Luke 20:41-44 Birth Order or Kingly Order
We are continuing with Jesus in the temple during His final week in Jerusalem. He has dealt with all the questions and traps of the religious leaders. He has silenced them all. I’m certain they are seething with anger over His triumph. But for now they are busy licking their wounds. Now it is Jesus’ turn to question the crowd and impart truths He wants them to know.
Jesus’ first direct question to those following Him sets the people to thinking. We looked at this question in Matthew and Mark already. When we looked at it in Matthew we focused on Jesus’ timing of revealing “Whose Son is Jesus.” Jesus had a perfectly laid out plan and timing to reveal this truth. He set the schedule, not the religious leaders.
In Mark’s gospel account of this question we looked at one of the truths Jesus’ choice of text revealed. Jesus’ choice revealed the triune nature of God. All three persons of the Godhead were involved in that short verse. “David Called Him His Lord” through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus and the Father are having the conversation David reports.
Today I want to look at what David calling his descendent Lord implies. Jesus asked the people about the lineage of the Christ. His question was designed to make those listening think. Every good Jewish child is taught the tenants of faith. One of those tenants was the lineage of the Messiah. The Messiah would be from the line of David, the king after God’s own heart.
David wasn’t the first King of Israel but he was the first to establish a royal lineage. Saul was Israel’s first king but his behavior prompted God to choose a different line to work through. Knowing how God works, I certain He wasn’t surprised by Saul’s behavior and knew He would be ending Saul’s kingly lineage. Saul and all three of his sons were killed on the same day in the same battle. He had no one to inherit the throne. Not a problem though because David was anointed as Israel’s next king MANY years before. Once Saul and his sons were dead, the country turned to David as their ruler. It didn’t happen overnight but when it did, it was the whole country that subjected themselves to his authority.
David’s reign was filled with bloodshed as Israel took possession of the lands promised to them by God. David was very tender hearted towards God and sought Him in most of his decisions. David was not without sin, as the Bathsheba incident clearly illustrates, but he was quick to admit his failures and seek God’s forgiveness. Of all the kings of Israel, none were closer to God than David.
Every parent wishes for their children to be better off in some way than they were themselves. David was no exception. David wanted Solomon to be closer to God than he was. God told David that because of the blood on his hands that he wasn’t going to be allowed to build a permanent dwelling place for God. God told David that He would allow his son Solomon to do it though. I believe that from that time forward, David poured all his plans for God’s temple into Solomon’s heart. This was how David wanted his son to succeed him or be better off; having a permanent place to worship God.
Solomon would fulfill this wish of his father, but he let the people wander from God. He allowed the gods of the surrounding nations to creep into Israel by way of his wives and concubines. Solomon’s heart, though open to receive God’s wisdom, was ruled by his sexual appetites. He valued his relationships with his sexual relationships above his relationship with God. This was a disaster that the nation never fully recovered from. David’s rule was the ONLY rule where the nation of Israel as a whole bowed to God’s authority. That was the lineage the Christ was to come through.
Through the Holy Spirit, David was able to see the future of his kingdom. David knew that one of his heirs would rule, but it was a position of authority in a different kind of Kingdom. One day David’s kingdom would be replaced by a true Kingdom, and his heir would be its true King. This Kingdom’s King far exceeded David’s abilities to rule. This King would sit at the right hand of the Creator of the universe. This King was in every way Lord over David. This King would be Lord of ALL the earth. This King would be the Son of the Living God.
The people listening to Jesus were most likely aware of His earthly lineage. That knowledge gave credence to their belief in Jesus as the Messiah. They knew the Messiah was from David’s lineage and expected Him to set up a kingdom just like His “father.” Jesus was telling them that His Kingdom would far surpass any kingdom they had ever known. He was telling them that His Kingdom would be eternal, but they wouldn’t understand that day. Many never would. The nation of Israel still doesn’t.
Father God, I pray for the nation of Israel. I pray for their willful blindness. I know it breaks Your heart to see so many of Your chosen people refusing Your free gift of salvation. I can’t even imagine the pain You suffered as they spit on, mocked, beat, and finally killed Your beloved Son. As a parent myself, I would want to see those who treated my child that way BURN IN HELL! But You don’t. You still call out to them every day. You still long for them to come home. You still warm them with the sun You created. You still bless their endeavors. But You also still hold Your standard for eternal life. I know Your word tells us that many in the nation of Israel will turn back to You in the end times. I wish it was all of them.
Because of the death of those who treated Jesus so shamefully my “wish” for them to burn in Hell probably came true. I would have loved to read that they recognized their sin and repented, but I don’t see it in any of the literature. But only You know the heart. Father forgive me for my anger. I am no less guilty than they when it comes to sin. My sins put Jesus on the cross just as surely as theirs. Thank You for Your forgiveness. I must forgive too, if for no other reason than that I have been forgiven myself. Help me to love as You love.
