King and Servant

Jesus is the King from the House of David and the Servant of the Lord who endures death to save his people.  Jesus is identified in the Gospel of Matthew as the Son of David and the Servant of the Lord. In his ministry and death, Christ demonstrates what it means to be the Messiah of Israel, and he does so by accepting the role of the suffering Servant of the Lord.

More than one New Testament passage combines the images of the Davidic King and the Servant of the Lord and then applies them both to Jesus. As counterintuitive as this may sound, the Nazarene is the king of the House of David, AND he is the servant who is killed by his enemies to redeem his people – (for example, Matthew 20:28, Luke 1:69, Acts 4:24-28, Philippians 2:6-11).

The tradition among the Jewish people that the Messiah would come from the family of David was well-established by the first century, a conviction based on promises of the Hebrew Bible. The early church confirmed this belief, but the life and death of Jesus radically redefined what it meant to be the son of David. What are the implications of this change for Christians, the Church, and humanity itself?

In Acts 2:33, for example, Peter interprets the resurrection of Jesus as evidence that Christ now reigns from the presence of God as promised to David; therefore, Jesus has received “the promise of the Holy Spirit,” which the Church received on the Day of Pentecost.

[Photo by Harley Upton on Unsplash]

God exalted Jesus to the messianic throne following his resurrection from the dead. However, exaltation was preceded by suffering and death, for the Nazarene is the Servant of the Lord as well as the Son of David, and this “servant” is described in the Book of Isaiah:

• “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” – (Matthew 1:1).

• “AND SHE WILL BRING FORTH A SON. AND YOU WILL CALL HIS NAME Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” – (Matthew 1:21. Note the allusion to Isaiah 7:14 [“A virgin will conceive in the womb and bring forth a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel”, the Septuagint]).

• “Because his soul was delivered to death. And he was numbered among the transgressors, and he carried the sins of many, and he was delivered on account of their iniquities” – (Isaiah 53:12).

The Gospel of Matthew applies scriptural promises to Jesus, demonstrating that he is the promised descendant of David destined to reign over the nations, as well as the Servant of the Lord whom God anoints with His Spirit. For example:

• “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED” - (Matthew 3:17).

• “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my elect one in whom My soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations” - (Isaiah 42:1. Compare Psalm 2:6-9 [“You will shepherd the nations…”]).

• “And Jesus, perceiving it, withdrew from there, and many followed him. And he healed them all. And charged them that they should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, BEHOLD MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN, MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL IS WELL PLEASED. I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE WILL DECLARE JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS” - (Matthew 12:15-18, quoting Isaiah 42:1-4).

The Gospel of Luke also links Mary’s child with the promise of God to raise up a king like David who will deliver His people from their oppressors:

• “And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, YOU WILL CONCEIVE AND BRING FORTH A SON, AND YOU WILL CALL HIS NAME Jesus.  He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the Throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, AND OF HIS KINGDOM, THERE WILL BE NO END” – (Luke 1:30-32. Note the verbal allusions to Isaiah 7:14 and 2 Samuel 7:12-14).

• “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and wrought redemption for his people. And He has raised up a HORN OF SALVATION for us IN THE HOUSE OF HIS SERVANT DAVID” – (Luke 1:68-69. See 1 Samuel 2:10, 2 Samuel 7:26, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 89:3).

After the resurrection of Christ, the Church proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised king of the House of David, and the Servant of the Lord. The events of his life were interpreted through the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. For example:

• “And we bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled the same for our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the Second Psalm, YOU ARE MY SON. THIS DAY, I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thusly, I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY AND SURE BLESSINGS OF DAVID. Because he declares also in another psalm, YOU WILL NOT GIVE YOUR HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION. For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption. But he whom God raised up saw no corruption” - (Acts 13:32-37, citing 2 Samuel 7:13, Psalm 2:7, Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 55:3. Compare Acts 2:27 and Acts 2:36 [“Let all the house of Israel know that God has made him both Lord and Christ, even the same Jesus whom you crucified!”]).

• “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son, who came to be from the seed of David according to the flesh, who was marked out as Son of God in power, according to a spirit of holiness, from the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” – (Romans 1:1-4).

The ‘blessings of David’ include the establishment of the Kingdom of God, a realm that will endure forever, and the enthronement of the ideal king of Israel. The prophecy of Nathan the Prophet also foresaw that this ruler would build the House of the Lord:

• “And it will come to pass when your days have been fulfilled, and you will sleep with your fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, even your own issue. And I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house to my name, and I will establish his throne even forever. I will be to him a father, and he will be to me a son. And when he happens to transgress, then will I chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of men. But my mercy I will not take from him, as I took it from those whom I removed from my presence. And his house will be made sure, and his kingdom forever before me, and his throne will be established forever” - (2 Samuel 7:12-18).

Jesus is the anointed king who brings the promises and blessings of David to fruition, and this includes the gift of the Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter made similar references to David and linked the promises to the outpouring of the Spirit:

• “Brethren, I may say to you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that GOD HAD SWORN WITH AN OATH TO HIM, THAT OF THE FRUIT OF HIS LOINS HE WOULD PLACE ONE UPON HIS THRONE; he foreseeing this, spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that NEITHER WAS HE LEFT UNTO HADES, NOR DID HIS FLESH SEE CORRUPTION. This Jesus did God raise up, of whom we all are witnesses. Therefore, being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens: but he said himself, THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT ON MY RIGHT HAND UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES YOUR FOOTSTOOL. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” – (Acts 2:29-36. Note Peter’s quotations of 2 Samuel 11:7-16, Psalm 16:10, 89:3-4, 110:1).

The role of the Davidic king cannot be understood apart from the suffering Servant of the Lord. Jesus is servant and king, and his sacrificial service preceded his exaltation to the messianic throne.

The suffering servant described in the Book of Isaiah is the same man whom God installed to reign from Mount Zion over the nations; indeed, over the entire creation.

• “Repent, therefore, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise, and to your children, AND TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE AFAR OFF, AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR GOD WILL SUMMON” – (Acts 2:38-39. Note the allusion to Joel 2:32 and compare Acts 2:16-21).

THE SERVANT’S PATH

The Second Psalm is applied by the New Testament to Jesus in his present role as the Messiah who reigns from God’s throne. The Book of Isaiah clarifies that God enthroned His Servant because he sacrificed his life to ransom his people, and this understanding became part of the preaching of the early Church:

• “Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son. Today, I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession” – (Psalm 2:6-8).

• “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY” – (Matthew 20:28. [Isaiah 53:12, “Because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he carried the sin of many…”]).

• “For to which of the angels did he ever say, YOU ARE MY SON. THIS DAY, I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU? and again, I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM, AND HE WILL BE A SON TO ME?” – (Hebrews 1:5, citing Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14. Compare Hebrews 5:5).

• “HE POURED HIMSELF OUT, taking the form of a servant, having come to be in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, BECOMING OBEDIENT UNTO DEATH, indeed, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God HIGHLY EXALTED HIM AND GAVE HIM A NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME” – (Philippians 2:7-9. Note Paul’s allusions to Isaiah 53:12 [“because he poured out his soul unto death…”]. Compare Psalm 89:27 and Isaiah 49:6-8).

Christ was the victim of the conspiracy to overthrow God’s son as prophesied in the Second Psalm, and this occurred when the religious leaders of Israel plotted to destroy Jesus. Nevertheless, God vindicated the sacrificial death of His Son by raising him from the dead and installing him on the messianic throne (Psalm 2:1-6, Matthew 26:59, 27:1):

• “And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, O Lord, you who made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them is, who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David your servant, said, WHY DID THE NATIONS RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES IMAGINE VAIN THINGS?  THE KINGS OF THE EARTH SET THEMSELVES IN ARRAY, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST. For of a truth in this city against YOUR HOLY SERVANT, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your council determined beforehand to come to pass” – (Acts 4:24-28. Compare Isaiah 42:1, “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my elect”).

This is how the Apostles of Christ interpreted the prophecies concerning the Davidic King and the Servant of the Lord who delivers his people from bondage to sin and death through his sacrificial death.

In Acts 4:24-28, Peter combines the images of the suffering servant and the Davidic King. It was not just the pagan nations that raged against God’s anointed, but also the religious leaders of Israel. They succeeded in ending his life, but God resurrected Christ from the dead as a result of his “obedience unto death,” and therefore, he reigns as sovereign over the entire Universe.

The Servant of the Lord is the king who sits on the divine throne, not a warrior who has just returned from slaughtering his enemies. The authority of Jesus is absolute, including even the realm of the dead:

• “I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST, and the Living one. And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I HAVE THE KEYS OF DEATH AND HADES” - (Revelation 1:17-18. Compare Isaiah 22:22, 44:6, 48:12).

The final act of the Gospel of Matthew is the commissioning of the Apostles and the Church to preach the Gospel. The Messiah and Savior of the World is a merciful monarch and shepherd who sends his heralds to announce salvation to the nations and his victory over sin, Satan and death.

• “All authority, in heaven and on earth, has been given to me. Therefore, go and disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” – (Matthew 28:18-20).

Jesus is the heir of David and the king who reigns on the messianic throne. But before becoming king, he first “gave his life as a ransom for many.” The road to Mount Zion passes first through the Hill of Golgotha. And this same Servant-King possesses the promise of the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit that he bestows on his Church.

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Promise of the Father - (With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced)

• The Blessing of Abraham - (The gift of the Spirit is part of the covenant promises made to Abraham, including blessing the nations of the Earth)

• The Descent of the Spirit - (The Spirit of God anointed Jesus for service and confirmed his identity as Son, Messiah, and Servant - Mark 1:9-11)

• Roi et Serviteur - (Jésus est le Roi de la Maison de David et le Serviteur du Seigneur qui endure la mort pour sauver son peuple)