Son of David: More than a DNA Test

When the Bible refers to Jesus as the “Son of David,” it is meant to help us understand how Jesus is like David. Just as one can spot the resembling features of a parent in a child, so we are meant to see Jesus’ striking resemblance to David. In other words, Jesus comes in the footsteps of David, reenacting much of his life story and reflecting his unique person.

This is the true starting point for this title. It is not merely concerned with Jesus’ Davidic lineage or the Davidic covenant—those are but two drops in a cup that is overflowing with Davidic themes.

Jesus’ Descent from David

To be sure, Jesus’ physical connection to the real King David is a matter of first importance, giving authenticating testimony to His messianic identity. Davidic lineage is one of the first prophetic criteria to qualify the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:12–13; Isaiah 11:1–2)—which is why the New Testament begins with Jesus’ genealogy. In both Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogies, the Gospel writers clearly identify Jesus as “the son of David” (Matthew 1:1; Luke 3:31).

But this Davidic line is not the only requirement that qualifies Jesus as “Son of David.” After all, many other Jewish men came from the line of David in the first century, even ones born in Bethlehem.

So, while Davidic lineage tends to get all the attention, it certainly does not exhaust the Son of David connections. David is a person whose story, reputation, anointing, and relationship with God loomed large in the history of Israel. Therefore, “Son of David” is about the whole person, not just physical descent.

Let us explore some of the other overlooked (but by no means insignificant) ways Jesus reflected David. This resemblance in life, character, and action served as a primary witness to a first-century Hebrew mind. Parallels to the life and person of David are what a Jewish person in Second Temple times would have looked for to consider and confirm Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of David.

Messianic Beginnings

Besides the prophetic fact that both David and Jesus were born in Bethlehem, the events surrounding their coming and anointing hold striking parallels.

Just as Samuel was Israel’s last judge who identified and anointed David as God’s chosen king, so John the Baptist was Israel’s last prophet who also announced and anointed God’s king in the waters of Jordan (1 Sam 16:12 cf. John 1:29). Moreover, like John, Samuel too led his people in returning to the Lord, confessing sin, and even drawing water (1 Sam 7:2–6 cf. Matt 3:1–3, 5–6).

But the parallels get even deeper and more specific. The events surrounding the very birth of Samuel and John are stunning in similarity. In both cases, there was a barren woman (1 Sam 1:1–2 cf. Luke 1:5–7) and a petition made to the Lord in a holy place.  Then came an encounter with a holy person who spoke good news regarding the request (1 Sam 1:10–17 cf. Luke 1:8–19), an answered prayer (1 Sam 1:19–20, 27 cf. Luke 1:13), and a similar praise song messianic in nature (1 Sam 2:1–10 cf. Luke 1:67–79). Both sons—Samuel and John—were devoted to the Lord for an important and messianic calling (1 Sam 1:28; 2:35 cf. Luke 1:76–80, 3:2–6).

We have not even addressed David and Jesus yet, and already we find ourselves waist-deep into some serious, undeniable parallels. But the meticulous detail that merges the historical past with the prophetic future strongly testifies to God’s well-rounded witness of His Son.

Hidden King and Unlikely Savior

The first mention of the Hebrew word for “messiah” is in the first book of Samuel, the book recording the story of David. In reality, the Hebrew means “anointed one.” So, the king whom God will choose, God will anoint. And as we saw above, God sent Samuel and John to anoint His chosen king, His messiah.

So, it is important to notice God’s first-ever messiah was David! Of course, this is “messiah” with a lowercase “m.” Nevertheless, this means that David was divinely privileged and tasked with building the portrait of God’s chosen king and messiah. But this portrait providentially lays the foundation of God’s ultimate chosen Messiah—capital “M.”

Now one of the main tasks of God’s messiah was to save God’s people from their enemies. In David’s day, Israel’s greatest enemies were the Philistines. They were Israel’s enemies from long ago—even before Samson was judge! The first mention of the Philistines was when God told Joshua what land still needed to be taken:

This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and all those of the Geshurites; from the Shihor which is east of Egypt, even as far as the border of Ekron to the north (it is counted as Canaanite); the five lords of the Philistines: the Gazite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite . . .  (Joshua 13:2–3).

The Philistines were the bane of Israel’s existence, not easily or quickly defeated. Even Samuel with his righteous leadership could only subdue but not defeat them entirely. This provides a new weightiness to David’s famous defeat of Goliath, whose giant stature symbolized the seemingly invincible strength of Israel’s historical enemy.

But there is more weightiness to consider:

1. David was not yet king when he defeated Goliath. He arrived on the scene not as a military man but as a lowly shepherd boy. Unlike Saul, David did not look like God’s choice for a savior and king.  
2. In a massive army of trained soldiers, David stood alone as the only Israelite with the right heart for God’s name (which was being mocked) and the faith to obediently fight God’s enemy.
3. In choosing to fight, David voluntarily risked his own death for the salvation and deliverance of his people. The only matter more important to David than his own life was God’s name and reputation: “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted . . . And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel . . . ” (1 Sam 17:45–46).

In other words, there at the Valley of Elah between the two camps (1 Sam 17:2), David descended into “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4)—a real valley, beneath a real and giant shadow, and a real confrontation with death—to cover his people’s fear with faith in God, their disobedient failure to fight with his victorious obedience. In God’s name, David slew his people’s greatest enemy, who was invincible until the arrival of God’s messiah. In every biblical sense of the word, David redeemed his people from bondage to their enemies. And he risked giving up his life doing so.

It is likely you have already made the parallels to Jesus. With our advantageous lens that can flip between 1 Samuel 17 and the Gospels, we cannot find enough buckets to contain the prophetic parallels.

As the Son of David, Jesus walked in the footsteps of David’s battle with Goliath:

1. He defeated both Israel’s and all humanity’s giant, invincible enemies—Satan, sin, and death—as not yet king but as a lowly carpenter’s Son and God’s hidden but anointed Savior of the world.
2. Jesus stands alone as the only man who remained unstained by sin, fear, and disobedience. His righteousness covers our sins and credits us with His perfect obedience. Jesus not only had the right heart and zeal for God’s name like David, but He bears the name of God. His is the name above all names to whom all knees will bow and tongues confess (Philippian 2:9–11).
3. Like David, Jesus voluntarily gave His life as a representative ransom to redeem His people from bondage to their enemies. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:18). Jesus descended into the valley of the shadow of death and came out victorious in His resurrection.

Son of David and the Seed of the Woman

There is one last parallel that simply cannot go unmentioned. Remember, we said one of the roles of God’s chosen messiah is to crush and defeat God’s (and Israel’s) enemies. This is an action God makes Himself known by all throughout Scripture. Think of God’s crushing plagues against Egypt, especially against Pharaoh, the head ruler of Egypt. Psalm 68:21 also says, “Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies, the hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds.”

So, David’s cutting off Goliath’s head was significant biblical and messianic imagery that served as a flashback tracing all the way to the seed of the woman crushing the head of the serpent in Genesis 3:15. In cutting off Goliath’s head as God’s messiah, David was hinting at the defeat of God’s ultimate enemy. This is where Jesus shines most as the Son of David who is also the long-awaited Seed of the woman chosen and anointed by God to crush the serpent’s head, even with a bruised foot. In Jesus the Messiah, God’s giant enemies and our unrelenting enemies are vanquished forever—and we are free to reclaim the land and this world for God and Jesus’ kingdom!