Jesus the Son of David

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message.

The Genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1

From Pastor Chris Roseberg. Our reading tonight is taken from the gospel of Matthew chapter 1. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David the son of Abraham and Jesse the father of David the king and David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.

And Solomon the father of Rehoboam and Rehoboam the father of Abijah. And Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Ahazekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

O Lord, have mercy on us. In the name of Jesus. Jesus, the son of David and the son of Abraham. We're gonna hear more about Abraham next week, but today we're gonna be looking at Jesus, the son of David.

David’s Sin, Penitence, and the Need for Rescue

Now we all know the stories about David, or at least the highlight reel stories. The story of David and Goliath, David's mighty men of valor. Maybe you've even heard of Benaiah, who slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day.

Those are kind of the highlight reels. But as we embark on our Advent meditations, and Advent being a time of penitence, it's vital for us to remember that the heroic David who slew Goliath also sinned greatly against God, and needed to be rescued, and needed to be saved.

You may be tempted to think that I'm referring to that famous incident of the adultery with Bathsheba, the murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite, but tonight I'm not. The sin I'm going to be referring to today, well in reference, sheer numbers of people who died as a result of this sin, and let's just say that it puts the consequences regarding Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite to shame as far as total consequences.

But before we get into that, considering that David needed to be saved, an important thing for us to consider in this regard today, we're going to need to set the stage. So today we're going to be doing a little bit of Bible study, if you would.

Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac and the Promise of Provision

We're going to start in the book of Genesis. We're going to go all the way back to Genesis chapter 22, and there's a bit of information that we need to pick up here in this account where God asked for Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

It's a fascinating text, but we're going to focus in on the end, but I'm going to read it in its entirety since it doesn't look like you all are going anywhere anyway. So Genesis chapter 22 verse 1, After these things God tested Abraham, said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am.

He said, take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. I always like to point out, your only son? Doesn't Abraham have two sons at this point? Two that I can count. I mean, you got Ishmael, the firstborn, and you got Isaac, but God says your son, your only son.

And it's important for us to keep in mind here that I like to note that in the types and the shadows that what we are going to see here is a type and shadow dress rehearsal, if you would, of Christ's sacrifice for our sins, Christ being the only begotten Son of God.

If you think this is really about Abraham and his obedience, you're kind of missing the point. So take your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Keep that word in the back of your head, you're going to need it, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.

So God has given Abraham a specific place to go to, Mount Moriah, and he's going to show him where it is. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two of his young men with him, his son Isaac, cut the wood for the burnt offering, arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day, got to pay attention to that third day stuff in Scripture, on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar, and then Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, laid it on Isaac, his son. So Isaac is about to be sacrificed, and he's carrying the wood. Hmm, that sounds a lot like somebody I can remember in the New Testament.

So he took the wood, and Abraham took the wood burnt offering, laid it on Isaac, his son, took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together, and Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father.

And he said, here I am, my son. He said, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Good question, right? Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.

Boy, no truer words could be said. No truer words could definitely be said here. So they went both of them together, and when they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there, laid the wood in order, bound Isaac, his son, laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, saying, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here I am. He said, do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.

And then Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. Well, thickets have thorns, and so you have a ram caught in a thicket by thorns. Think of it this way, that's an allusion to the crown of thorns that was pressed into the head of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So Abraham went, took the ram, offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. Notice substitution is in play. And verse 14 is where we're going to need to pay close attention, and I'm going to offer a different translation than the ESV in front of you for the Hebrew.

So Abraham called the name of that place. Here's what it says in the ESV, the Lord will provide, as it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. But if you pay close attention to your ESV, there's little notes, little numbers there that tell you that there are alternative translations to this verse.

And let me give you a more literal translation. So Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will rah-ah, see. The Lord will see. Yah-weh-yih-reh. The Lord will see. And on the mount of the Lord, now it changes just a little bit, he shall be seen.

That's just the straight literal translation. Now hold that in mind. Hold that in mind. We're going to come back to that point in just a little bit. Now if you would like to turn, I'm going to take a look at 1 Chronicles chapter 21.

David’s Census and the Requirement of Atonement

1 Chronicles chapter 21, and a much misunderstood account of a very grievous sin that David committed, and the consequences led to the death of 70 ,000 Israelites. 70 ,000. Consequences were severe. Here's what it says in 1 Chronicles 21, verse 1.

Satan stood against Israel, and Satan incited David to number Israel. So David said to Joab, the commander of the army, go number Israel from Bathsheba to Dan, and bring me a report that I may know their number.

But Joab said, May the Lord, Yahweh, add to his people a hundred times as many as they are. Are they not, my Lord the King, all of them my Lord's servants? Why then should my Lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?

Now a little bit of a note here. This has caused a lot of confusion. I mean, after all, here in the United States, we take a note something here in the United States. When a census is tooken, I woke up again with another speech impediment.

Not sure what's going on there. But when a census is taken, it's a big deal. There's a lot of politics involved. A lot of power is involved. But here's a little known portion of the Mosaic Covenant that is going to help shed a little bit of light on this.

In Exodus chapter 30, verses 11 through 16, here's one of the stipulations of the Mosaic Covenant. Yahweh said to Moses, When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to Yahweh when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them.

So in order for there to be a census in Israel, in order for Jews to be counted in the kingdom of Israel, they have to offer a ransom. They have to offer a ransom. And this is kind of interesting stuff.

Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel is 20 geras, and half a shekel as an offering to Yahweh. So the ransom price for each person numbered is an entire shekel, half for the Lord and half for the upkeep of the sanctuary.

Everyone who is numbered in the census from 20 years old and upward shall give Yahweh's offering. The rich shall not give more, the poor shall not give less, then the half shekel when you give Yahweh's offering to make atonement for your lives.

So you're going to note here, this money that goes along with the census is for the purpose of atonement, for the purpose of ransom. All of these are words that we use regarding whom? Christ, and what he did on the cross.

So in this particular case, every head that gets counted must be atoned for, command of God. You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel, you shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to, listen to the quote, make atonement for your lives.

Now, did David in this census atone for all the people of Israel? Did he require them to pay the shekel? Nope. And so here we've got the entire nation of Israel being numbered without an atonement. That's not gonna fly, and Joab, the commander of the army, knows perfectly well that this is going to create a cause of guilt for Israel.

So you wonder, what is going on inside the mind and the heart of King David? As he's getting to finish out his days, is he putting his trust in the army rather than in God? Where is his focus, and why is it so important for him to know the number of people who can carry the sword in Israel?

So the story then continues, but the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all of Israel and came back to Jerusalem, and Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David.

In all of Israel there were 1 ,100 ,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470 ,000 who drew the sword. And you notice these are all numbers that are rounded up. In other words, Joab really didn't care to give a correct accounting, he just kind of gave a ballpark figure.

And he didn't even include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, he only counted ten of the tribes. For the king's command was abhorrent to Joab, and indeed it should have been. It should have been. So God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.

David said to God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing, but now please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly. And you're going to note something here.

In what follows next, we see one of the horrifying things about sin, and that is that our sin doesn't impact only us. Note that we have been thrust into the curse and the chaos that we find ourselves in because of the sin of one man, Adam.

Thank you, Adam. And so you'll note, Adam stood as a representative of all of us. And in this particular case, now David, his sin is going to have consequences for the entire nation. But whose sin was it?

His sin. And so you'll note that God does, when somebody who's a representative of an entire country or an entire people, he has the prerogative to punish one person's sin throughout the entire community.

Remember, at the fall of Jericho, God had said that all of Jericho has to be devoted to destruction. And then there was that fellow who decided that he was going to take some of the gold for himself, some of the plunder for himself, and the silver for himself, and he hid it and dug it under his tent.

And God caused the entire nation of Israel to suffer defeat at the hands of the people of Ai as a result of this one man's sin. And so now we can kind of see kind of a bigger universal picture here. David is almost like a representative of whom?

Of Adam. The people of Israel are being made to suffer. So who's going to make atonement for them because none of them have made atonement for themselves by paying what was required of them to pay for this census?

And that's kind of the big rub, isn't it? Don't you think that somebody in Israel would have said, hey, wait a second there, Joab. You just counted my head. Here's a ding. Here's a shackle for you. Nobody even remembered the command of the Lord regarding how censuses are to be taken, that there needs to be a ransom, that there needs to be atonement.

Well, now we've got a problem. So David said, please take away the iniquity of your servant. I've acted very foolishly. And Yahweh spoke to Gad, David's seer, that's his prophet, saying, you go and you say to David, thus says Yahweh, three things I offer you.

Choose one of them that I may do it to you. So now there are consequences. So Gad came to David and said to him, thus says Yahweh, choose what you will. Either three years of famine, three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemy overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of Yahweh, pestilence on the land, with the angel of Yahweh destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.

Now decide what answer shall I return to him who sent me. Well, none of those sound really good. Is there an option four? No, there is no option four. So David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let me fall into hand of Yahweh, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of men.

And so David casts his lot with the mercy of God, even in God's judgment. He trusts that God is merciful. He knows much about the very nature of God. This is the same God who, when confronted with his sin regarding Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, upon confessing his sin, he unflinchingly received a full absolution from the prophet Nathan.

This is the man who prayed in Psalm 51, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. This is the one who has been forgiven multiple times, and needs to be so.

But here's the issue. There is an unmet requirement for atonement that must be taken care of. And so, I'm in great distress. So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel. Seventy thousand men of Israel fell.

Seventy thousand. God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. But as he was about to destroy it, listen to the words, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. Remember what it says in Genesis 22.

Abraham named that mountain, that place, Yahweh will see. It's the same mountain, by the way, and I can prove it in a minute. Yahweh will see, and on the mount of Yahweh, he shall be seen. That's just the straight Hebrew.

But here we are in 1 Chronicles 21, and Jesus himself, that's who the angel of the Lord is, is on his way to Jerusalem to basically lay it waste. And what happens? The text says he was about to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh saw, and he relented from the calamity.

What did he see? What did he see? Well, I'll show you this in just a little bit, but it's absolutely patently clear that what he saw, he saw Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah is the place where the temple will be built, and you'll see that shortly.

But also, about four blocks away from where the temple is built is the exact place where Christ was crucified for our sins. Yahweh saw, and that's what the text says, he saw. And then it also says, on the mountain of the Lord, he will be seen.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. So Yahweh saw, and he relented of the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, it's enough, now stay your hand. And the angel of Yahweh was standing by the threshing floor of Ornon the Jebusite.

And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord, listen to these words, standing between earth and heaven. Wait a second, isn't that what Jesus was doing when he was suspended between earth and heaven?

He was standing between the two while on the cross? You see, these little details are not throwaway details. All of them are pointing, all of us, to Christ and what he would accomplish on that same mountain.

So Ornon the Jebusite, the threshing floor of a Gentile, a man who isn't even a Jew. And so David and the elders, elders clothed in sackcloth, they fell on their faces. And David said to God, was it not I who gave command to number the people?

It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Yahweh my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people.

But I would note, how could the plague be on David and his father's house? God has promised that the descendant of David, the one who would be the Messiah, would sit on the throne of David forever. So God's hand couldn't be against David or his family or his house.

So the angel of Yahweh commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Ornon the Jebusite. What an interesting thing. Have you ever stopped to think for a second the implications of this?

The very place where atonement for sins was made in its previous iteration was a threshing floor, a place where wheat and chaff were separated. And isn't that what Christ's cross is to this day? It is the place where our atoning sacrifice was made so that we can be reconciled and pardoned and atoned and ransomed.

But also the cross itself is a threshing floor. Think of while Christ was hanging on the cross between two thieves. One believed and the other didn't. And the threshing floor activity of the cross began at this point.

And now even to this day the cross is the big dividing point. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins or not? Well I'm a good person, I don't really need that. Well with the chaff you go. Or do you repent and sack cloth and ashes saying I have sinned against you and done what was evil.

Have mercy on me God. So David went up at Gad's word that he had spoken in the name of Yahweh. Now Ornon the Jebusite was threshing wheat. Of course he was. He turned and saw the angel and his four sons who were with him and they hid themselves.

Kind of invokes the book of Revelation when God comes in judgment and people hide themselves wishing that the rocks would fall on them to kill them. And as David came to Ornon, Ornon looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground.

And David said to Ornon give me the side of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to Yahweh and give it to me at its full price so that the plague may be averted from the people. Then Ornon said to David take it and let my lord the king do what seems good to him.

See I give oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for the grain and the offering. I give it all. But King David said to Ornon no but I will buy them for full price and I will not take for Yahweh what is yours nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.

So David paid Ornon 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site and David built there an altar to Yahweh and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on Yahweh and Yahweh answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering.

And then Yahweh commanded the angel and he put his sword back into its sheath. What a beautiful picture. We who have sinned greatly against God we know full well that we we should expect from God that he would cut us down with the sword of the angel of the Lord.

But because of what Christ accomplished for us on that same mountain and taking our sins upon himself dying in our place paying our ransom with his own blood. Now the dread angel of the Lord sheathes his sword and we are at peace with God.

And at that time when David saw that Yahweh had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornon the Jebusite he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the Lord which Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.

But David could not go before it to inquire of God for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. When have you ever read of David this mighty man the one who slew Goliath being so knee-knocking scared that he wouldn't even go into the presence of the Lord.

He knew his guilt full well. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So David said here shall be the house of Yahweh Elohim and here the altar of burnt offering of Israel. And if you fast forward just a little bit to 2nd Chronicles chapter 3 you can see very well where this what this mountain is.

Mount Moriah, the Temple, and the Cross

Solomon began to build 2nd Chronicles chapter 3 verse 1 to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where the Lord had appeared to David his father at the place that David had appointed on the threshing floor of Ornon the Jebusite.

But isn't Mount Moriah the very place it is where Abraham was told to offer up Isaac and on that day the Lord provided the sacrifice. So this Advent season as we consider the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ the fact that he is the son of David.

Note then that when you read the rest of the line of David it's pretty much a sketchy list. I mean really I mean I'm glad they didn't that Matthew wasn't inspired by the Holy Spirit to say that Jesus Christ was the son of Manasseh.

In case you don't know about this fellow Manasseh was so wicked he offered up his own children as sacrifices to Baal and Molech. And you'll note that as you read the the account of Jesus's genealogy at the very end there and talking about the line of David what happens they end up in Babylon.

And Christ didn't come to restore Israel to her former glory as in the days of David or Solomon. Instead Jesus did what none of the sons of David nor David himself can do. Jesus did what was perfectly right in the eyes of the Lord.

And the lion of the tribe of Judah became the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, your sin and mine. Is it any wonder then that when Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees in Matthew 22 verses 41 through 46 they gathered together around Jesus and they asked him a question saying what do you think about the Christ whose son is?

Jesus asked them what do you say about the Christ whose son is he? They said well the son of David and he said to them well how is it then that David in the Spirit calls him Lord saying the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

If then David calls him Lord how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him a word nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. And that's kind of the profound amazing bit of all of this is that Jesus Christ is David's son and David's Lord.

And it's truly amazing. Psalm 110 which we read earlier together says the Lord says to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool and Yahweh sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter rule in the midst of your enemies and then listen to this verse your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power clothed in holy garments from the womb of the morning to the dew of your youth it will all be yours.

Christ the Son of David and the Son of God

So brothers and sisters in Christ this penitential season consider the fact that none is righteous no not one there was one that was righteous so and that was Christ who was both the son of David and the Son of God in the name of Jesus.

Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church you can do so by sending a tax-free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th Avenue Northwest Oslo Minnesota 56744 and again that address is Kungsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th Avenue Northwest Oslo Minnesota 56744.

We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message. And again thank you for listening.