All Roads Lead To Jesus - 1 Chronicles

I Chronicles – JESUS IS THE SON OF DAVID
Reading - I Chronicles 1-3, 2 Timothy 2:8, Revelation 5:5, Matthew 21

Sequels almost never live up to the hype or expectations. There are few exceptions to this rule even though it might be up for discussion. For every good sequel such as Rocky II, The Empire Strikes Back, there is a Jaws 2 or Superman IV. Yet we still get excited when there is a sequel or prequel to our favorite films.

The trailers drop and the hype builds. We build our own ideas on where the story should head or what questions the writers and directors should address. We have very definite ideas where our hero should land or not land.

In 2 Samuel God promised a sequel to King David. He promised David that his throne would never end. He promised that a son would sit on the throne forever. Solomon was a decent king, but he could never live up to the expectations of the eternal king that had been promised.

After several hundred years of frustration and sequels to David, it seemed the franchise of the throne of David wasn’t going to deliver. At some points in their history, the next sequel was worse than the previous attempt. Every once in a while, a B-grade king would do his best to bring things back their former glory, but they had a habit of dying.

Then the franchise went dark. Israel was exiled and when they finally returned from captivity, they were rendered to watching their old favorite highlights on VHS tapes. Eventually, they would be given a king by their overlords, but they never really had a kingdom. It seemed God hadn’t kept his promise at worst or that David had been lying about the eternal through at best.

But some in Israel kept watching. They believed God and they waited on him. There were some in Israel who waited on the Messiah who would be the Son of David. There were many that arrived on the scene but were ultimately proven false. But then Jesus, born from the line of David, but not into any royal family, arrived teaching with an authority no one had ever heard and performing miracles to substantiate his ministry.

Questions began to swirl. All throughout the Gospels, we are told that there were people asking if Jesus could really be the promised Son of David. At one point in Matthew’s Gospel, a Canaanite woman came rushing out to Jesus and begged “Son of David! Heal my daughter of a demon!” The idea of the Son of David coming as the Messiah was well-known in Jesus’ day.

Jesus was not what the people expected, and he was less than what they had hoped for. The Jewish people wanted an earthly king to reestablish the throne of David and the earthly power of Israel. Jesus was offering a different Kingdom that was something better. Israel hadn’t set their sights high enough.

First Chronicles is important for many reasons, but one of the places of importance is found in the opening chapters. The Books of Chronicles were written to the southern Kingdom of Judah when they returned from Babylonian exile. Its purpose was to remind Israel that God had always been in control and that he had not forgotten his covenant with them. The writers point this out through detailed facts and in the opening genealogies. The genealogies in Chronicles begin with the first man, Adam, and list the descendants through David’s descendants. This is important to us because it links David and the Israelite people to God’s very first covenant promise when he told Adam and Eve that He would provide a Redeemer in the Curse. This Redeemer would be the seed of the woman who would crush Satan’s head.

Here is some even greater news. If you have come to faith in Jesus, you are part of that family tree in the Scriptures. Every name that is listed in those family trees is the name of a normal everyday human being. Some of them have well-known stories but many, many others are just blips on the world scene. You might feel like a blip of a blip but that is not how God sees you. f His redemptive plan.

His promise to King David in 2 Samuel 7 is one of those revelations of His redemptive plan. The seed of the woman would be born from the kingly line of David. He would save his people from the forces of evil.

The opening of Chronicles is similar to the opening of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke which connect Jesus’ lineage with David. This connection tells a big story. Jesus is the Messiah from the line of David that would save his people from their sins.

There was a reason why none of the sons of David could ever live up to their father. They weren’t the promised Messiah, but they were the vehicle for which God would bring about the Son of David who would be the Christ. Jesus is the better David and He is the better Son of David. Jesus is the sequel that is better than the original. Maybe a better way to put it is that Jesus is the story and David was the prequel.  

Even the seemingly boring details of the Bible are part of a great story. These origin stories tell us that God doesn’t just work in big visions and glorious heavenly appearances. God is also working in the background of every detail of every story.

Here is some even greater news. If you have come to faith in Jesus, you are part of that family tree in the Scriptures. Every name that is listed in those family trees is the name of a normal everyday human being. Some of them have well-known stories but many, many others are just blips on the world scene. You might feel like a blip of a blip but that is not how God sees you.

God sees you of such value that He orchestrated all of history to bring about His Son to die for you. He died for you so that you could be adopted into God’s eternal family. The Son of David was a royal king who left His throne to give you all that he has so that you can have all that He has.

Now that same Son of David sits on the eternal throne that God promised in Genesis 3, and in 2 Samuel 7 and preserved through the genealogies of Chronicles. All of history is moving toward the throne of the Son of David, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered…”

May we live in light of this future moment.