The House of David
Advent 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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King David has a brilliant idea. First, he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. It took two tries, but in the end, it was a great celebration for the whole nation. Now, he tells Nathan the prophet, it doesn’t feel right to live in a house of cedar when the Lord only has a tent. So, he proposes to replace the tabernacle with a house of cedar for the Lord. Something like his own place.
Initially, it sounds like a good plan. Nathan gives it a green light. But God’s response surprises Nathan and David. Here’s God’s counter-proposal:
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. II Samuel 7:11–13 (NIV)
If you read through rest of the OT, you’ll see how God fulfills his promise. The title “house of David” is used 22 times, referring to David’s dynasty, generation after generation of the kings of Judah who reign in Jerusalem.
The privileged position of the house and line of David carries over to the NT. Matthew lists 14 generation of David’s descendants who reign in Jerusalem. They’re all part of Jesus’ family tree.
Matthew underlines the connection b/t David and his descendants w/ the number 14. Do you recall the significance? דָּוִד 4+6+4 = 14
God’s covenant with David’s house has a carrot and a stick:
I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. II Samuel 7:14 (NIV)
Have you read through the OT history of Israel and Judah in I & II Kings or I & II Chronicles recently?
If you follow the house of David in the OT, it quickly becomes clear: not all David’s descendants share his reverence for the Lord. Even though God is faithful to generation after generation of David’s descendants, the history of David’s dynasty makes tough reading. If this was an OT Bible class, we could go into more detail, studying the disastrous disobedience David’s descendants display.
For now, we’ll note the pattern. They sin against God and against their neighbours. Then they suffer the consequences. David’s grandson, Rehoboam, loses control of the northern tribes b/c of his foolish pride and brash answer to the leaders of Israel. Hezekiah stares down the Assyrians. Josiah and his sons face trouble from Babylon. Eventually, after battles with both Egypt and Babylon, one of Josiah’s sons is carted off to Egypt and another of Josiah’s sons is marched to Babylon wearing bronze shackles.
But God’s promise that David’s house will endures forever holds firm. Even after the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and lead the last kings of Judah into captivity, the descendants of David continue to lead God’s people. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel is born in Babylon but travels home with the exiles to be the governor of Jerusalem. God is faithful to his promises.
Matthew traces King David’s offspring after the exile, even though they live in relative obscurity:
After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud,
Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary,
and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Matthew 1:12–16 (NIV)
God’s promises to build the House of David culminate, 28 gen. later, with the birth of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David.
Matthew doesn’t wow his readers by describing the angels who visit Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem. Those details are found in Luke’s gospel. Matthew’s account is simpler. After Joseph considers divorcing Mary quietly, he receives a message from God:
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21 (NIV)
At the Lord’s Supper, we just celebrated how Jesus saves his people from their sins.
Coming to the Lord’s Table is a confession that we need God’s help. Remember God’s warning about David’s offspring?
“When he does wrong, I will punish him.”
B/c he is holy and just, God does not let sin remain unpunished. We all face punishment for wrong-doing.
And none of us can do enough good today to cover up for yesterday’s shortcomings. The sad fact is: every day I dig myself deeper & deeper in the hole – can you relate?
But there’s good news: Jesus comes to his people as their representative and King to bear the punishment for human sin. As a human, son of David and son of Abraham, Jesus can take our punishment. As God the Son, he can bear the punishment.
In his gospel, Matthew describes how the Jewish priests and leaders rejected Jesus as the Messiah. After a Jewish trial and a Roman trial, the Roman soldiers beat Jesus before they crucify him. He was “beaten with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands.” It’s on the cross that God the Father put the punishment for human sin on Jesus. He died the death we deserve so he could save us from our sin.
Jesus’ resurrection 3 days later assures us that we also are raised to life. If you accept God’s assurances and promises, you share in the life and blessings with Jesus Christ.
And this is where the word pictures and imagery in the Bible really get interesting. God’s promise to build David’s house is fulfilled in Jesus, son of David. No, Jesus does not begin a new dynasty of kings in Jerusalem.
After his resurrection from the grave, Jesus ascends to heavenly glory. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father. From his heavenly throne, Jesus is the king who reigns over heaven and earth. Jesus’ “throne is established forever” just as God promised David through Nathan the prophet.
There’s a reason we come to the Lord’s Table together. All are welcome to God’s open house of mercy. It’s a reminder that we sit and eat together as a family.
It’s true, we have some of the same tensions, squabbles, and failings that David’s descendants have. But Jesus has adopted us and brings us together to make a new family.
The church is united as a household of faith. The house of David, the NT temple of God, is a building that is not built by human hands. Listen to how the apostle Peter describes God’s house in the NT:
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. I Peter 2:4-5 (NIV)
Take a look around you. The people you see here are part of this spiritual household.
Over the next 2 weeks a lot of people will get together w/ friends or family for a meal – a Christmas feast, a New Year celebration. We came together to the Lord’s Table today. The bread and cup are a foretaste of the heavenly feast.
Eating and drinking together is a reminder that we are family.
I don’t know what other celebrations you have planned for this week. I hope you’re able to join the rest of your church family at Crosspoint next Sunday for one or both of the worship services – and if not here in Tillsonburg, connect with God’s family wherever you celebrate Jesus’ coming this week.