David

The New Testament opens with his name – “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David” (Matthew 1:1) – and nearly closes with it: “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16). Between those bookends, David is everywhere: the shepherd-king from Bethlehem whose dynasty carried the promise of an everlasting throne (2 Samuel 7:12-16), which Gabriel handed to Mary’s son in the annunciation itself: “the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32).

The Gospels ring with the title. Blind men, Canaanite mothers, and Palm Sunday crowds all cry “Son of David”; and Jesus’ own riddle from Psalm 110 – how can David call his son “my Lord”? – silenced the experts by pointing at the answer standing in front of them (Matthew 22:41-46). At Pentecost, Peter’s first sermon runs on David’s psalms: the patriarch “both died and was buried,” so Psalm 16’s undecayed Holy One must be his risen descendant (Acts 2:25-36). Paul’s gospel summary keeps the same spine: “descended from David according to the flesh… declared to be the Son of God… by his resurrection” (Romans 1:3-4).

Scripture never launders David’s record – adulterer, arranger of a murder, brokenhearted penitent of Psalm 51 – and that is part of his New Testament work: “David… served the purpose of God in his own generation” (Acts 13:36), a forgiven man whose blessedness Paul quotes as Exhibit B for justification apart from works (Romans 4:6-8). The man after God’s own heart points beyond himself twice over: by his throne, and by his pardon.

In the New Testament

• Son of David: genealogy, annunciation, and acclamations (Matthew 1; Luke 1:32-33; Matthew 21:9)
• David’s Lord (Matthew 22:41-46; Psalm 110)
• The resurrection argued from his psalms (Acts 2:25-36; 13:32-37)
• Forgiveness as blessedness (Romans 4:6-8)