Great David’s greater Son

One of the benefits of reading the Old and New Testaments alongside each other is that you can see promises and their fulfilment side by side. This week in 2 Samuel we have God’s promise (covenant) to David that: ‘Your house and your kingdom shall endure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.’ (2 Samuel 7:16) We shall read in subsequent books how God preserved David’s family line in fulfilment of this promise. The utlimate fulfilment, of course, is in Jesus. We’ve already read about his family tree (back to David, and beyond) in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Jesus has come to be a king, in fact the king, in the line of David. But what kind of king will he be? In John’s gospel we’re heading towards Jesus’ arrest and trial, where Pilate will ask Jesus directly ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ (John 18:33) Jesus’ reply shows that he is a king, but a different kind of king: ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’ (John 18:36) Jesus had come to restore the people of God, but it wasn’t going simply going to be a return to the glory days of David. The enemies to be defeated now are not the Philistines, but sin and death. And the goal is not just a free Judah / Palestine, but a free humanity and a free world, with Jesus as their king.