Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. You begin to get this sense that there is a longing in the heart of the people for a David that's a better David than David was.
You know what I mean by that? Someone would be everything that we always hoped David would be, and never disappoint us. That's the son of David. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Son of David as presented at Rinaldin Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org.
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Here is Alan Wright. Jesus, the son of David. I haven't been this excited about starting a new series in a long time. We're going to spend an untold number of weeks, an undisclosed number of weeks in the life of David in no hurry because it's marvelous what is revealed in the life of David.
You ready for some good news? God made huge promises to King David. Those promises were mysterious as to how they could ever be fulfilled until Jesus came and was identified as the much anticipated son of David. And those promises that find their yes and amen in Jesus are the promises for the sons and daughters of David.
Anyone who is in the son of David, anyone who is in Christ is the recipient and is guaranteed of the covenantal blessings that were spoken to David. It is an astounding story, the story of David. I've always loved David. I think it's hard to imagine the affection that Israel had for David throughout their whole history.
But maybe you're like me. I have affection for David, one of the most beloved figures in the Bible. But perhaps for us, David I loved especially much because from the time our little Bennett was a little boy, he just loved play-acting David. And so we had so many rounds of David and Goliath. Bennett would take his little blankie and he would ball up little tissue paper, something like a stone, put it in there and he'd say, okay, daddy, you be Goliath. And he would hurl that thing around and fling that wad of tissue or sometimes a toy or something else at me. And I would fall down and he would run over with his foot on my chest having conquered the evil Goliath.
If we did that once, we did that a thousand times. We played David and Goliath, my little David. He would go around the house just dressed up like David. And when he got to be in elementary school, I remember asking, Bennett, what do you think you want to do when you grow up? And he said, I want to make a lot of money so that then I can do a big movie about David. That's a pretty good idea. And I brought this back up to him recently.
I said, make a lot of money. First, take care of your parents and then go ahead and make that epic movie about David. It got us thinking about David and who could play the part of David because he's got these distinct seasons in his life. Thus the subtitle of this series, Shepherd, Hero, King.
He's got a season where you see him. He's like this, well, in many ways, he's such a sweet natured man who had a beautiful poetic gift. He wrote songs. He wrote songs and he sung to the Lord. He's a musician that could calm troubled souls just with his music. He could live in obscurity as a shepherd in the fields of Bethlehem and care about the one little lamb that was missing. They were the shepherd.
You got that picture of him. But then you got David who fights Goliath, who also fights off the Philistines. He was a hero. He was a man of incredible bravery and strength. He was a warrior. Then he was, of course, a king, a stately king. He was an excellent leader.
He was on the throne for 40 years, shepherd and hero and king. Who could play all that? So anyway, Ben and I, we wandered off into discussion the other day about who could play. Maybe you'd have to get people to play the different roles. Who would be good for David the shepherd?
No. I was kind of thinking, he didn't look like a king. In fact, nobody thought he would be a king and yet they said he was handsome.
So he didn't look like he'd be a hero. He's kind of a Josh Hutcherson type of person. You know what kind of mind? Hugh Grant. It's like all those movies kind of thing. But really what I wanted was a young Bing Crosby. We could make it a musical and it could be singing, I'm dreaming of a white sheep or something.
I don't know. Okay, maybe that. But who would be good at the hero? There are plenty of guys could be that daring hero, the Russell Crowe type.
But then I thought, if Clint Eastwood were just younger, just put him in that role. Can you see that Goliath scene? Go ahead, make my day to Goliath or something like that. Or maybe a James Bond-ish Daniel Craig type of, you know, names David, King David.
That's probably the worst James Bond meditation anybody ever did right there. What about David the King? Who could play that role? I was thinking of, he's a great politician. He expanded the territory. He brought peace and prosperity, but he had an affair.
And you couldn't get Bill Clinton for that, could you? No, I just, but you know what I was thinking of the statesman? Morgan Freeman.
Yeah, yeah. I don't know. You think about who could it be. Maybe Harrison Ford could do the whole thing.
I don't know. The whole point of this is you can't dream up somebody like David. David was beloved.
I want you to love David. I want you to fall in love with David because I think that if your heart gets a little bit smitten with affection for who David was as a leader, as a person with such a heart for God, as such a worshiper, and if you could have some of that for David, then it'll do a good thing. It'll help you feel a little bit of what Israel has always felt for David, which would give you a sense of why there was such anticipation for the coming son of David. In other words, it would be a means by which it would open up for you a greater affection for Jesus Christ, the son of David. So we're going to journey through his life and we're going to see the ups and downs, but I want you to know from the beginning that he is the centerpiece of the history of Israel and he has always been to Jewish people the center of hope and anticipation. That in other words, everything that David represented, cutting them off from their enemies so that they had peace and their sons weren't dying on the battlefield, prosperity so that there was food on the table, peace in the land, hope, respect for your leader after they'd had a terrible leader in King Saul, good government, right worship of God, all of these things that make a nation feel healthy and happy, this was the season that they had during David's reign and that's what they associate with David. So everything that is good about life in Israel is in one way or another associated with the reign of King David and therefore David becomes a symbol of something and the promise that we're going to see today that was spoken to David that someone from his house would always be on the throne, this gave rise to the much anticipated coming of a Messiah, a new king who would be in the family and in the likeness of David.
To say someone is the son of someone else is figuratively to say they are like that person, but the anticipation is that they'll be like that person but even better. Having gained the characteristics of that father but also learned some other things or what, so this was the anticipation, the coming son of David. cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, thanksgiving and much more.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. This unique resource can be yours with our thanks as we welcome new monthly partners to the support family of Allen Wright Ministries. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Today's teaching now continues.
Here once again is Allen Wright. I want to begin our journey in an interesting place, Matthew chapter one, and then later in the message, I'll be taking you to an essential text for us in that second Samuel 7. But first look with me in Matthew chapter one. As the gospel begins to tell the story of Jesus Christ, in Matthew chapter one, verse one, this is what we read. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David.
Now I'm just going to pause there to say, isn't that a little bit astounding that the opening words of the gospel of Matthew say, here is the origin, that's what that word really means there, the genesis of Jesus Christ. And the first thing that is described of who Jesus is, he is the son of David, the son of Abraham. And what then happens in these next verses is that there are three paragraphs from verse two down through verse six and then halfway through verse six that carries you down through verse 11 and then verse 12 through 16. And in those three paragraphs are simply put, the description of 14 generations. So there are three different sets of generations. At verse 17, all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations. And from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations. And from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, 14 generations. So what you have there is you have three paragraphs of 14 generations. And David's paragraph of those 14 generations stands in the middle of them.
Let me see if I can just paint this even more just concretely. First verse of Matthew's gospel is that this is the story, Jesus Christ, David, Abraham, okay? And then what you have described here is three sections and David is in the middle of that. And I find it interesting that Abraham, though we can't say for exactly sure when Abraham lived, most scholars say it's around 2,000 years before Christ. So Abraham, 2,000 BC, Jesus, the mark of the common era, so 2,000 BC, zero BC. And right in the middle of that, 1,000 BC, that's when David lived. What I'm saying is that literally David was at the center of the history of Israel and figuratively he was at the center of the history of Israel. So then you come to the genealogy and there's David.
He's right in that middle paragraph. He's right there in the center of the history of Israel. And this is what the Lord impressed on my heart this week. As David was at the center of the history of Israel, so the son of David is at the center of all of history. What's more interesting about this is that this mention of these three groupings of 14 generations that is then echoed in verse 17 is that in the Hebrew language there is a system by which numerals, numbers are attached to letters so that letters in the Hebrew alphabet have numerical value, so that words also have a numerical value. And there is some rabbinical and other interpretive things that can really get out of hand of using the significance of these numbers. But in this case it can't be missed that the number for David, the name David, the three consonants of David in Hebrew add up to the number 14. David's number is 14.
And he appears as the 14th name in the genealogy and then there are three groupings of 14. What I'm just saying here is that, this is kind of a sounding thought, but what Matthew's gospel is saying is that if you want to understand who Jesus is, you need to understand who David is. You can discover Jesus only to the extent that you're getting a sense of how He is fulfilling the promises that were spoken to David. That you'll understand how Jesus is the center of all history if you can understand how David was the center of the history of Israel. As David is at the center, Jesus is at the center eternally. And it's a remarkable thought that David is so central and that he is this character who emerges with a diversity of experiences and leadership steps seen in obscurity in the Bethlehem pastures and then suddenly lauded when he defeats Goliath, persecuted by King Saul because Saul was a terrible king.
He was insanely jealous and very fearful of David. And David is on the run, hides in caves, has to hang around ragtag people. He then brings the ark back into Jerusalem victorious, having endured. David suffers a lot of grief in his life, especially as we'll see in the instance with death of his son Absalom.
We'll see him weeping with as much pathos as any figure in the old covenant where he weeps, oh Absalom, oh Absalom my son. We will see that David also has great sin in his life and that he reigns for a long time, 40 year reign and all that he accomplished. David is this symbol therefore of what is good and brave and noble and lovely and powerful and peaceful and glorious for this little nation that is trampled upon and and transverse by all these great empires that come through the area. This is their shining moment, the time that David's on the throne in Jerusalem. And yet David is a flawed character and you begin to get this sense that there is a longing in the heart of the people for a David that's a better David than David was.
You know what I mean by that? Some of it would be everything that we always hoped David would be and never disappoint us. That's the son of David. Now the term son of David, it becomes a favorite one for Matthew and you'll see it in other places in the New Testament.
You don't need to try to turn to these but I'm going to just give you a few instances so that it'll stand out in your mind. In the Christmas story later in Matthew chapter 1 notice what happens when Joseph learns about what's going on. Her husband Joseph being a just man, this is Matthew 1 19, unwilling to put her to shame resolved to divorce her quietly but as he considered these things behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying Joseph son of David do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Now what's interesting here is that when the angel Lord appeared to Joseph referred to Joseph as son of David because it is through the lineage of Joseph as a as one who's in the house of David who's in the lineage of David that Jesus comes and so the angel is saying essentially what I'm calling you son of David because the most important thing you need to understand is that this child to be born is the son of David. Interestingly likewise in Luke chapter 1 from that gospel's perspective the Christmas story in verse 26 the angel Gabriel is sent from God to the city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man who's named with Joseph of the house of David. It's making this huge point right that Joseph is from the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary and he came to her and said greetings O favored one the Lord is with you but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be and the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you'll conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus and he'll be great and he'll be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he'll reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end. So the announcement of the birth of Jesus centers around the fact that Joseph is a son of David and that this baby to be born will fulfill the promise that was given to David and often when people who were in great need were calling upon the mercies of Jesus to help them they would use the term son of David like the blind men in Matthew 9 two blind men followed crying aloud have mercy on us son of David when he entered house the blind men came to him Jesus said do you believe I'm able to they said yes and he healed them. So it was understood that there was going to be in the son of David something that was like David but even greater than David he healed the sick.
When Jesus came riding in on a donkey for what we call the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the people began to lay their cloaks on the road and cut palm branches before them this is what you did for kings that were coming in for some triumphal entry into a city and the crowds went before him and followed and they were shouting Hosanna to the son of David. Alan Wright as we kick off this series today first teaching on son of David stay with us Alan is back in the studio in a moment as he shares his parting good news thought with us for the day. In a world that often feels overwhelming we all seek moments of encouragement and hope as a heartfelt thank you for becoming a monthly partner with Alan Wright Ministries we're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope strength your identity in Christ Thanksgiving and much more.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. This unique resource can be yours with our thanks as we welcome new monthly partners to the support family of Alan Wright Ministries. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website PastorAlan.org. Back here in the studio to share Alan's parting good news thought for the day and as we are kicking off this series this is all there's a lot to unpack but a lot that we can take from the son of David. If David was the most beloved king of Israel and everyone longed for the reign of David then you begin to understand that Jesus who comes as the fulfillment of David to fulfill the promises given to David to reign upon his throne that this is the most wonderful news imaginable.
God in Jesus Christ is on his throne and it's a throne of grace. The son of David reigns. We're so excited to get started with this and what a wonderful unhurried journey through the life of David who is a shepherd a hero and a king but specifically and this is part of the thrill of reading the bible as it all points to Jesus. No one prefigures Jesus any more vividly than David because Jesus was the son of David. So we're going to be seeing Daniel today this week and in coming weeks all of these different ways in which in which David is prefiguring Jesus with this in mind when we see Jesus more clearly that's how we're finding the strength and wisdom to face giants that's how we find the ability to make it through persecution that's how we learn what it is to live in the life of grace and so exciting start to the whole life of David but we call it son of David because it really is pointing to Jesus. If you only caught part of today's teaching not only can you listen again online but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org that's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.
