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IV. Putting the Messiah in His ‘Place’

A. The Baptism of Jesus

The public career of Jesus began with His baptism - an event that Luke again paints in obviously Davidic colors.

When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan, "a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’ " (see Luke 3:22). The words are intended to remind us ofPsalm 2:7 - words originally understood to refer to the Davidic king of Israel.

In case we don’t get the point, Luke immediately follows the story of Jesus’ baptism with the genealogy of Jesus (see Luke 3:23-38). It’s somewhat different from Matthew’s (seeMatthew 1:1-16), but it agrees with Matthew’s in the essential particular: Jesus comes from the line of David (see Luke 3:31).

Luke goes farther back than Matthew did: he carries Jesus’ line back through "Adam, the son of God" (see Luke 3:38). In other words, the real founder of the family is God himself. This too may be a subtle confirmation of the prophecy made to David – Jesus, a son of David, like his ancestor Adam, is a son of God.

B. David and his Band of Men

As Jesus’ ministry progresses, Luke stresses how much Jesus looks like David. For example, when Jesus’ hungry disciples picked a few ears of grain on the Sabbath, the ever-vigilant Pharisees accused them of breaking the law. Jesus responded by telling a story about David.

He recalls the time when David, who had been chosen by God and anointed as Israel’s true king, was on the run from King Saul, who had been rejected by God. Saul, jealous of David and desperate to retain the throne, was out to kill him. With only a small band of faithful followers by his side, David was constantly on the run.

This was the background to the story Jesus recalls - of how David once entered the house of God and "took the bread of offering," sharing it with his companions, even though only the priests were permitted to eat it (see Luke 6:3-4 and 1 Samuel 21:2-7).

In comparing himself to David, Jesus seems to be deliberately drawing parallels between his situation.

Like David, Jesus is the rightful, God-anointed heir of Israel’s throne. He has even been baptized – which causes the Spirit to come upon Him as it rushed about David (see 1 Samuel 16:12-14).

He, too, is on the run, with only a small band of faithful disciples by his side. And, He seems to say, like Saul, the Pharisees and their allies might rule Israel for now, but their days were numbered.

C. The Chosen Son

Even geography is used by Luke to signal the Davidic pedigree of Jesus.

To see this, we have to remember the sequence of events by which David’s kingdom was destroyed. The Assyrians first struck in Galilee (see 2 Kings 15:29), finally capturing Samaria, the northern portion of the kingdom (see 2 Kings 17:1-6). Then, ultimately, the southern portion, Judah, fell to the Babylonians (see 2 Kings 24:10-15).

Now notice some of the geographic details in Luke’s account.

Jesus’ ministry begins in Galilee (see Luke 4:14), moves to Samaria (see Luke 9:51), and finally reaches Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, where a great mob welcomes Jesus as the promised King (see Luke 19:28).

What’s Luke doing here? He is subtly painting a picture, showing Jesus undoing the destruction of Israel, restoring the kingdom in the order in which it was originally destroyed.

Near the end of Jesus’ ministry, Luke shows us Jesus transfigured.

The Transfiguration (see Luke 9:28-36), is another vivid picture for Luke of Jesus’ divine and Davidic sonship.

Note that the voice from the cloud reaffirms what the voice had proclaimed at Jesus’ baptism: "This is my chosen Son; listen to him" (see Luke 9:35).

The scene evokes Moses, and Moses himself is there to emphasize the association. The words "listen to him" recall the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15: that a "prophet like me" will come, and the people will "listen" to him.

By showing us Jesus glorified with Moses and Elijah, the two greatest prophets of the Old Testament, Luke shows us that Jesus is indeed the prophet like Moses who was to come.

But the words from the cloud also bring to mind Psalm 2 and Psalm 89 - both of which refer to the Davidic king as Son of God.

At the same time, the voice from the cloud proclaims Him more than a prophet: he is the Chosen One, the Son of God - titles that belong to the rightful King of Israel (see Psalm 89:4).

D. Pity from the Son of David

By the time He gets to Jerusalem, even the blind can see what Luke wants his readers to see – that Jesus is the son of David (see Luke 18:38).

But there is more the scene of the healing of the blind man on the way to Jerusalem.

If the Son of David is on His way to Jerusalem, it can only be for one purpose: to take his rightful throne as King of Israel, and to make Jerusalem his capital - just as David did.

Recall that in David’s time, Jerusalem was the last part of Israel to be conquered. The Jebusites who held it were sure their defenses were impenetrable - so sure that they taunted David: "The blind and the lame will drive you away" (see 2 Samuel 5:6).

But this time, as David’s son approaches Jerusalem, it is the blind and the lame who welcome him.

E. The Triumph

And Jesus even enters the city exactly the way the Son of David ought to enter.

When Solomon, the prototypical Son of David, was crowned king, he entered Jerusalem riding on a mule, and the shouts of the people could be heard in the distant hills (see 1 Kings 1:38-40).

The prophet Zechariah saw the future King coming the same way: "a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass" (see Zechariah 9:9).

This is exactly the scene Luke shows us: the King coming into Jerusalem meekly mounted on a colt (see Luke 19:29-40), with the people shouting so that the hills resound with their joy.

"Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, " Jesus’ followers shout (see Luke 19:38). The words are from Psalm 118, which is probably a processional liturgy for a kingly triumph.

But Luke’s account adds one important word that does not appear in the original Psalm. So that no one could possibly miss the significance of the occasion, Jesus’ followers explicitly hail Jesus as King.

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