GREAT DAVID’S GREATER SON
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson; Romans 16:25-27
Gospel Lesson; Luke 1:26-38
Sermon Text; 2 Samuel 7:8-11
Approximately 1000 BC, there was a man by the name of Jesse, who had seven sons. They lived in the town of Bethlehem. They were shepherds, who kept watch over their sheep, possibly the very same fields in which the angels announced to shepherds the birth of the savior, 1000 years later.
One of the sons of Jesse, the youngest son, was a boy named David. David, according to scripture was a ruddy, handsome, young man. He enjoyed playing the harp, which showed his gentle side. But he had also killed a bear, and a lion that had tried to attack his father’s flocks, which showed his powerful side. He was a young man of gentle power.
This David, this young David, was secretly anointed by Samuel to be the next king of the people of Israel, when King Saul had fallen away from following God. Shortly after that, this young David, probably a teenager, did something that even the mightiest warrior in all of Israel was terrified of doing. This young David, without any armor, (no sword, no spear, no shield), went out in his shepherd’s clothing and faced their most fearsome enemy, Goliath. And with a single stone from his sling, killed the mighty enemy Goliath! It was at that point that the hearts of the people of Israel began to turn to this young man, David. The Bible tells us that the young women in the land even began to sing songs about David!
Saul, who was then king, became jealous of David. Probably hoping that David would get killed, he assigned David to be one of his generals, sending him out on raiding parties. But wherever David went as the general, he was brought great success, through God. And so, he was able to defeat the enemies that were all around the Israelites. His fame grew and grew, and the hearts of the people of Israel turned more and more to this young man, David. The young girls would sing,
"Saul has killed his thousands, but
DAVID
his ten thousands!"
As you can tell, the hearts of the people of Israel were looking to this young man, David.
Over the course of time, this young man did become the king, for the people of Israel. And, he began to do what, for a thousand years, since the time of Abraham, the people had been waiting for. God had promised Abraham that they would have a land where they would be safe, where they would be protected from their enemies, and it would be their home. All of those years, they had struggled, living in the land of Canaan. But, once David became king, by God’s grace, he was able to unite the twelve tribes of Israel. Having united them, he was able to drive out the Philistines and drive out the Canaanites, so there were no more enemies or heathen living among them. And, then by God’s power, he was able to defeat the enemies that were around them, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Moabites. And, so there came a time of great peace and rest for the people of Israel. This was the peace and rest that they had been waiting for, for 1,000 years! And, it also came to be a time of prosperity for the people of Israel! The land was prosperous, the people were safe, and they worshipped God, their King, their Savior, and their Lord! It was a time of greatness. It was, in fact, the greatest time that the Children of Israel had ever seen!
And, once that all had been accomplished David set about in his heart, to build a house for God. Which takes us to today’s scripture reading. God says to David, "Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?…The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you." I am going to build you a house! "And there will be one, who comes from your line, one of your sons who will be ruler on your throne and his kingdom will endure forever."
And so God promised to King David that the Messiah, The King, would come through him. And, the people of Israel knew that. The people of Israel were looking forward to The King, who would be even greater than King David. The people of Israel knew what the prophets foreshadowed. For example Isaiah said,
"For onto us a Son is born,
unto us a child is given, and
the government will be upon his shoulders and
He will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government there shall be no end."
And so, they looked forward to a great king.
Micah foretold where He would be born,
"But thou Bethlehem, Ephratha,
though thou be small among the clans of Judah
yet out of thee shall he come forth and
shall be ruler over my people Israel."
And so, they looked forward to the birth of this mighty king, this Messiah, who would come from Bethlehem.
But after David became great, things began to fall apart. David’s son, Solomon, while he extended the economic greatness of Israel beyond what David had done, Solomon began to worship false gods. And, he began to introduce the worship of false gods to the people of Israel. After Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel divided in two, with two kings, one for the Northern Kingdom and one for the Southern Kingdom. These two kingdoms never reunited to form one, again.
The kings of those two kingdoms were mostly evil. The Lord repeatedly called them back to repentance. But most of them lead the people into worship of false gods, and forgot God.
As time went on, both of those two kingdoms grew weaker and weaker and were overpowered by their enemies. Their economic greatness diminished to almost nothing. Eventually the Northern Kingdom disappeared forever. All that was left was the Southern Kingdom.
In about the year 600, the Babylonians took the Southern Kingdom captive, and the Children of Israel were taken into captivity. They no longer had a kingdom. And, they didn’t have a king, anymore either. The king was dethroned so there was no one sitting on the throne of David, anymore. For 500 years they had no king.
That great flourishing tree of David had been cut down and all that was left was a stump, just a stump. Yet, the prophets had prophesied "From this stump of Jesse will come a branch who will be ruler over my people Israel." So the Children of Israel looked forward to that Messiah, the Anointed One, who would be the king from David’s line, who would restore their kingdom. And so it was with great expectation that they looked forward to that king.
It is of no small significance that when the angel announced to Mary that she would have a child, the angel said to her, "The Lord will give Him the throne of His father David. His kingdom will have no end." This was going to be the one who would sit on the throne of His father David, which means that Mary was a blood descendant of David. That root of David still existed. And so, Jesus would be a blood descendant of King David.
It was of no small significance, when the angel announced to Joseph what was about to happen. He said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife." Do you see what the angel called him? "Joseph, son of David." That is of no small significance. Joseph was also a descendent of the line of King David. And so, Jesus would be the legal heir to the throne of David, through His stepfather Joseph.
It was of no small significance that God, who arranges all things of this world, arranged that Ceasar Augustus would issue a decree that everyone sould be taxed and should go back to their hometown. And so, Mary and Joseph had to leave the City of Nazareth, and go to Bethlehem, which is known as the City of David, because there, the King who was coming, the Messiah, was to be born.
It was of no small significance, when the angels announced to the shepherds in the fields that night, "Unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a savior, which is Christ the LORD." He was the King. He was the Christ, the Messiah, The One who would sit on the throne, born in the City of David.
It was of no small significance that when the Wise Men came from the East, they went to Herod and asked, "Where is He, who is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." This was the one who was going to be the King and sit on the throne of His father David.
And, how the hearts of the people were looking forward to the coming of this great king, with all expectation! And so, it was of no small significance that 30 years later, a herald came, by the name of John the Baptist. As you know, a herald is one who would run before a king, as the king was about to enter a city. And, the herald would announce, "The king is coming! The king is coming!!!" Everyone would need to be ready, when the king did come. This herald, who was John the Baptist, also had a message. His message was,
"The Kingdom of God is at hand.
The King is coming!
The King is following on my heals!"
It was of no small significance that the people who were blind, crippled and lame and saw Jesus, knew that He was from the line of David. They would cry out to Him, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me." They trusted that this was the great king who was to come.
It was of no small significance that when Jesus performed the great miracle of feeding the 5,000, the Bible tells us that they tried to take Him by force and make Him be their king. They recognized that He was the Messiah. This is The One who will sit on the throne of His father David. They thought that He could restore Israel to its great economic greatness, again.
It is of no small significance when Zephaniah prophesied, "Behold your King will come to you lowly and humble and riding on a donkey, a colt, a foul of a donkey." And, on Palm Sunday, Jesus, the King, rode into Jerusalem, on a donkey, a colt, a foul of a donkey. The people of Jerusalem shouted, "Hosanna, to the Son of David." This was the King that they had been waiting for.
But the leaders of Israel were troubled. What kind of king was this? He was not restoring Israel to the greatness that it once had. He was not defeating the Roman enemies who had subdued them, like David had done. He was not contributing toward the economic greatness of Israel. He was not adding to the stability of the land.
And, since He was not the king that they thought would come, it is of no small significance that they accused Him, of this great crime, "He says He is a king."
It was of no small significance that the crown He wore on this earth was a crown of thorns.
It was of no small significance that the rod that He held in his hand was used to mock Him.
It is of no small significance that the honor that He received was only mockery through the words, "Hail, King of the Jews."
It is of no small significance that the words written on the cross were, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."
It is of no small significance that He defeated that powerful giant, far more powerful than Goliath. He did it without guns, spears, or even a single stone from a sling, but rather with a simple cross, and the rolling away of a stone.
This is the King. This is the GREAT KING, which had been announced for a thousand years. He is the King that rules over us today. He is the King who sits on the throne of His father David, and rules over His people Israel.
We say that Jesus’ Kingdom is threefold. He has the Kingdom of Power. He has the Kingdom of Grace. And, He has the Kingdom of Glory.
So, what is His Kingdom of Power? Jesus’ Kingdom of Power is the Kingdom that makes Him King above all kings. As scripture says, "He is the King of kings". In other words, He is the ruler over all kings. Jesus sits on His throne in Heaven and He directs the affairs of the kings on this earth, whether they know it or not. And, He directs all the affairs of those kings on this earth. He is The One who raises up rulers. And He is The One who dethrones rulers. He does all of this for a single purpose. In Ephesians it tells us, "He rules over all things for the good of His Church." He lets rulers rise and He deposes rulers for the good of His Church.
He was The One who caused Cesar Augustus to come to power, so that Cesar would issue that decree. When He was done with Cesar, He was deposed.
He was The One who raised up Herod and Pilot. They were the rulers who would put Jesus on trial and ultimately find Him "guilty". And, when He was done with them, He deposed them.
He did all this for the good of His people, so that the prophecies would be fulfilled; that he would die for His people and their sins would be forgiven.
Jesus rules in His Kingdom of Power, for the benefit of His Kingdom of Grace.
His Kingdom of Grace is His believers. It is the church. It is you and I. It is whoever trusts in Christ as their savior. Jesus rules over this great Kingdom of Grace, which has far endured, far surpassed any other kingdom of this world. It has outlasted the great Roman Empire. It has outlasted the German Empire. It has outlasted the Soviet Empire. It outlasted the British Empire. And, it will outlast the American Empire, if the world stands that long.
This is a kingdom that stretches beyond all national boundaries, and covers the entire world.
This is the kingdom of believers, where Jesus rules in our hearts. Jesus rules not by fear, not with a gun, not with a sword, but by grace, by sheer grace.
This is the kingdom where Jesus gives to His people what they truly need. He gives them the victory over those terrible enemies of sin, death, hell, and the devil. He gives them this great victory, which He has won for them! All of this has been won by the mighty arm of the Son of David, through His death on the cross, and His resurrection from grave! Here Jesus, in His grace, shares that victory with you and with me!
This is the kingdom where Jesus shares the great wealth of the forgiveness of sins. All of the gold and silver in the entire world cannot buy this treasure. But the precious blood of Jesus has purchased that forgiveness of sins for us. Here, in His Kingdom, Jesus shares with His people His victory and His riches! He does it through The Word and Sacraments.
And, all of this is for the benefit for Christ’s Kingdom of Glory.
His Kingdom of Glory is the kingdom that will come, when time comes to an end. When time does come to an end, Jesus will reign in His Kingdom of Glory. Then, Jesus will reign with His believers in a land that could not be established here on this earth. So long as there is sin, so long as there are sinners, there cannot be perfect peace and security. But when time comes to an end that land that the people longed for, will be established. And, we will enter, by God’s grace, into that Kingdom of Glory. Jesus will sit on the throne of His father David, forever and ever. There, in Christ’s Kingdom of Glory there will be absolute security. No enemies. No sin. No trouble will ever enter! The gates of hell shall not prevail against God’s Kingdom of Glory! There, in Christ’s Kingdom of Glory there will be wealth beyond our wildest imaginations! The streets will be paved with gold. The doors of the city will be one giant pearl for each portal. And, that wealth will be ours for all eternity!
There, in Christ’s Kingdom of Glory will be absolute peace! The sword will be beat into the plowshare, because there will be no more sin. We will be with Jesus, our King, for all eternity!
It is of no small significance that the very last words that we ever hear from the mouth of Christ are in the book of Revelation, from the last book of the Bible. It was after Jesus had ascended into Heaven. Do you know what those very last words that Jesus spoke to us were, before we see Him in glory? He said,
"I am the root and the offspring of David.
I am
coming soon."
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Amen.
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