Lectionary for Dec. 24, 2023
Fourth Sunday of Advent
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26;
Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
One of my favorite Bible stories growing up was the healing of Bar-Timaeus (Mark 10:46-52). Upon hearing that Jesus is leaving Jericho, Bar-Timaeus shouts from the roadside where he has been begging: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many angrily tell him to be quiet. Perhaps Jesus was teaching as he walked, and the man’s shouts were disturbing the lesson? Nevertheless, Bar-Timaeus continues yelling. He then drops Jesus’ name and shouts: “Son of David, have mercy on me!” At this Jesus stops, calls Bar-Timaeus to him and heals him. Why would this label—Son of David—have special meaning?
In speaking to Mary about the child she would conceive, the angel gives several points of information. The child would be named Jesus, a form of Jehoshua or Joshua, which is how we translate “The Lord saves” (Luke 1:31). Additionally the angel says Jesus would be called the Son of God/the Most High (Luke 1:32, 35). If I’m honest, these details from this story mean the most to me, including when Mary agrees with what the angel tells her and says let it be done (Luke 1:38).
But the angel also tells Mary that the baby she is about to conceive will receive the throne of his ancestor David. He will rule over Jacob/Israel and his kingdom will have no end. What does this mean? Jesus did precious little throne-sitting in his life, preferring to sit down and teach in synagogues (Luke 4:20), the temple (John 8:2) and in the wild places (Mark 4:1, Matthew 15:29). He didn’t seem to have done any ruling prior to his judicial murder and resurrection. After he ascended, Jesus sits (and sometimes stands) at the right hand of God (Hebrews 1:3, 1 Peter 3:22, Acts 7:55-56). But that isn’t David’s throne. What did it mean for so many people in Jesus’ lifetime, and after his resurrection, to call him the Son of David?
The angel also tells Mary that the baby she is about to conceive will receive the throne of his ancestor David. He will rule over Jacob/Israel and his kingdom will have no end. What does this mean?
We need to understand the whole backstory of the Son of David. Way back in 2 Samuel 7, after David set out to build a house/temple for God, the prophet Nathan told him that God would build him a house/dynasty instead. God would establish the throne of David forever (2 Samuel 7:16) and provide offspring to sit upon it.
The psalmist sings of God’s graciousness (Psalm 89:1). One of the key manifestations of this graciousness is protecting the line of David and upholding the covenant God made with him (3-4). God established David and his descendants with favor and faithfulness, such that his descendants will call God Father, God and the Rock of Salvation (24, 26). The psalmist sings that the people will know that God is faithful by seeing a descendant of David on the throne of his ancestors. An identifiable “Son of David” means that God’s promises to be faithful are being kept.
In an uncertain world, when the strong and powerful oppress the weak and marginalized, we need to know that God is still as faithful and just as Scripture claims. The prophets deploy the image of the Son of David sitting on the throne as a confirmation that God is still trustworthy.
- “On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11).
- “A throne shall be established in steadfast love in the tent of David, and on it shall sit in faithfulness a ruler who seeks justice and is swift to do what is right” (Isaiah 16:5).
- “‘The days are surely coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. … For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel’” (Jeremiah 33:14-15, 17).
- “And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I the Lord, have spoken” (Ezekiel 34:24).
When an angel or a blind man on the side of the road calls Jesus the Son of David, they are making a claim about who God is. God is one who keeps promises and can be relied on to deliver and save. Jesus, like Zerubbabel before him (Haggai 2:23), becomes God’s signet ring, ensuring that God will fulfill the good words spoken to the people.
