty – he is the Messiah, the king of Israel descended from David

–         As a son (or a descendant) of David, Jesus continues David’s reign and fulfils the purpose of David’s life

Now some of you may be thinking, ‘But wait a second, this is Joseph’s family tree and Jesus wasn’t Joseph’s biological son. Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit (not by Joseph) – so how does that make Jesus a son of David?’

–         Well, Jesus is Joseph’s son by adoption. The fact that Jesus is adopted by Joseph in no way undermines Jesus’ royal lineage

–         In Jewish thought a child became a man’s son not so much by physical procreation as by acknowledgement on the part of the man

–         So Jesus is a ‘Son of David’ by adoption into Joseph’s family

 

Looking at David’s sons more closely we see Matthew lists 14 kings from Solomon to the time of the exile, when Judah no longer had a king of their own and the nation became subject to foreign kings

–         Of all the sons of David listed there Solomon was probably the most famous and politically successful king

Most people remember Solomon for his wisdom

–         For a nation to have peace the leaders must act with justice and justice requires wisdom

–         Solomon was a clever politician – under his reign the nation of Israel reached its zenith, it’s pinnacle of glory & riches

–         This being said Solomon’s policies actually oppressed the people – he laid a heavy burden of taxation on the working class

–         Not only that but Solomon had hundreds of wives and consequently his loyalty to Yahweh was divided

–         So there were some serious blind spots in Solomon’s wisdom

–         Nevertheless people came to him from all over the world for advice

In Matthew 12 some Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign and Jesus refuses saying…

“A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign… The Queen of the South will rise at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.” 

Of all the sons of David to sit on the throne Solomon was the greatest and yet Jesus is greater than Solomon

–         Jesus is greater in wisdom and power and status – even if he lacked all the pomp & ceremony and material wealth of Solomon

–         Jesus isn’t just another son in a long list of sons – Jesus is the Son of David, promised by God through his prophets long ago

During the time of the Jewish exile, when the people were subject to foreign rulers, God said through his prophet Jeremiah…

‘The days are coming when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is right in the land…’

–         Jeremiah was talking about the Son of David in these verses – ‘Branch of David’ is just a poetic way of saying ‘Son of David’

–         Christians believe Jesus is the righteous branch – the King descended from David who will reign wisely and do what is right

 

Greater than the temple:

Let me tell you a story…

–         Once there was a man who was good with money

–         As a child he didn’t have much – in fact he didn’t always know where his next meal was coming from

–         Poverty lit a fire in him – he worked hard to put as much distance between himself and his past as he could

–         Working two or three jobs at a time he managed to scrape together enough for a loan to start his own business

–         The business grew and so did his portfolio until he was worth millions

Sadly, the man’s great wealth came at an even greater cost

–         Working long hours and carrying all that stress took its toll on his relationships

–         By the end of his career he found himself alone in an empty mansion, drinking too much and wondering what the point of it all was

–         He’d spent his whole life climbing the ladder of success only to reach the top and discover the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall

 

When the man died his entire estate went to his grandson

–         Everyone expected the young man to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and make even more money

–         But the boy was not like his grandfather – he had seen what the pursuit of money had done to his family, the loneliness & grief it caused

–         So the young man took some time to think how best to use his inheritance

–         He loved his grandfather but he couldn’t walk in the old man’s shoes – they just didn’t fit him

–         To repeat the mistakes of the past would be a betrayal of his grandad and of himself

After much thought the young man decided to use his grandfather’s wealth to help others

–         The empty mansion became a women’s refuge

–         The rental properties all got an uplift and the tenants got a rent decrease

–         The bach up north was built on Maori land so he gave it back – justice is better than charity

–         Most of the shares got liquidated and the cash he loaned interest free to people in developing countries or put towards educational scholarships

He didn’t give everything away though – he kept some for himself because having too little money is just as destructive as having too much

–         If his grandfather had taught him anything it was that poverty and excess are opposite sides of the same coin

Perhaps his grandad would have turned in his grave to know how he had spent his inheritance but really it was the most meaningful thing the young man could do – It gave his grandfather’s life work a greater purpose

–         Money is a wonderful servant when it is used to set people free

In some ways the young man in this story is like Jesus

–         Jesus inherited the title ‘Son of David’ and with it came an expectation that he would behave like David & Solomon

–         That he would defeat the Romans and make Israel glorious again

–         But Jesus couldn’t walk in their shoes – they didn’t fit

–         Israel’s expectations of the Messiah were too small, too narrow

–         To repeat the past would have been a betrayal of sorts

–         Jesus doesn’t copy David & Solomon verbatim – but neither does he disrespect what he has inherited

–         Instead Jesus uses what he has been given to set people free and in doing that he gives David’s life a greater purpose

 

For most of his ministry Jesus downplayed the idea that he was the Son of David, perhaps because it meant something quite different to him than it did in the minds of the people – the term ‘Son of David’ was politically loaded and Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world

–         There was one occasion though when Jesus did walk in David’s shoes – he intentionally encouraged the people to think of him as their king by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey

–         David and his sons rode mules – not only that but the prophets to the exiles predicted the Messiah would come riding on a donkey:

–         Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’

–         When Jesus did that a week before Passover the crowds went wild and shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David.’

Soon after that Jesus went into the temple in Jerusalem, saw the merchants in the court of the Gentiles and drove them out, quoting Scripture…

–         “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.”

 

King David had wanted to build a temple for the Lord but God said it wasn’t for David to do that – Solomon would be the one to build the temple

–         The temple of Jesus’ day was not the same as the temple of Solomon’s day – Solomon’s temple had been destroyed centuries earlier

–         Nevertheless in thinking about the title ‘Son of David’ we are reminded of the role of David’s son in restoring the temple to its proper purpose

From Matthew 21, verse 14 we read…

• – The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.
• – But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

Most of the gospel references to Jesus as Son of David are in the context of Jesus healing people, which stands in contrast to King David who, as a soldier, maimed and killed people

–         The interesting thing here is that the blind and lame were not usually welcome in the temple, yet they do feel welcome with Jesus there

–         Jesus restores their sight and mobility so they are able to participate in prayer and worship with the rest of the community

 

The religious leaders don’t like the way children are ascribing the title ‘Son of David’ to Jesus, but Jesus defends the children

–         Ironically the kids have more spiritual insight than the chief priests

 

It has to be said though that Jesus was never as enamoured by the Jerusalem temple as David & Solomon were. He was critical of the temple system and foresaw its destruction

• – In Matthew 12 Jesus’ disciples pick some heads of grain as they walk past a field on the Sabbath
• – The Pharisees point out to Jesus that his disciples are breaking the law in doing this. (Actually they weren’t breaking God’s law, just the Pharisees’ man made rules). Jesus defends his disciples saying…

“Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.”

In these verses Jesus compares himself to David and his disciples to David’s companions

• – The ‘something greater than the temple’ is Jesus and the community of his followers
• – Jesus came to build something greater than a physical building
• – Jesus came to build the church – a people united in love for him
• – Those of you who were here for the all-age Christmas service last year may remember what Neville said about Jesus being the corner stone and each of us being living stones in God’s house

 

So far then we’ve heard how Jesus, the Son of David, is greater than Solomon and that he builds something greater than the temple – he builds the church

• – But what about King David himself – how does Jesus compare to David?

 

Greater than David:

If I say, ‘Jim is a chip off the old block’, what do I mean? [Wait]

–         ­­That’s right, I mean that Jim is like his father. The old block being Jim’s father and the chip being Jim himself

–         And what would you say was greater in this analogy – the old block or the chip? [Wait] The old block is greater

–         But even greater still is the one swinging the axe

 

Okay, what do I mean if I say, ‘The apple didn’t fall far from the tree’? [Wait]

–         That’s right, I mean the child is similar to the parent

–         The parent being the tree, the apple being the child

–         And what is greater – the apple or the tree [Wait] The tree is greater

–         But even greater still is the gardener who planted and watered the tree

To say that Jesus is the Son of David is true in a sense but it doesn’t tell the full story – it suggests that Jesus is a chip off the old block or the apple that didn’t fall far from the tree – when in actual fact Jesus is greater than David

–         In Jesus we find something more than the old block or the tree

–         Jesus is the gardener

 

You all know the story of Cinderella – the girl who was treated cruelly by her step mother and step sisters, but with the help of a fairy god-mother gets to go to the ball

• – She has a wonderful time and the prince falls in love with her
• – But she must leave before the stroke of midnight when her carriage turns back into a pumpkin
• – As she runs out of the palace she leaves behind a single glass slipper
• – It is the only clue the prince has to her identity – he must find out who this beautiful and mysterious woman is
• – In his quest to find her the prince goes from house to house through his kingdom getting ladies to try on the glass slipper – if it fits she is the one

In some ways Jesus was a little bit like Cinderella and the chief priests and Pharisees were like his step mother and step sisters; jealous of him, never giving him the respect he was due

• – After Jesus had cleansed the temple he was peppered with questions from the religious establishment to try and trip him up
• – They didn’t like Jesus and wanted an excuse to get rid of him
• – But Jesus always had an answer for them
• – When the Pharisees grew tired of questioning him, Jesus asked them…

“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”

 

A couple of Sundays ago I said that Jesus was more interested in getting people to think about the who and why questions than he was the how

• – Here we have a classic who question: Who is the Messiah?
• – The Pharisees answer as expected, ‘The Son of David’
• – But Jesus points out how this doesn’t quite fit with the glass slipper of Scripture. Jesus quotes King David from Psalm 110

It sounds a little confusing so I’ll try to make it as simple as possible

• – David (speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) relays a conversation he overhears between his superiors
• – Yahweh (or God) says to David’s Lord (the Messiah), ‘Sit at my right hand…’
• – Now to the ancient Jews there was only one person above the king and that was God Almighty
• – Yet David is saying there is someone else above me – someone equal to God – for he sits at God’s right hand
• – Who is this mysterious Lord (this Cinderella) of whom David speaks?

The Pharisees don’t know how to answer Jesus and Jesus doesn’t spell it out for them either – he leaves the question in their minds like grit in an oyster shell which, with time, forms a pearl

 

The point is, ‘Son of David’ is not an adequate title for the Messiah

• – David himself acknowledges that the promised Messiah is his Lord
• – Jesus (the Messiah) is greater than David

 

Conclusion:

Jesus had a pretty high opinion of himself – it’s no wonder he was crucified

• – Jesus basically said he was greater than Solomon
• – That he (and his companions) were greater than the Jerusalem temple
• – And that he was greater even than King David himself

As C.S. Lewis said, anyone who made those sorts of claims about himself was either a lunatic, a liar or the Son of God

No one likes a big noter and yet Jesus isn’t blowing his own trumpet

• – If anything he is squeezing into a pair of shoes that are too small for him
• – Or sitting on a child’s seat
• – He’s making himself smaller to accommodate us
• – The titles we have for Jesus are not adequate to define him
• – Just as the categories we have for Jesus are not sufficient to contain him

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Why does Matthew open his gospel with Jesus’ genealogy, tracing the line of David?

3.)    In what ways is Jesus similar to Solomon?

–         In what ways was Jesus different to Solomon?

4.)    What have you inherited from your forebears (either materially speaking or otherwise)?

–         How might you best use that?

5.)    Who (or what) is greater than the Jerusalem temple?

6.)    In what ways is Jesus similar to David?

–         In what ways is Jesus different to David?

7.)    Why is the title ‘Son of David’ inadequate for Jesus?

8.)    What expectations do you have of Jesus?

–         Do your expectations fit with the glass slipper of Scripture?