King David is Key to Understanding Salvation History

If you attended Christmas Eve Mass, you heard the beginning of the Gospel of Saint Matthew which opens the New Testament with the reading of the genealogy of Jesus. Often we may look at this reading as tedious and may even feel sorry for the one that is tasked with reading it to the congregation.

But far from being bored by it, we should be amazed because so much can be gleaned from this Gospel reading.

We see the origins of the Kingdom of Judah. Recall that Jacob, son of Isaac, had his name changed by God to Israel. Jacob had twelve sons and hence the twelve Tribes of Israel. One of those sons was Judah and becomes the only surviving tribe of the twelve. Recall that the ten tribes to the north formed the independent Kingdom of Israel in 930 B.C., but fell into idolatry and were scattered to the wind by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. This left the two tribes in the south, Benjamin and Judah. Benjamin was eventually absorbed into Judah to form the southern Kingdom of Judah.

The point of it all for Saint Matthew is to make it clear to us that Jesus is from the surviving tribe of Judah and descends directly from Abraham thru King David.

And so we see made manifest, the many titles given to Jesus:

Son of Abraham

Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Root of Jesse (David’s Father)

Root of David

Son of David

All of this is critical to understanding the words spoken to Mary by the Angel Gabriel.

Luke 1:31-33

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

David’s kingdom was established through his son Solomon who builds the great Temple on Mount Moriah and unites the twelve tribes by designating 12 ministers, one from each tribe. Solomon then designates one of these ministers as his prime minister and gives him the keys to the kingdom of David. Solomon also places a throne next to his for his Mother, Bathsheba, and designates her as Queen Mother. Her role was to intercede for the people of the Kingdom to her son the king. For 400 years each King in the Kingdom of David followed this designation. Does this sound familiar?

After the northern Kingdom breaks apart as described above, the Southern Kingdom of Judah also eventually falls out of favor with God and is conquered by the Babylonians. Saint Matthew shows the placement of the Babylonian exile and demonstrates the symmetry of salvation history and how God brings order out of Chaos by representing the entire genealogy as three sets of fourteen.

What often gets missed in Saint Matthew’s presentation is that because of the exile of the Jews from Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 589 B.C., the Jews in Jesus’ time could not list the last fourteen stages of royal succession as Saint Matthew had. They had lost track of the royal lines and so had no knowledge of them. Subsequent Jewish scholars were perplexed as to how Saint Matthew was able to name them with such precision. Of course we know that it was by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Saint Matthew reveals the significance of all of this when later on in his Gospel, he tells us that after Jesus is baptized by John and he hears that John had been arrested, he immediately goes to live in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Matthew 4:12-17

When he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,14that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:

15“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”17^* From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew is quoting from these verses in Isaiah.

Isaiah 8:23 – 9:6

There is no gloom where there had been distress. Where once he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, now he has glorified the way of the Sea, the land across the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations.1The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone. 2You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing; They rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest, as they exult when dividing the spoils. 3For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, The rod of their taskmaster, you have smashed, as on the day of Midian. 4For every boot that tramped in battle, every cloak rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for fire. 5For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. 6His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains. By judgment and justice, both now and forever.The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

What is going on here? Why is this important? Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the twelve sons of Jacob and the very first tribes of the northern Kingdom of David to fall to the Assyrians. Jesus goes and lives precisely where the first break in David’s Kingdom came. He does this in order to restore the broken Kingdom of David and transform it into the supernatural Kingdom of Heaven on earth, The Church!

How does he do it? Just like Solomon, He selects twelve apostles and designates one as prime, Peter. And what does he do with Peter? He gives him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven! And who does he have by his side, His Blessed Mother Mary, who intercedes for us to her Son, the King!

This is precisely what we have in the Church, a perfect fulfillment of the Kingdom of David with Christ as our King and Mary as our Queen Mother.

Recall once again the words spoken by the Angel Gabriel to Mary.

Luke 1:31-33

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

There is one last important point to consider that brings it all back to the genealogy that opens the Gospel of Saint Matthew. As mentioned previously, Saint Matthew summarizes the genealogy this way.

Matthew 1:17

Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

In Hebrew, each letter represents a number.  The name David in Hebrew has three letters.

The first and the third letters are the same and represent the number “4”. The second letter represents the number “6”. Added together (4 + 6 + 4) yields 14!

But the name David in Hebrew not just adds to fourteen, it means fourteen!

When those who read Hebrew see the name David, they see the number 14!

So maybe the next time we hear the opening of the Gospel of Saint Matthew with the reading of the complete genealogy of Jesus, far from being bored, we may be amazed!