by Jared Hardin

December 18, 2022

Most of us think we’ve got the Christmas story figured out: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, and wise men—the classic nativity scene. But what if I told you that most people forget one of the main characters of the whole Christmas story?

Okay, well, he actually lived 1,000 years before the time of Jesus’ birth. But he’s still an essential part of the story because his name shows up (by my count) twelve times in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. In fact, his name is mentioned more than Joseph’s!

The missing character is King David.

Here are just a few examples of where he shows up:

•       “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife.” (Matt. 1:20)
•       “…a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David” (Luke 1:27)
•       “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.” (Luke 1:32)
•       “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.” (Luke 2:4)
•       “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

Most people remember David as the complicated royal figure of the Old Testament who wrote psalms, ruled Israel, and killed Goliath with a sling. But in all of these stories, he serves as a road sign along the way with a big arrow pointing us to Jesus.

Promises Fulfilled

All of the focus on David that we read about in the Christmas story traces back to a promise that God made to him in 2 Samuel 7. One thousand years before Jesus was born, God made this stunning promise to King David:

• “The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:11-16).

In the short term, some of these promises were fulfilled in Solomon, David’s son who built the temple and reigned as king of Israel. As the text says, he built a house for God and God punished him when he did wrong. But in the long term, Solomon didn’t reign forever. This promise was pointing to someone greater. Someone better than any Old Testament king.

That’s why the prophets looked forward to a day when some Son of David would return to the throne and reign over God’s people once and for all:

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord,

    ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,

a King who will reign wisely

    and do what is just and right in the land’” (Jeremiah 23:5)

Similarly, the prophet Micah prophesied that the Messiah would come from the town of Bethlehem—the hometown of none other than King David:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).

What Does this Mean for Me?

Some people think that Christian faith is simply believing in your head that Jesus exists and that he did the things the Bible says he did. But really, there’s more to it than that. Real, living Christian faith is allegiance and loyalty to a King. To be a Christian is to be a servant in his kingdom, following his standards and submitting to his will. Sinful and imperfect kings in the Bible (like David) provide the framework for us to understand what this means. Jesus is the perfect and final fulfillment.

So the next time you read the Christmas story, think about the people of Israel waiting for a Coming King—a Messiah who would reign over them, defeat their enemies, represent them before God, and lead them in truth and righteousness. Think about your greatest needs, and how the coming of a perfect and righteous King is the answer, just as he was for the Jewish people waiting in exile. Jesus is the fulfillment of these ancient promises and he is infinitely better than any Old Testament king or any ruler today.

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  (Luke 2:11)