Jesus' Messianic Claim - The Son of David

Romans 15:12 And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse; and He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope."

1 Samuel 16:1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, "You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king."

If you remember, we saw in our last post that the Messiah needed to come from the seed of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah, and from the family of a man named Jesse.

Jesse was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz, and the great-grandson of Rahab and Salmon (tradition says that Salmon was one of the two spies Rahab hid in Jericho). By the time we see Jesse in 1 Samuel 16, he was already an old man...possibly just as old as Samuel himself. Depending on exactly how aged Jesse was, he probably remembered when Saul was first anointed to be king.

The Anointing of David

And now, the same prophet that poured oil over Saul's head, anointing him to be king, was heading to Jesse's house in Bethlehem. This prophet had another flask of oil, and a mission to look over Jesse's sons and find a new king. This was especially important in light of what was prophesied in Genesis 49:10...this was going to be the first in the line of kings from Judah. Whichever son was chosen during this meeting was prophesied to give rise to "Shiloh" - the Messiah.

After giving a sacrifice and worshiping the Lord together, Samuel had Jesse bring up his sons, one by one. Look at what Samuel said about Eliab, Jesse's oldest son: "Surely the LORD's anointed is before Him!" (1 Samuel 16:6). 

Eliab was probably an good-looking man - tall, strong, and handsome. As the oldest son in the family, he would've been heir of the family name and the next-in-line to his father. Because of this, he probably carried himself with an air of dignity and authority. When he greeted Samuel, he likely looked him in the eye and carried on a respectful conversation without stammering or stuttering. At first, Samuel was sure that Eliab was the one - the next anointed king of Israel.

But before Samuel could act on his assumption, God stopped him in his tracks: "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Did you notice what God said about Eliab? He said "I have refused him." What does "refused" mean? It means he was considered at first, but then turned down. Something inside Eliab disqualified him from the throne. Evidently, this was a heart issue, because God told Samuel that He was "looking at the heart."

After Eliab, Jesse's other sons passed in front of Samuel from oldest to youngest. Abinadab, Shammah, Nethanel, Raddai, and Ozem...all of them passed in front of Samuel. And after they had all come through, Samuel declared, "The LORD has not chosen any of these. Are ALL of your sons here?" And this is the first time we ever hear of David, when his own father said, "There remains yet the youngest..."

At this extremely important event, where Samuel specifically told Jesse to bring all of his sons...David was left out in the field, taking care of his father's sheep. He didn't have time to get cleaned up or change his clothes; he came right from the sheep pasture to stand before the prophet. But as soon as Samuel saw David, God told him, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!" (16:12)

Do you remember when God told Samuel about how He sees people? Although man generally looks on the outside (that was how Saul was picked to be king), God anointed David to be king because of what was on the inside. David had a good heart. 

A Man After God's Own Heart

1 Samuel 13:14 "The LORD has sought for Himself a man after his own heart..."

Acts 13:22 "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will."

David had a heart that was unlike anyone else of his day. When his brothers got invited to a meeting with Samuel, the great prophet; David was content to keep shepherding his father's sheep. There was no ambition here, no ill-will toward his brothers, and no resentment for not being invited. In David's mind, his father trusted him to care for the sheep, and that was exactly what he was going to do. And this mentality continued throughout his life.

When he fought Goliath, David compared the giant to a wild beast that was attacking the sheep. David knew that if he fought Goliath to defend God's sheep, God would stand with him and give him the victory.

When David served King Saul, he continued to be humble and to be faithful in what he was told to do. He led Saul's armies to victory in every battle. Because of his success, the people came to love him more than Saul. But David never once tried to maneuver against the king or exalt himself. Even when Saul tried to kill him out of jealousy (multiple times), David remained faithful to the throne. He never tried to get even with Saul and never tried to defend himself from the king's lies. 

One story that shows David's integrity can be found in 1 Samuel 23. Even though David had been Saul's best general, and even though he was Saul's own son-in-law; the king had made David into an outlaw. While he was on the run with a small band of men, David got word that an Israelite town was being attacked by the Philistines. In response, David led his army against the enemy attackers and saved the town.

When King Saul heard about David's rescue of innocent Israelites, his response was not one you would expect. Saul gathered his army together and led them to the city that David just rescued to capture him! Isn't that amazing! Saul did nothing when the Philistines were attacking, but as soon as he heard that David was there, he mobilized and advanced on one of his own cities.

When David heard this, he simply left...He was not willing to risk the lives of his men, the lives of the civilians in the town, or even the lives of the soldiers Saul was leading. David and his men simply faded away before Saul arrived.

On two occasions, while Saul was in the middle of hunting David down, David spared the king's life. And then, when Saul was finally killed in battle, David executed the man who killed him and wrote a song that mourned his death! Why, because David recognized the value that Saul's anointing had. David refused to raise a finger against an anointed man - even if that man was clearly in the wrong.

This respect and honor David had for the anointing was like a seed that was sown. And that seed brought a harvest that still exists today! Even now, David is revered as the greatest king of Israel, and he is recognized among the greatest men of the world. Why? Because he was a man after God's own heart!

The Coming of The Son of David

David loved the Lord. This love for God motivated David to build Him a house - a temple for the people to worship in. Although God wouldn't allow it (David had too violent of a history to build a house of peace), God still rewarded David's desire. Because of David's honor toward God, God made this promise to Him:

2 Samuel 7:12-14 NLT "For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house - a temple - for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever."

Psalm 89: 34-35 "My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David: his seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me..."

Psalm 132:11 "The LORD has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body."''

God promised that David would have a descendant (a "son") that would reign forever. These passages, along with several others in the Old Testament, led the Jewish people to refer to the coming Messiah as "the Son of David." This was a well-known title for the promised Anointed One that would bring deliverance to God's people.

How interesting, then, that the very first sentence in the New Testament goes like this: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." (Matthew 1:1) Right from the very beginning of the Gospels, the Bible states that Jesus is the Son of David!

When Gabriel told Mary about her imminent pregnancy, he said: "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David." (Luke 1:32)

When people called on Jesus for help, they often called Him the "Son of David":

The two blind men in Capernaum (Matthew 9:27)

The Gentile woman in Matthew 15:22

The blind beggars of Jericho (Matthew 20:20)

Bartimaeus (Mark 10:47)

All of these people directly called Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David. They were calling on His anointing to bring them mercy and healing. And in response, Jesus healed them!

What is the most amazing though, is the crowd of people the proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of David as He rode into Jerusalem. In Zechariah 9:9, God prophesied that the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. And sure enough, along came Jesus, that great miracle-working Prophet, riding into town on a donkey! The crowd that followed Him realized that prophecy was being fulfilled before their eyes and erupted in celebration. 

They sang "Hosanna to the Son of David!" That word, hosanna, means "Save now!" They clearly realized that Jesus was the promised Messiah - the Son of David. They expected Him to deliver them at that moment and re-establish the Kingdom of David. Of course, we know that Jesus' gift of salvation didn't look like the crowd expected it to....

We can see now that the Messiah didn't come to deliver the Jewish people from Roman occupation. No, He was anointed for something far greater than that...He came to save all people from the oppression of sin. The Son of David truly came to save us all!