Jesus and David

More than a King

Mark 12:35–37 NIV

While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.

Power punch - like a good smoothie.

It is important to know what Jesus is doing here when he’s teaching. It’s something that he has alluded to but now he’s speaking pretty clearly to it. And in a very public forum that will expedite his crucifixion. Why?

It’s clear he’s calling himself the Messiah and yet he’s also challenging the idea of what the Messiah is…using scripture as his source material

More than a King.

More than just a descendant of David.

Let’s start with the context.

Jesus from the line of David (fulfills prophecy)

One of the most important and prominent thinking about the Messiah is that he will be a descendant of King David.

It’s a biblical prophecy that comes from a few places like Psalm 2, and 89, but most importantly from:

2 Samuel 7:1–13 “After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.” But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘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.”

And this is why connecting the Jesus line to David is very important for the early church: Romans 1:3 “regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David,”

Matthew 1:17 “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.”

So the expectation and anticipation of the Jewish people is that the Messiah was coming from the line of David.

And more than just a descendant - A KING.

Look at that verse in 2 Samuel - “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever!”

So Jesus is establishing the Messiah connection to David and the kingship in these verses. So let’s start there. JESUS IS KING.

Jesus is King

Now for us, as Jesus followers this may be one of the first things we come to embrace but this is pretty shocking for the group of people to hear. If Jesus is declared as the son of David, than he’s a King.

Doesn’t look like a king.

But he just came off a story of “what’s the most important thing.” And how does he end it, and what does he tell the person that asked the question. “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

And then immediately Mark places this quote and context of Jesus talking about David.

KINGS have KINGDOMS

Have you heard about Monowi, Nebraska?

It’s a town with a population of 1. Her name is Elsie Eiler and she is the Mayor of the town, the treasurer, clerk, librarian. She also owns and operates a tavern there where she’s the bartender. She makes sure she continues to file the paperwork to keep Monowi as an official municipality.

She’s the Major and she has a city.

Yet - she only governs herself. It’s not much of a kingdom or a city. She literally collects taxes from… you guessed it, herself.

It’s hard to say that she’s a Queen with a Kingdom.

But if you wanted a Kingdom and you were willing to conquer for it, there have been many self-proclaimed monarchies in history. And not just like this, where one person decides to outline a piece on the map and claim it as a city or a kingdom. Or a cult with a crazy person.

There have been plenty of examples of a person, declaring themselves as king, and then beginning to take land, villages, and places.

Think of Genghis Khan establishing the Mongol Empire.

-That’s a King with a kingdom.

And in many ways this is the expectation of the Son of David. To be a king with a kingdom. It’s what would be expected with Roman occupation. Do what they did but even better!

What do we know about David as king?

-He defeated enemies.

-He established a city to be a capital and a seat of government.

-He threw out invaders and even took more of the land.

So Jesus - being the son of David as a king. Is expected to be a king with a kingdom?

What’s the problem though with kingdoms? They never last.

-Where is David’s kingdom now?

-What about Genghis Khan? Even the mighty Romans of Jesus’ time?

If the God of the universe is going to establish a kingdom… it needs to be eternal. Without end, cannot be defeated, overcome, beat, or taken.

-That’s a different kind of kingdom and a different kind of king.

So it won’t be a human kingdom, with lines on maps…

-For that will be constant war and violence to maintain. The kingdom needs to be different.

Aubrey’s ordination paper on the (snippet) kingdom of God: The Kingdom of God is where God rules and reigns. When God created the world, he set about a structure in which humanity would be part of his presence, his care, and his agency in the world. When humanity chose independence, we developed our own kingdoms and we have walked in that shadow ever since. Jesus brought light to the shadow that we chose by initiating a personal relationship with us where we can walk with Him and be like Him. Jesus ushered in the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. We are a part of the Kingdom of God and we participate in it with the hope that a new creation is coming. 

The Kingdom of God was initiated on earth through Jesus. Jesus shows us what the Kingdom of God looks like and how we can participate in it. We see what is close to the Fathers heart through Jesus. Through Jesus’ teachings and the way He lived, we have a model for how we should order our lives.  Then when Jesus’ physical body left, He sent the Holy Spirit to be our guide and empower us to live rightly.

The Kingdom of God is now and not yet. The Kingdom of God was installed on earth by Jesus, this is the now. The not yet, is we are awaiting Christ’s second advent, where He will come and reign again. Dallas Willard has this great quote discussing the Lord’s prayer, “So when Jesus directs us to pray, ‘Thy kingdom come,’ he does not mean that we should pray for it to come into existence. Rather, we pray for it to take over at all points in the personal, social, and political order where it is now excluded: ‘On earth as it is in heaven.’ With this prayer we are invoking it, as in faith we are acting it, into the real world of our daily existence.” (Willard, 1997). 

This quote from Willard reminds us that the kingdom of God is invoked at our real life, our daily existence. The kingdom of God invades earth and is present among us right now. We so often get focused on what we can physically see yet there is a spiritual realm that is real and we have access to. We have access because Jesus tore the veil and the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. We have access to resources that are not of this world but are from God. 

And not yet, that we await God’s original intent and design will be in place when Christ returns. Kingdom order will reign on earth, where we will live in God’s presence and care. There will be no more tears, suffering or pain. We will get to live out the designs of the Creator in tandem with Him. We are awaiting the full realization of the Kingdom with Jesus’ second coming.

Our responsibility in God’s Kingdom is to be disciples of Jesus. To respond to Jesus’ words in Mark 1:15, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” In Mark 4:26-39, Jesus uses the example of a man scattering seed on the ground. It is our responsibility to first respond to the invitation of God and to proclaim His Lordship over our lives. Then we are to go and make disciples by sharing the good news of the gospel to all people. Yet, it is not us that waters and fertilizes this seed, but it is the Holy Spirit. We are the vessels, spreading the seed and the Holy Spirit is the one that allows the seed to grow and do the transformational work.

We see the Kingdom of God invoked by His people when we take Jesus’ teachings, such as beatitudes, seriously and live by them. God’s love and how we live this out is what flips the structures of this world on its head. We conform to the Kingdom of God by following the commands of Jesus and participating in discipleship, justice, mercy, community engagement and love for one another. The challenge for humanity is to constantly seek out, believe and trust our access to the kingdom. 

So Jesus as the Son of David has established this kingdom of God… and you and I have access to it. But Jesus is actually even making a larger point.

He says - “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David?”

Jesus is MORE THAN just the king. More than just the son of David… he is David’s LORD.

So let’s look at:

Jesus is Lord

Jesus then quotes —- REFERENCE BACK TO THE TEXT FIRST.

Psalm 110 “Of David. A psalm. The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.”

This is more than a KING - this is the KING OF KINGS and the LORD OF LORDS.

He’s the Lord of David. He’s not just his son, as if he is beneath David and less than David and that he will always be looking back to David going, “oh I wish I could be like the mighty king David…” NO—- David is looking to him going, “LORD!”

What is a LORD? - not a word we use often (unless we are at church)

“Someone who has significant authority over others.”

When we come to follow Jesus we declare him as LORD… not just as King.

For you don’t always serve a king, I mean you should, but you may not. But LORD - means, he is the one I trust with my life. He is the one I am obedient to.

Jesus is the KING OF KINGS and the LORD OF LORDS. —- HE is OVER DAVID.

Revelation 19:16 “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.”

But notice in Psalm 110 - there’s another reference that’s very important and Jesus knew they would catch the reference just by him mentioning the Psalm. (in the Mark text)

The Lord is a king in this passage.

The Lord is obviously a Lord in this passage.

But the Lord is also a priest in this passage.

See this verse… Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.””

The book of Hebrews spends a lot of time on this but let’s briefly look at why this is important.

Jesus is Priest

There’s two verses we need from Hebrews and then we can unpack them a little.

Hebrews 4:14–16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

**quick expand on this**

Hebrews 7:11 “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?”

Hebrews 7:15–28 “And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’ ” Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”

What’s happening here?

Melchizedek is a strange character in biblical history because he only finds a couple lines in the Old Testament. Here they are:

Genesis 14:18–20 “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

Hebrews contents that Melchizedek is a precursor to Christ himself. That we have a KING who is a PRIEST that wasn’t established by human hands but instead by God himself as both priest and king.

But Hebrews goes on to say - death prevented this priest and others like him to continue in office, so it was always changing. You Jews have had many priests and high priests.

However, now we have Jesus - who LIVES FOREVER… and he can truly meet our need.

For he is PERFECT - PURE - EXALTED

He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins for he has NONE nor does he need to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. For HE IS THE SACRIFICE.

Now don’t take this for granted… it’s because of Jesus that we have a GREAT HIGH PRIEST

-Who is the great sacrifice.

-Who is the king

-Who is the intercessor for us

-Who allows us to approach the throne with confidence

All in this little text in Mark, Jesus is saying all this…

Jesus is KING

Jesus is LORD

Jesus is PRIEST

and we need all of that and he FULFILLS it all for us.

Let’s pray.

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In what ways does recognizing Jesus as more than King impact your daily life and spiritual journey?

How can we better understand and embrace Jesus' role as our Lord in our decision-making processes?

What does it mean for you personally to have access to the Kingdom of God right now?

How can the characteristics of Jesus as King, Lord, and Priest influence how you serve others within your community?

In what ways can we invoke the principles of the Kingdom of God in our interactions and relationships with others?

What expectations do you have ofJesus as your King, and how might those expectations differ from what was expected of Him in biblical times?

How do you see the concept of Jesus as both King and Priest applying to your life as a student?

What does it mean to you to participate in the Kingdom of God in your everyday life?

How can understanding Jesus as more than just a descendant of David help you understand His relevance today?

In practical ways, how can you spread the teachings of Jesus in your school or among your peers?