Why was Jesus called Son of David?

Answer 1

Christian ExplanationJesus was called the Son of David because He was of the line of David and because He fulfilled the Old Testament prophesy that the promised messiah would be the Son of David. As the adopted son of Joseph, he inherited the promised throne.

Matthew 1:1

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew 22:41-42

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David.

"It was promised to Abraham that Christ should descend from him...and to David that he should descend from him, 2Sa 7:12; Ps 89:3, &c.; 132:11;" --Matthew Henry Commentary (Public Domain)

2 Samuel 7:12

And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

Psalm 89:3-4

I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

Psalm 132:11

The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

There is some dispute about Jesus' genealogy in Luke. Some Christians believe it is Mary's genealogy. Others believe it is Joseph's legal genealogy as opposed to his biological genealogy, since there was an adoption in Joseph's ancestry.

In any event, since Joseph was a faithful Jew, his marriage to Mary indicates that she also was of the house of David, since there was a law prohibiting marriage to a person from another ancestry. So Jesus was descended from David through both parents, fulfilling the requirement for inheritance of the throne through Joseph, and fulfilling the prophecy of being the seed of David through Mary.

Another View

Jesus is the Son of David who God caused to die for David's sin with Bathsheba, then Jesus was resurrected into Mary to die for the sins of the world.

Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

2 Samuel 12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

Jesus is also called the Son of God, in God's promise of Messiah to David.

2 Samuel 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

2 Samuel 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

David was promised to have an everlasting kingdom with a son always on the throne but the throne was toppled by Babylon for many generations.

Therefore to keep His promise to David, God resurrected Jesus into Mary so that he is the firstborn from a womb from among the dead, though not the first ever resurrected.

Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Thus Nicodemus asked how a man could be born twice from the womb.

John 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

God resurrected the bones of David's child, like a root from dry ground.

Ezekiel 37:4-5 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Jesus was sown in shame with David and Bathsheba, but raised in glory from Mary.

1 Corinthians 15:42-45 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Therefore Jesus was born a human, but for his obedience, given power of God to rule like God over us as Messiah, as Moses had power of God over Israel.

Exodus 4:16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou (MOSES) shalt be to him instead of God.

The genealogies in Matthew and Luke are simply for the two Josephs that acted as father to Jesus, the Carpenter and Arimathea, and irrelevant to the lineage of Jesus or his royalty from David.

1 Timothy 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

Answer 2

AnswerThe Jews believed that the expected Messiah would be a direct descendant of the legendary David. Scholars say that purely on the basis of statistics, at least ten per cent of the Jews alive at the time of Jesus could claim to be descended from David, if only records were kept that far back. So even if the Messiah had to come in just that generation, there would be many, many people equally entitled to claim that title on the basis of being a 'son' of David.

The Jews would not have accepted Jesus as the Messiah if the only claim he could make was that he was descended from David. It would take something more, something special, to convince them that he was their Messiah. And they were not convinced.

Answer 3

It is my firm belief that this could have only being from a Divine prospective. Based on the fact that, Matthew 1v17 have outlined that there are 14 generations from Abraham to David into Babylon and then unto Christ.