Son of David

Matthew 21

Matthew 21:9 (NKJV) 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!”

We mark Palm Sunday and Easter on our calendars every year. Please remember that although it is very significant, this is one little slice out of a three-year ministry that Jesus carried on in Galilee, Judea, and Samaria. We have repeated the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem so often for so long that most people know the story, even if they do not know its significance. The word “hosanna” is almost universally known. As we once again consider the account of the triumphal entry, pay closer attention than at other times. In our familiarity, we may assume we know the story and not pay attention to what the Spirit is saying to us.

For one thing, do you know what the word “hosanna” means? The words the people shouted are taken from Psalm 118.

Psalm 118:25-26 (NIV) LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.

The words “Lord, save us” are where the word “Hosanna” comes from. Every year during the feast of booths, these words were sung to the waving of palm fronds. (Psalms113 through118 were repeated during the festival.) At the triumphal entry, the season was Passover, not the feast of booths, but the crowd recognized their need for salvation and borrowed from that tradition. They did not invent the idea of waving palm fronds on that day.

Before arriving at Jerusalem, Jesus traveled through Jericho and healed two blind men on the way. Let’s look at part of Matthew’s account of this healing.

Matthew 20:29-31 (NKJV) ²⁹Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. ³⁰And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” ³¹Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

These men were not shouting “hosanna,’ but they were shouting, “Have mercy on us!” (The same idea as “Hosanna?”) Jesus healed these men, but let's pay attention to what they called Jesus. They called Him “Son of David.” The multitude celebrating His entry into Jerusalem was shouting the same thing. They were shouting:

Matthew 21:9 (NKJV) “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed [is] He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

The crowd responded to the truth as they perceived it, and they thought it was the day of their salvation.

The disciples also were prone to think the same way, but Jesus carefully instructed the twelve differently. In Matthew 20:17, on His way to Jerusalem for the triumphal entry, Jesus took the twelve aside and taught them privately. Here is what it tells us about His teaching of the twelve.

Matthew 20:17-19 (NKJV) ¹⁷Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, ¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, ¹⁹“and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”

Jesus tells His closest followers, the twelve, that He is going to Jerusalem to be crucified and rise from the dead. Notice also that He calls Himself the “Son of Man,” compared to the crowd’s “Son of David.” 

When Peter heard Jesus talking about being crucified, we know that at first, Peter tried to correct Jesus, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:22) (As the end drew near, Jesus told the disciples on multiple occasions concerning his death and resurrection.)

But Jesus responded:

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV) “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

When Jesus refers to Himself as the “Son of Man,” He is building on two truths. First, He points out His humility and His death on the cross. Philippians 2 tells us:

Philippians 2:5-8 (NKJV) ⁵Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus was found in appearance as a man; He humbled Himself. When Jesus calls Himself the “Son of Man,” He points to His humble position, and this is the first truth we see in this name.

The second truth seems to directly contradict the first truth because the second truth is that He is exalted. Philippians 2 continues to say that God has given Him a name above every other name because of His humility. 

When the twelve heard the “Son of Man, they probably thought of the following Scripture. 

Daniel 7:13-14 (NKJV) ¹³“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, [One] like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. ¹⁴Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, And His kingdom [the] [one] which shall not be destroyed.

Notice that in the visions, the Son of Man was coming “with the clouds of heaven!”

Jesus told us that He will come with the clouds of heaven at the end of the great tribulation. We find this in Matthew 24:29-30.

Matthew 24:29-30 (NKJV) ²⁹“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

So, Jesus will come with power and great glory at the end of the tribulation. Verse 29 begins with “Immediately after the tribulation.” These words attach power and great glory to the title “Son of Man.”

The twelve (Peter, James, and John especially) were given knowledge that nobody else had, and they had trouble understanding that Jesus had to die. It may be that Jesus used the name “Son of Man” to refer to Himself to help the disciples to understand.

If the disciples, who had been given more knowledge, had trouble understanding that Jesus had to die, the crowd that greeted Jesus as He entered Jerusalem had no idea of what was coming. 

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowd shouted:

Matthew 21:9 (NKJV Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed [is] He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

The crowd and blind men called Jesus “Son of David.”

The blind men and the multitude that surrounded Jesus as He entered Jerusalem for His final week knew that Jesus was the “Son of David.” One thing that all Israel knew was that God had promised to give David an everlasting kingdom. God’s words to David were:

2 Samuel 7:16 (NKJV) And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”

The blind men and the crowd were recognizing Jesus as the promised Messiah. Thus, they were shouting, “Save us now!” 

The Old Testament has many prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. One of the details these prophecies contained was that the Messiah would be from the line of David and sit on David’s throne. This is why the multitude was calling Him “Son of David.” So, Jesus asked them a question to make them think. Mark 12:35-37 tells us:

Mark 12:35-37 (NIV) ³⁵While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ³⁷David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.

The people did not answer Jesus’ question.

Can you answer His question? 

On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached a sermon that explained the relationship of Jesus to His name, “Son of David.” Look at Acts 2 with me.

Acts 2:25-39 (ESV) ²⁵For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; ²⁶therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. ²⁷For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. ²⁸You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence’ ²⁹“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. ³²This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. ³³Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, ³⁵until I make your enemies your footstool’” ³⁶Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” ³⁷Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

These last two verses are the response that Palm Sunday calls for from us. How do we receive or welcome the Son of Man, Son of David, Son of God?