The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.”

Matthew 21:9

O Lord Jesus, Son of David, our heavenly King, you came to save us. Thank you for the gift of salvation. Help us to follow your commands and imitate you in all we do in order to be worthy of your Kingdom. We give you all the glory and honor and praise that is yours.

Glory Be...

That the final covenant of the Old Testament is God’s covenant with David. God makes David the king of Israel, “a man after His own heart.” David and his descendants are to rule over this kingdom forever. Jesus, as a direct descendant of David, is his rightful heir and fulfills all of God’s promises to His chosen people in the Old Covenant.

11I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you: 12when your days have been completed and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, sprung from your loins, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He it is who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. 14I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. If he does wrong, I will reprove him with a human rod and with human punishments; 15but I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from Saul who was before you. 16Your house and your kingdom are firm forever before me; your throne shall be firmly established forever.

2 Samuel 7:11-16,

There are six defining characteristic of God’s covenant with David. Each is revealed in this passage from 2 Samuel, in which God first makes His covenant with David. We will go through each characteristic to identify which verse from 2 Samuel 7:11-16 reflects that characteristic and why.

• Kingdom: Verse 12—“I will establish his kingdom.”

• Dynasty: Verse 13—“I will establish his royal throne forever.”

• Father-son relationship:Verse 14—“I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.”

• God will not withdraw His favor:Verse 15—“I will not withdraw my favor from him.”

• Temple: Verse 13—“He it is [the son of David] who shall build a house for my name.”

• Everlasting: Verse 16—“Your house and your kingdom are firm forever before me; your throne shall be firmly established forever.”

The Jews had awaited centuries for the coming of the Messiah, the one who would fulfill each of these promises God made to David. The Greek word for Messiah is Christ, which also means “anointed one.” The Messiah, or Christ, was in fact Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But Jesus was not the first Messiah or Christ. All the kings of Israel who were descended from David were “christs,” or “anointed ones.” To be a king in the line of David was to be anointed by God as Israel’s ruler. Therefore, to call Jesus “Christ” or “Messiah” was to refer to Him as not only the Son of God but also the Son of David, the rightful heir to the everlasting throne of David promised in the Davidic covenant. All the characteristics of the Davidic covenant find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ in the everlasting New Covenant. Matthew strives to make it clear in His Gospel that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of David, who had come to fulfill the promises God made to David in His covenant with Him. Not only does Matthew’s genealogy make it known that Jesus is a descendant of David, but Matthew also emphasizes that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of David.

All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, and they said: “Look! We are your bone and your flesh. In days past, when Saul was still our king, you were the one who led Israel out in all its battles and brought it back. And the LORD said to you: You shall shepherd my people Israel; you shall be ruler over Israel.”

2 Samuel 5:1-2

This passage occurred when David was officially anointed King.

Matthew portrays Jesus in direct response to this scene.

He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matthew 15:24

Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Matthew 19:28

Matthew’s Gospel shows Jesus as the heir to the promises to David, the messiah and king the Jews had waited for, who had come to gather the people of Israel together again in the Kingdom of God. Except now, the people of Israel were the whole people of God.