How is Jesus related to King David in the Bible?
Let’s start out by reading 2nd Samuel 7:12-13 where God made this promise to King David, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever.” This had a partial fulfillment in David’s son, Solomon, but it has a future and permanent fulfillment in Jesus Christ. I say “future and permanent” because when Jesus Christ comes to rule, God will indeed, as he promised David, “establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” So, one answer to your question is: Jesus Christ was the SON OF DAVID, a title that we see in the New Testament 17 times. We will now trace some of those scriptures.
Matthew 1:1, which begins the New Testament, reads: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the SON OF DAVID…” Matthew was inspired to present Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel and to prove that He was the One who would rule on David’s throne he had to show that Jesus Christ was of the seed of David. The genealogy listed in Matthew 1:6-16 proves that Jesus Christ was a descendant of David through His “adopted” father Joseph. This gave Jesus Christ a LEGAL RIGHT TO THE THRONE. From that point on the title “Son of David” became known as a “Messianic” title.
When the Lord Jesus began His public ministry men and women who believed He was the promised Messiah often called Him the “Son of David.” Matthew 15:22 says, “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 vexes with a devil.” Later, in Matthew 20:30, two blind men heard Jesus passing by and they cried out, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.” In both of these cases their faith laid hold of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of David, and they believed that the One who would rule over Israel also had to the power to heal.
The enemies of Jesus knew that this title, Son of David, implied that He was the One that would fulfill God’s promise to David; though they themselves refused to believe Jesus was the Messiah. We see this confirmed in Matthew 21:15, “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children of crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; THEY WER SORE DISPLEASED.” In Matthew 22:41-46 Jesus challenged their unbelief and it left them speechless. Those verses read, “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, ‘What do you think about Christ? Whose Son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘The Son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How then does David in the Spirit call Him Lord, saying: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,” how is He his Son? And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare question Him anymore” (NKJV).
This challenge revealed the ignorance of these religious rulers. They knew that the Messiah would be the Son of David, but they were ignorant that He would also be David’s Lord. They should have known this, for this had been foretold in Old Testament prophecies. Micah predicted this in Micah 5:2, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah….out of thee shall he come to be ruler in Israel; WHOSE GOINGS FORTH HAVE BEEN FROM OF OLD, FROM EVERLASTING.” So, the Messiah would not only be of the born of David and thus DAVID’S SON, but He was also God and thus DAVID’S LORD! The Bible closes with this precious truth, for in Revelation 22:16 the Lord Jesus declared, “I am the Root and Offspring of David.” As the “Root of David” He is “David’s Lord”; and as the “Offspring of David” He is “David’s Son.”
We have seen that Jesus was David’s Son AND David’s Lord. By faith David gladly owned Him as his Lord. Have you confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord? Please read Acts 16:30-31 and Romans 10:9-10. (195.3) (DO)