Aside
from Jesus himself, there is quite possibly no more intriguing and interesting
figure in all of Scripture (at least to me) than that of King David. Whether it’s the tale of how he slayed the
mighty Philistine Goliath when he was just a mere boy, the stories of his
military conquests, or even the passion and emotion he displayed when showing
repentance or sorrow; David just fascinates me.
David was a man who was born into a very average lifestyle in terms of
his status and wealth, but was later called and blessed by God to do some
extraordinary things. I love reading
about the love that he had for his dear friend Jonathan. I laugh (a little) when I read about the
craziness and turmoil that existed within his own family. While I can’t relate to my family trying to
literally kill me, I can relate to loving my friends like they’re family while
thinking that my actual family is a little bit crazy. I recently finished my own quick study of 1
& 2 Samuel, and at the end I was even more fascinated with David than I was
before beginning that study. Like I said,
I can relate to David. No, not in the
sense of being a king, but in the sense that David was a man filled with flaws,
yet still considered to be a man of God.
There was hardly anything around David that went smoothly or exactly
according to plan. In addition to all of
David’s family issues, he also struggled greatly to keep himself in line as it
pertained to God. We all know the story
of David and Bathsheba, but that’s not the only struggle with sin that existed
in David’s life. I think the reason why
I, like so many other Christians, find David so fascinating is because he was a
man of God who for the most part lived in accordance with God’s will, yet did have
his moments of sin and weakness.
Back
in 2 Samuel 7, after Saul had died and David had been anointed Israel’s king, God
promised David that his kingdom would last forever. 2 Samuel 7:16 says, “And your house and your
kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.”
Obviously, this didn’t mean that David would live and reign forever (God
even told him as much in the verses preceding the one that we just read), but
that someone from his line would reign for all eternity. Now the particulars of how that came to pass,
however, are probably not in line with what David had envisioned at the time of
God’s promising the eternality of his kingdom.
Immediately after David, his son Solomon was anointed king. After Solomon, there was strife and division
and David’s kingdom was divided in half (into Judah and Israel). Each of these two kingdoms was ruled by a
different person. During the tenure of
most of these kings, the conditions (especially spiritual) of what used to be
David’s kingdom could be called nothing short of disturbing, chaotic, or even a
complete failure. However, the words of
2 Samuel 7 don’t pertain specifically to an earthly kingdom or dynastic
succession. If that were the case, then
the promise of God to David could be perceived as a failure and a broken
promise. There is nothing in the promise
of God made to David that his kingdom will always resemble the political
hierarchy that came to mind when thinking of David’s kingdom. In fact, the kingdom that God ultimately has
in mind and is speaking of here is something so much greater than David himself
could have ever imagined.
Our
text for today are the words of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist,
after being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Mind you, this is the breaking of the silence that Zechariah has
experienced since first being told that he was to have a child several months
beforehand. After John is born,
Zechariah begins to speak of two things:
his son’s ministry, and the one whom his son will prepare the way for
(with much more attention being given to the later). Now, the reason why I have spent so much time
talking about King David this Sunday is because of the words of verses 68 and
69, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited
and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.” The first thing that we
ask ourselves in light of these words is, “What does the ministry of John the
Baptist, and more importantly, the impending birth of Jesus have to do with
David’s kingdom?”
You
see, prior to our text for today, in verses 32 and 33 of Luke’s opening chapter
to his gospel account, we find the angel Gabriel speaking with Mary about the
impending birth of Mary’s child. As
Gabriel is informing Mary that she is with child (which remind you she is
completely confused seeing as how she is still a virgin), Gabriel tells Mary
that the child she is carrying “will be great and be called the Son of the Most
High. And the Lord God will give to him
the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end!” Now, we’re going to set aside all of the
details of this account as they pertain to Mary. We will pick back up on that notion next
Sunday, but for today I want us to focus on the part there pertaining to David;
“And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David…” You see, using Luke 3 as our guide, we can
trace the genealogy of Jesus back to King David. Jesus is a descendant of David, born of the
house and lineage of David through the line of David’s son Nathan, the third of
four sons born to David and Bathsheba.
Now it’s quite possible, and probable, as we mentioned earlier, that
David might have thought that the promise from God that his kingdom would last
forever was referring to his kingdom in an earthly sense. However, it’s not unheard of for man to
interpret something from God and be thinking on a much smaller scale than God
is working on. The kingdom that God is
speaking of is not one of ethnicity, nationality, or a kingdom of finite
boundaries. The kingdom that God is
speaking of is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of Christ.
David
is largely considered to be the greatest and most Godly king in all of
Scripture, and quite possibly all of history.
We could sit and list all of the ways in which he and his kingship were
blessed by God. However, much like last
Sunday, when we said that Jesus was the more perfect Adam, the fulfillment of
even the areas where Adam failed, the same is true when it comes to David. Jesus is the even better, more perfect, and
more complete David. Jesus is the more
perfect mediator than Adam, and he is the more perfect king than David. Jesus being born of David’s line is a
fulfillment of God’s promise in a manner that is so far beyond anything David
could have ever imagined. Zechariah is
prophesying here and praising God because the Old Testament prophecies were coming
true. The promised Messiah, which we
said last Sunday first began in Genesis 3:15, was going to happen in Zechariah’s
lifetime. What a wonderful
celebration. First, Zechariah is
overjoyed that his own son was born, and now he sees that his son’s purpose in
life is to prepare the way for the coming Savior. His son is preparing the way for the one who
came to earth and laid down his life for all of us.
We
know that the promises of the Old Testament found their fulfillment in the person
of Jesus. We know, even greater than
Zechariah, what Jesus accomplished. We
know the salvation that is made possible to all of us by the death and
resurrection of this coming Messiah. As
we continue to prepare our hearts for this coming Christmas day, let every day
be a day in which we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let every day be a day in which we possess
the enthusiasm that Zechariah displayed here and proclaim that Jesus Christ has
come, and that salvation is now possible through him and him alone. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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