Advent: December 6
"Once in royal David's city stood a lowly cattle shed. There a mother laid her baby in a manger for His bed. Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child."
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham...
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah...
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations."
Matthew 1:1,6,17
It’s noteworthy that David is such a key part of Jesus’s genealogy, because this same character is such a key part of the Bible.
This is the David who, as an unassuming shepherd, was anointed King of Israel while Saul was on the throne. It’s the same person who killed Goliath with nothing but a sling and a stone. It’s the guy who was driven out of Israel by Saul but did not kill him when he had the chance. And this king, this strong military leader and author of many Psalms and talented musician, is mentioned in the Bible more than anyone except Jesus.
Though he would not have struggled to win a popularity contest, King David was also very flawed. He took advantage of a woman and orchestrated a murder to cover it up. Not exactly royal behavior.
But out of the greatest king of Israel . . . a new king.
A king who was so unassuming but who prophets said would shepherd His people Israel before He was even born. A King who was declared the Messiah while Herod was on the throne. A king who defeated death. A king who grants mercy when we don’t deserve it.
From the line of King David: our King of Kings.
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord 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.”
Luke 1:32
Another covenant: fulfilled. Another promise: kept. And another picture of how throughout history, God used (and uses) flawed, imperfect sinners to accomplish His plans and build His kingdom.
The promise of this eternal King should always give us hope, but especially today in our divisive political landscape. Whether you lean red or blue, you can probably agree that there is so much tension. There is blaming and finger-pointing and honestly, hate. I can’t even get on NextDoor to check about power outages without seeing someone getting roasted for voting for ___ (when they were just asking about the weather). It's terrifying. People are fighting just to fight.
While the news of Jesus as King does not change who sits in the White House today or in the Senate seats tomorrow, it does change our perspectives. There is no leader like Jesus. There is no ruler like Jesus. There is no sovereign like Jesus. And Jesus will reign forever.
He will not divide us, but unite us. He will make no false promises, but will continue to do what He says He will. He will rule with justice and mercy. He will shepherd His people. He will rule not for four years or six years or a lifetime, but for eternity.
"And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come."
Ephesians 1:19–21
This is our hope today: that we serve a God who fulfills promises, that a greater David has come, and that we will spend eternity with our King.