Jesus is the Son of David,
the Savior of Mankind.
Advent 2017.
And when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, ... I will set up thy Seed after thee, ... which shall proceed out of thy bowels, ... and I will establish His kingdom ... . [1]
During this season of Advent Concordia will be meditating on II Samuel 7. It is, indeed, fitting to meditate on this chapter because it reveals to David and to all men that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would be David’s Son.
The profundity of this Promise was not lost on David. David was at the pinnacle of worldly power, and now the Lord had blessed him with his Son being the Savior of the world and God Himself in the flesh. After the prophet Nathan delivered this Promise, David was, as it were, nearly dumb struck. After all, who would not be awe-struck with the Knowledge that your offspring would save all men and give the life eternal and everlasting blessings? In II Samuel 7 we read:
According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, [and this is the teaching of the Man who is the LORD God [2]
David’s Son would bring about this Salvation and all these Everlasting Blessings by His Passion. The Lord told David through the prophet Nathan:
I will be His Father, and He shall be My Son, [whom, when {I} declare Him iniquitous 1], I will chasten Him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men. 2
Christ truly suffered because He bore the guilt of men. Though Christ committed not sin, He took the guilt upon Himself and made them His own in order to bear the wrath of God for the sins of all men so no man would ever have to taste God’s wrath. In Psalm 69 Jesus says:
O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. (Psalm 69:5).
The prophet Isaiah also describes how Christ suffered for the sins of all men:
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded? for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5).
Because Christ truly suffered and because Christ truly is the Almighty God, He atoned for the sins of all men, reconciled God to sinful men, and, thereby, saves. Luther writes:
Therefore this house, to be built by Messiah, the Son of David and of God, must necessarily be a different, a larger and more glorious, house. For figure it out for yourself; if God is to dwell in this house, it must be much larger and more splendid than heaven and earth, for God is so vast that heaven is the chair on which He thrones and the earth is His footstool. How much additional space would be required to rest His head, breast, and arms? In view of this it is very relevant to ask: “What kind of house of wood and stone would you build Me for My dwelling, when heaven and earth are far, far too small to contain Me?” Holy Scripture, in particular the New Testament, informs us about this house. It is the holy Christian church, which extends to the ends of the earth. Furthermore, it is an everlasting house, a house that will endure and live forever, a house in which God remains and lives and keeps house forever. What a house and temple that will become!
Now let us consider the carpenter, or master builder, of this house. He is to be a man and a son of David, for the text speaks of one of your own sons (1 Chron. 17:11). Yet he is to build a house of God which is to be better and more glorious than heaven and earth and, in addition, is to stand forever. Whence will he derive the skill and the power for this? Neither man’s nor angel’s skill or might can come into question here, for angels cannot create heaven and earth, no, not even the least of the creatures. Much less is man able to do this. Therefore the builder of this house must be true God, who has the actual power of the divine nature to create heaven and earth and even much better things than that; that is, He must be omnipotent God, and yet He is not the Person who says of Him I will be His Father, and He shall be My Son and He shall build a house for Me. Here the Persons are clearly and definitely distinguished as Father and Son, as Builder and Master of the house. Still they cannot be two Gods, nor can the Son be a separate or a different God. The First Commandment precludes that possibility, saying (Ex. 20:3): “You shall have no other gods before Me.” And (Deut. 6:4): “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord, or God.” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 15, pp. 281, 282).
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of David, True God and True Man, fully able and willing to Atone for the sins and save and did so in His Cross.
Advent Vespers I Sermon.
Advent Vespers II Sermon.
Advent Vespser III Sermon.
The Festival of Christmas Eve Sermon.
The Festival of Christmas Sermon.
[1] Text is from the Rev. Dr. P. E. Kretzmann’s Popular Commentary of the Bible, The Old Testament, The Historical Books of the Old Testament: Genesis to Esther, Vol. I, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1923, p. 521.
Concordia Publishing House captions II Samuel 7 in its 1905 edition of Luther’s German translation of the Bible: “David bekommt die Verheissuing des Messias ... . [ David receives the Promise of the Messiah] Die Bibel oder die ganze Heilige Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments, nach der deutschen Uebersetzung Dr. Martin Luthers ( The Bible or the Entire Holy Scripture, Old and New Testaments, according to the German Translation of Dr. Martin Luther), St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1905, p. 588, translation from the German in brackets is mine.
[2] II Samuel 7:17-19, translation from the Hebrew in brackets is mine. “Above all else David praises the grace that God revealed to him the future of his house, praising the wonderful ways of a Man, who is God the Lord, praises Christ, true man and God, through whom David’s house and kingdom are established forever, and he begs God that on the basis of this assurance he may deal with Him.” The Rev. Dr. George Stoeckhardt, Wisdom for Today, Volume I, tr. the Rev. Arthur E. Beck, Ft. Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press, no date, p. 255.
“ And this is the manner of man, O Lord God? literally, ‘And this is the law of the man, namely, Lord Jehovah.’ David not only understood that the Messianic prophecy was given to his family, that the eternal establishment of his house and kingdom, in the person of Messiah, was included in the prophecy which had come to him, but it was also clear to him that this singular descendant would, in His person combine two natures, the human and the divine. Messiah, the true man, would at the same time be the Lord Jehovah.” The Rev. Dr. P. E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Old Testament, Vol. I, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1923, p. 522.
1The translation from the Hebrew in brackets is mine. It follows the rule “Under the causative [the author here speaks of the Hebrew verb form the Hiphil] is also included the declarative sense, e.g., ... to pronounce just; ... to pronounce guilty ... .” Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, eds., E. Kautzsch, A. E. Cowley, tr. A. E. Cowley, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988, p. 144, amplification in brackets added. The “declarative sense” is another expression for the forensic sense.
“The Son of David will carry the iniquity of His people, and will be punished by God with whips and scourges, which man has deserved. In this way He will redeem His people from their sins and punishment.” The Rev. Dr. George Stoeckhardt, Wisdom for Today, Vol. I, tr. the Rev. Arthur E. Beck, Ft. Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press, p. 254.
“It may also mark an action simultaneous to that of the main verb; the simultaneous action is shown by an infinitive ... in a circumstantial clause.” Bruce K. Waltke, M. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1990, p. 196.
“The Infinitive Construct, with preposition and suffix, may occur together with the Perfect or the Imperfect, as verbal nouns. ... The suffixes of the Infinite Construct may denote either the subject of the object ... .” J. Weingreen, A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, Oxford: Clarendon Press, New York: Oxford University Press, second edition1959, p. 132.
The Hebrew in brackets literally reads, “whom, in declaring Him iniquitous”. I’ve rendered it into a little smoother English and translated it, “who, when {I} declare Him iniquitous”, namely, Christ is declared iniquitous by God’s imputing or reckoning our sins to Him so He can Atone for them and deliver us from our sins.
2Text is from the Rev. Dr. P. E. Kretzmann’s Popular Commentary of the Bible, The Old Testament, The Historical Books of the Old Testament: Genesis to Esther, Vol. I, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1923, p. 521, amplification in brackets added.
Concordia Publishing House captions II Samuel 7 in its 1905 edition of Luther’s German translation of the Bible: “David bekommt die Verheissuing des Messias ... . [David receives the Promise of the Messiah] Die Bibel oder die ganze Heilige Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments, nach der deutschen Uebersetzung Dr. Martin Luthers (The Bible or the Entire Holy Scripture, Old and New Testaments, according to the German Translation of Dr. Martin Luther), St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1905, p. 588, translation from the German in brackets is mine.
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