“This is the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Matthew 1:1

The name “Son of David” appears in the very first sentence of the book of Matthew. It is immediately followed by a record of Jesus’s ancestors, an official genealogy.

Perhaps it may seem strange to open a religious text with a genealogy (a family tree, essentially), but it is important to remember that the Book of Matthew is not just a religious text - it is also a historical record. Whatever your beliefs regarding the spiritual aspects of this text, Matthew is recording events that happened to people he knew. And, as with most biographers, there was information he felt important to include. Including this genealogy.

So what is so important about this genealogy? Why does Matthew feel the need to stress that Jesus really is a direct descendant of David’s?

What does this name mean?

The name, Son of David, means exactly what it sounds like it means: that Jesus is a son - descendant - of David. It is, however, important to note, Jesus is not just descended from some random David on the street. He is descended from King David, Israel’s greatest and most famous, handpicked by God himself.

Why does this name matter?

So, why does it matter so much that Jesus is a descendant of King David’s?

At the time of Jesus’s birth, Israel was no longer an independent monarchy. In fact, it hadn’t been for nearly 600 years, with Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, falling to Babylon around 580-590BC. From that point on, Judah never truly regained her status as a self-ruling state. Zedekiah, who died in Babylon, was the last of King David’s descendants to actually be king. This was, even by 1st century AD standards, ancient history.

Which, again, brings us to the question: why is it so important that Jesus is descended from King David?

As with last week, and the name Immanuel, this name is linked with prophecy. Many, many prophecies - that is to say, messages and promises from God. There are two in particular I want to bring to your attention.

“The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: when your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
2 Samuel 7: 11-13

This promise was given to David through a prophet (messenger of God) named Nathan. This is part of a longer message, all of which you can read in the seventh chapter of the second book of Samuel. At the time, David thought this promise referred to his son Solomon. But Solomon died, and his son Rehoboam managed to lose five-sixths of the kingdom in an uprising. So, you know, not so forever.

This, however, meant that this promise had yet to be fulfilled. In stressing that Jesus is the Son of David, that he belongs to Israel’s ancient, and longest lasting, royal family, Matthew is saying that Jesus is the promised son. He is the offspring whose Kingdom will exist forever.

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him -
the Spirit of Wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of Counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord -
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:1-3

This is part of a much longer promise communicated to the Israelites through Isaiah, who you may remember from last week’s post about the name Immanuel. It may seem odd to reference this in a post about the name Son of David given that the phrase itself does not appear. However, Jesse was David’s father, and the genealogy Matthew gives us shows that Jesus was descended from Jesse as well as David. Because, well, that’s how it works.

By calling Jesus “Son of David”, Matthew links him not just to the historical King David and the prophecies regarding his son, but also to this prophecy.

Here, “a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse” and he will preside over the world as judge. Thanks to his justice, righteousness and faithfulness, the world will know peace and harmony like never before, with wolves, lambs, lions, leopards, goats, calves, cobras and children all living together without harming one another.

As we know, however, this is not the case in the world right now. Matthew knew this as well, he wrote this book after Jesus had left the world. So, in calling him Son of David, in linking him to these prophecies, Matthew was not just saying “this is who Jesus is”, he was saying “and these are the thing he will bring about.”

So, in summary, why does the name “Son of David” matter?

It matters because it links Jesus directly to Israel’s great King David.

It matters because it makes clear that Jesus is the “offspring”, “the son”, the “shoot” of this family that was promised.

And it matters because it is a promise of things still to come: Jesus, presiding over the world as the righteous judge, resulting in a peace we have never known since the Garden of Eden.

Names of Jesus: Son of David

What does this name mean?

Why does this name matter?

Other posts in this series