You remember that the people and children called out to the Lord Jesus as He rode up the streets to the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”
The children who shouted those words, knew the meaning better than we: they had been told such a great King would come, and they knew the promises of Him in the writings God had given. The words they said were from a psalm, which they sang as we do hymns: “Hosanna” meant, “Save ... O Lord, I beseech” (Psalm 118:25).
They knew David had been a great king of their nation, and that God had sent a prophet to tell him one from his family, called his “seed,” meaning heir or descendent, should be King forever (2 Samuel 7:12,16-17).
The Promised Son of David
“My covenant [agreement] will I not break ... once have I sworn [solemn, sure promise] by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun” (Psa. 89:34-36).
Again later a prophet wrote: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign” (Jeremiah 23:5). That was why the people called their great King to come, “Son of David.”
It was written that this One should come as a child (Isaiah 9:6), so when Jesus was born where David had lived, and his mother was of a family of the descendants of David, and the angel declared Him to be the chosen One, the “Christ” (Luke 2:11), those who knew the promise, believed the Holy One had come.
Later when Jesus was a man and did the good that had been promised (as Isaiah 61:1), and the people felt the power of His holy person, many were happy.
More Than David’s Son
There were men who wanted to prove Him false, and He asked them of the promise to David, so that they would think of what had been written. He said, “How say they that Christ [the expected King] is David’s son?”
“The Lord [Jehovah] said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand” (Psalm 110:1).
“David therefore calleth Him Lord, how is He then his son?”
The men could not answer the question Jesus asked. If they had read the scriptures with interest to learn, they would have known that David fully believed the promise that an heir of his should be King forever, but One far different from all others, that He would be holy and would be his Lord.
They would have seen this King was also said to be the Son of God: “Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion ... The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son” (Psalm 2:6-7).
This teaches us the greatness of the Lord Jesus, whom we do not now speak often of as “Son of David,” but as our Lord and Saviour, because He is waiting for people to trust Him, and be saved from their sins. But it is good for us to know those promises which were fulfilled in Him, so we know that all will come true, and He will someday as surely rule; then all the earth will give Him honor.
Further Meditation
1. What’s at least one promise that the Messiah would be of “the seed” of David?
2. The Lord didn’t prove His claims by blinding flashes of visible glory but by turning hearts to the Word of God. How did the apostles present Christ in the book of the Acts? What did they use when speaking to the multitude?
3. Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus, the Messiah lists 50 specific prophecies from the Old Testament that were fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. Any one who hasn’t studied the subject would greatly benefit by seeing God’s spotlight shining on His Son throughout history.