| September 5, 1999 |
Vol. II, No. 19
|
JESUS THE SON OF DAVID
These are the very first words in the New Testament: “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, THE SON OF DAVID” (Matt. 1:1). Christ is frequently called “the son of David.” When speaking of the expected Messiah the Jewish people often used this title.
The tern “son” had a great variety of meanings among the Hebrews. It means literally an immediate son; then a grandson, a descendant; a disciple; or a person who is the object of tender affection (as one who is to us “as a son.”) In Matt. 1:1, it means a descendant of David. Jesus was of the family of David.
It was highly important to trace the genealogy of Jesus back to David because the clear promise had been made that the Messiah would be of David’s family. The Jews would not believe that Jesus was the Christ unless it was first proven that He was descended from David (cf. John 7:42). Psalm 132:11 predicted: “Jehovah hath sword unto David in truth; He will not turn from it: of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.” And the prophet Jeremiah had prophesied, “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shalt execute justice and righteousness in the land” (23:5).
In Matt. 9:27 we find two blind men following Jesus and crying out: “Have mercy on us, thou son of David.” Later, when Jesus healed a dumb man, the multitudes were amazed and asked: “Could this be the son of David?” And in Matt. 15:22 the Canaanitish woman used this title: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David.” Even the Pharisees knew that the Christ would be the son of David, Matt. 22:42.
Jesus was the son of God, but He was also, according to the flesh, the son of David, as Paul states in Rom. 1:3 and 2 Tim. 2:8. The Lord Jesus Himself declares in Rev. 22:16, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.”
In many ways David and Jesus are alike. David’s victory over Goliath reminds us of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. David was sent by his father Jesse with food and a message for his brethren; and Jesus was sent by His Father as the Bread of Life and with a saving message for mankind. David was an earthly king over Israel; Jesus is the spiritual King over spiritual Israel.
Therefore Christ was David’s son; not merely physically, but spiritually as well. Christ now sits on David’s throne ruling spiritual Israel. King David was an earthly king, but King Jesus is a Heavenly King (John 18:36).
JESUS THE SON OF MAN
The description “Son of Man” is by far Jesus’ favorite way of referring to Himself. This expression is found 32 times in the book of Matthew, 15 times in Mark, 26 times in Luke, and 12 times in John. Only rarely is it used by someone other than Jesus Himself.
It emphasizes His close union with humanity. Jesus is identified with suffering man. He was “tempted in all points like as we are.” He is related to the whole sin-cursed race. Jesus therefore belongs to no one nation, race, family, or time exclusively. “He died for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
When the Christ came to earth He became a man, Phil. 2:7; Heb. 2:12-14. He was human as well as Divine. He is well qualified to be our mediator because He understands our temptations, sufferings, and hardships. He is full of compassion and sympathy for sinful man. The Son of Man suffered pain, grief, sorrow, and death -- just as we do.
Our Lord, the “Son of Man,” is not some hard-hearted super-being who sits way up on yonder star, totally unconcerned about our trials, just waiting to pounce on us when we stumble so that He can damn us. Rather, He is truly the Son of Man. He knows all about our trials, and He helps us to overcome them.
“Perhaps the Savior used it to signify the interest he felt in man; his peculiar love and friendship for him; and his willingness to devote himself to the best interests of the race” (Barnes). Notice that Jesus is not the son of a man, but the “Son of MAN.” He is the “child” of the whole race. He is the gift of the Heavenly Father to the entire world, John 3:16.
His life is unapproachable. No man can improve on the life of Christ. If the infidel can offer us something better, let him do it. He has had nearly 20 centuries to do it and has never approached unto it.
As the “Son of Man,” Christ is therefore in perfect sympathy with every man of every age and of every nation. He died for all and desires the salvation of all. The world sunk in the depths of filthy sin needs the compassion, sympathy, and forgiveness only the Son of Man can give. Jesus was a man of sorrows (Isa. 53:3) and well acquainted with grief, and He both fully knows our frailties and can abundantly supply our needs.
JESUS THE SON OF GOD
Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem the angel spoke to Mary and told her that “the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called THE SON OF GOD” (Luke 1:35). Mark begins his gospel record by stating: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, THE SON OF GOD” (Mark 1:1). Even unclean spirits testified that Jesus was the Son of God, Mark 3:11. John the Baptist declared, “I have seen, and have become witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34). The very purpose of the miracles of Jesus was to create belief in Him as the Son of God, John 20:30-31.
The disciples of Jesus were compelled to affirm, “Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (Matt. 14:33). And we are familiar with Peter’s great confession in Matt. 16:16, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus is not A son of God, (or “a god” as the Jehovah Witness translation of John 1:1 says) but He is THE Son of God, and unique in that position, John 3:16.
Jesus is the SON OF GOD in a way which no one else is or can possibly be. He was born of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, Matt. 1:20, 23. He was not born from the physical union of Joseph and Mary, for “Joseph... knew her not till she had brought forth a son; and he called His name Jesus” (Matt. 1:25).
Jesus challenged His adversaries to point out even one sin in His life, John 8:46. He claimed equality with God, John 5:17-18. Either He WAS equal with God or He blasphemed and lied. And during His trial Jesus confessed Himself to be “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed” (Mark 14:61-62).
Furthermore, Jesus ACCEPTED WORSHIP, but said plainly, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and HIM ONLY shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:10). The inescapable conclusion is that Jesus claimed to be equal to God. After the flesh, Jesus was of David, but He was more than a human being. He was “declared to be the Son of God with power” (Rom. 1:3-4).
On certain occasions the Heavenly Father Himself gave testimony regarding Jesus of Nazareth, and we must listen to His testimony. At Jesus’ baptism the Father explicitly stated, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Later, on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured, the Voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matt. 17:5).
“When his apostles preached, they had but one proposition to prove, and they proved it from the scriptures. This one proposition was: ‘Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ When Jesus preached and taught, his one theme was HIMSELF -- the fulfillment of prophecy, the end of the law and the fulfillment of type and shadow” (William Henry Book, “Sermons For the People, page 46).
--Donald R. Givens via Gospel Guardian, 1972, 1973
In Matt. 11:27, Jesus said, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
There is much to be considered in this short verse. Note first that Jesus attributed all blessings to God. All that He possessed came from the Father. As James later wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
Secondly, Jesus said that no one really knew Him except the Father. How could Jesus, after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, overcome the temptation to turn stones into food? How could He deal in love and equity with a man He knew would betray Him and turn Him over to His enemies? How could He calmly stand and be arrested by those who would bring about a painful and shameful death when He knew that thousands of angels were waiting to help Him if He should call for them? How could He allow men to smite Him, pluck out His beard and spit in His face without so much as speaking an unkind word to them? “No one knows the Son except the Father.”
Then Jesus informs us, “Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Man has a natural desire to know God, and through the things God created, we have come to realize a few things about Him, especially His creative power and His Deity. But of the more personal things about God -- His love, His plans, His will -- we can only know what God sees fit to reveal. And His greatest revelation of Himself has been through His Son, Jesus.
In Christ, we learn of God’s holiness. Jesus “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). In Christ, we learn of God’s love. “God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). In Christ we learn of Divine power. He instantly healed the sick, raised the dead, miraculously fed multitudes, walked on water, calmed the sea and did many other mighty works too numerous to mention. We note just as Nicodemus, that no one could do such things unless God was working with and in Him, John 3:2.
Through Jesus we can also learn God’s will for us. Before He left this earth He promised His apostles that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth, John 14:26; 16:13. They wrote God’s will so that others could read and understand, Eph. 3:4. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Through Jesus, we can learn and obey God’s will.
--CRJ