Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:9
At the time of Christ, every Jewish person clearly understood that “the Son of David” was a messianic title. This is why the chief priests and scribes were so indignant that the crowd chanted the title at Christ’s triumphal entry (Matthew 21:15). During the ministry of the Lord Jesus, people wondered if the prophesy of the Lord’s anointed was being fulfilled in their eyes, so they asked one another, “Could this be the Son of David?” (Matthew 12:3).
The stated purpose of the gospel of Matthew was to prove this point. The book begins, “The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). The verses continue to show that Joseph (Jesus’ adopted dad) was a direct descendant of David and would have been king, if there had been the continuation of Davidic dynasty.
Matthew presents Christ as the legitimate king of Israel and so, used the title Son of David ten times (more than all the other gospels put together). The two blind men outside of Jericho and even the Canaanite woman with the demon possessed daughter cried out for healing to Christ saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!” (Matthew 15:22; 20:30-31).
The people assumed that like David, their Messiah would defeat all the enemies of Israel and establish a lasting kingdom. The prophesy certainly is true and Christ will do that at His second coming, but they didn’t understand that before He could defeat the political and geographical enemies of Israel, He needed to defeat sin, death, and hell by dying on the cross. In doing that, He proves His right to reign forever as the Son of David.
May 9
