Listen:  132.4

Several times in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus is referred to, or called the Son of David.  This simply means that Christ is a descendant of King David.  The New Testament begins with the genealogy of the Lord Jesus, and Matthew 1:1says, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”  That Christ would be the son of David was prophesied in 2 Samuel 7:12-13, when the Lord said to 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 for ever.”  Many prophesies had an early, partial and then a complete fulfillment.  In this portion, the partial fulfillment is found in Solomon, the son of David who built the first temple.  The complete fulfillment of this prophesy is found in Christ, whose throne was established forever. 

We read in Romans 1:3-4, “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”  While the Lord Jesus is certainly the son of David, He is also the Son of God.  The Lord asked a puzzling question in Matthew 22:41-46which says, “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 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? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.” 

The Lord was asking the Pharisees how this truth, that Christ is descended from David, is consistent with what David said when he called him Lord?  David in spirit, or by the leading of the Spirit, called Christ his Lord in Psalm 110:1.which says, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”  These men, because of unbelief, were very limited in their understanding of the scriptures.  They could not see that the Christ was David’s son, yet as the eternal one, was also David’s Lord.  The Lord Jesus, Himself, spoke of this marvelous mystery in stating how physically, He came from David, but spiritually David came from Him.  Revelation 22:16says, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” 

We read in 2 Timothy 2:8, “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.”  The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy, and us, of two vital truths: that Jesus Christ is the son of David, and that He rose again after dying for our sins.

In the Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we see that He was called the Son of David.  Matthew 21:9says, “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.”  The political leaders disapproved of this acknowledgement that Jesus, as the Son of David, was the Christ, or the Messiah.  We read in Matthew 21:15, “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased.”  Only by faith can we recognize the wondrous truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true Son of David and Son of God; David’s son, yet David’s Lord. 

I’m reminded of that beautiful hymn that says:

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted,

See him dying on the tree

Tis’ the Christ by man rejected,

Yes my soul tis He, tis He

Tis the long Expected Prophet

David’s Son yet David’s Lord

By His Son, God has now spoken

Tis the True and Faithful Word  (132.4)