Let’s look at one of the central people in Matthew’s Gospel. This person was born in Bethlehem and had a humble upbringing. In his early career, he did things that were considered miraculous by those around him. Though God had chosen him to lead the Jewish people, he spent much of his life as an outcast, wanderer, and king-in-waiting. Those in power persecuted him and rejected him despite his loyalty and courage. Despite his difficult circumstances, he had a deeply personal relationship with God, and remained devoted to his calling. Eventually, he was enthroned as king. Who is the person we are talking about? If you guessed “Jesus,” you’re not necessarily wrong, but this is a description of one of Israel’s kings, David, who is referenced throughout Matthew’s gospel. Matthew frequently references David in his Gospel because he is key to Jesus’ story: Jesus became the kind of king that David and his descendants were always supposed to be.

The First David: A King in Exile

David was Israel’s second king, anointed by God early in his life. He began as a national hero, but his life ended in sorrow. As a young shepherd working for his father in Bethlehem, he defended the sheep from lions and bears. The Old Testament writers highlighted this story from David’s life to show that there had been hope that David would be a new Adam-figure, having dominion among the animals (for more on the connections between David and Adam, see David: A New Adam). David became a national hero after defeating Goliath and saving Israel from the Philistines.

Israel’s first king, Saul, wanted his son to be king after him, so he plotted to kill David. Fortunately, David avoided the plot, but he was forced to live in exile for many years, afraid for his life and reliant on God for protection. Though David had multiple opportunities to kill Saul during that time, he refrained, since he desired a peaceful transition of power.

After Saul’s death, David finally became king, and he ruled well for several years. In response to David’s faithfulness through that point in his life, God made a covenant with David that Israel’s future kings would be from among David’s descendants. More importantly, God promised that one of David’s descendants would become Israel’s ultimate king, who would fill to overflowing the king’s roles of being God’s just and righteous representative to the people and expanding God’s kingdom throughout the world.

A New David

In the opening chapter of his gospel, Matthew mentions Jesus’ connection to David several times. In the very first sentence, he calls Jesus the “son of David,” and he spends a large part of the first chapter showing how Jesus’ ancestry connects to David. When an angel visits Joseph, Jesus’ legal father, the angel addresses Joseph as “son of David.” Matthew also records that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, David’s hometown. When the wise men visit Jesus after his birth, they refer to him as “king of the Jews,” based on how they understood the stars. Finally, God’s words to Jesus at his baptism are a reference to Psalm 2, which was historically read during the coronation of Israel’s kings.

With these references, Matthew is communicating that Jesus is a new David, a new king of the Jewish people. When Matthew outlines Jesus’ family history, he divides it into three groups: Abraham to David, David to the beginning of the Babylonian exile, and the Babylonian exile to Joseph. Each group represents a major stage of Jewish history. This sets Jesus up as the king who will bring the Jewish people forward into the next stage of their history.

A Legacy Corrupted

Despite David’s faithfulness throughout much of his life, David greatly damaged his legacy in a series of events that impacted him and his family for generations. One day, as he was standing on the roof of his palace, he saw Bathsheba bathing, and he instructed his servants to take her to the palace. David then committed adultery with her, and she became pregnant. He tried to cover it up by bringing her husband, Uriah, home from battle, but it didn’t work. Uriah refused to visit his wife, acting in solidarity with his fellow soldiers who were still in the field. David sent Uriah back to battle, but he also sent instructions to Uriah’s commander to abandon Uriah in the midst of battle so that Uriah would be killed. It worked. Uriah was killed, and David took Bathsheba as a wife. God was greatly upset by David’s actions, and he pronounced a curse on David’s descendants, saying “the sword shall never depart from your house.”

Though David had a chance to retell and redeem Adam’s story, he ended up retelling the fall stories of both Adam and Cain. In the original Hebrew, the description of David’s actions towards Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 bears a striking resemblance to the eating of the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve “saw” and “took” the fruit. David “saw” and “took” Bathsheba. Adam and Eve tried to hide their actions from God, and though they ultimately admitted to their wrongdoing, within a generation, their sin led to Cain murdering his brother. David also tried to hide his actions, but when his deception failed, he doubled down on his sin and committed murder. David had an opportunity to be a new Adam, but he ended up repeating both Adam's and Cain's sin. Just as Adam’s abuse of autonomy led to the corruption of human nature for his descendants, David’s abuse of power led to the corruption of the monarchy for his descendants, as the kingship decayed into violence, political corruption, and division in the generations that followed.

A Legacy Redeemed

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus retells David’s story and avoids David’s mistakes. During Jesus’ time in the desert following his baptism, Matthew records an interaction between Jesus and the devil. The devil tests Jesus’ faith in various ways, but the final temptation is most relevant to us here. The devil takes Jesus to the top of a mountain that sees all the kingdoms of the world. He offers to give Jesus power over all the kingdoms if Jesus will worship him. Jesus “saw,” but he did not “take.”

Further into his Gospel, Matthew recounts a story where Jesus, defending himself for picking grain on the Sabbath, references how David took bread from the temple when he was in need. Of the twelve loaves that were reserved as an offering to God, David took five for himself and his companions. In retelling David’s story, Jesus later feeds a crowd of five thousand using five loaves of bread (and two fish), with twelve baskets of bread left over after everyone has eaten. David took five of the twelve loaves of bread from the temple, and Jesus turns five loaves into twelve baskets of bread. This symbolism is so important to the crowd that in John’s Gospel, the crowd tries to make Jesus king immediately after seeing this miracle.

As a final part of showing how Jesus retells David’s story, Matthew writes about how Jesus, towards the end of his life, rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. This is a dual reference to events in David’s life. David fled from Jerusalem on a donkey when his son tried to usurp him. In that way, Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey reverses David riding out. The other reference comes from later in David’s life, when he was deciding which of his sons would succeed him as king, sent Solomon into Jerusalem on a donkey. By retelling and redeeming David’s story, Jesus is proclaiming himself to be Israel’s new king. By bringing the events of David’s life to a better ending in his retelling, Jesus declares that he is the fulfillment of God's covenant with David, the ultimate who will bring God's kingdom to the whole world.

A New Kingdom

In present-day America and Europe, we tend to be skeptical of kings and authoritarian rulers in general, and with good reason. We have seen how these kinds of rulers have abused their power and caused a lot of harm in the process. Of course, the Jewish people also experienced the negative consequences of kings who abused their power, but they knew that a just and righteous king could do a lot of good for their nation as well. The king’s laws set the tone for how society would operate, and the king’s personally appointed leaders helped to uphold those laws. The king helped to unify the nation’s community and settle disputes among them. The king coordinated soldiers and resources to provide military capabilities against surrounding nations. The lack of a king meant social disorder, unrest, danger, and vulnerability. A kingless group of people was under constant threat of anarchy from within their borders and occupation, enslavement, or even annihilation from surrounding nations. Even in the best case, occupation by a foreign king led to no guarantees of a group’s future safety, and it often meant an inability to carry out certain religious practices.

Jesus became a king like no other because he first became the most loyal subject like no other. He allowed God, the supremely good and loving Father, to reign over him. No one had done that before. From the moment that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit to be king, Jesus embarked on a journey to be a subject. He received the Father’s true words of love -- “You are My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” -- ever more deeply into himself. When the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness to use selfishly or manipulate God’s love, Jesus refused. Unlike David, and Adam and Eve long before him, who “saw” and “took” what was off limits, Jesus rejected the lie that he needed to take things that were not his. Jesus said God’s words of affection were enough for him. Jesus wrote over the script of sin in the fallen humanity he shared with us, and etched the words of his Father there. By doing this, he made the kingdom of God true in himself, first and foremost.

When he fed the five thousand, Jesus showed that his kingdom is one of abundance. Other rulers would likely insist on being served first, making sure that their needs are met, especially with such a limited supply of food. Jesus, however, insisted that the crowd be fed before him. Other rulers see our portion and take some of it for themselves. Jesus sees our portion and multiplies it when we share with others.

Finally, when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, he demonstrated what kind of king he is. In that culture, it was common to see leaders riding around on horses. In fact, it is possible that around the time when Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who ultimately ordered that Jesus be crucified, was entering the other side of Jerusalem on a war horse. Strong, fast, and agile, horses were the mount of choice for rulers who desired to project strength and power. Donkeys, on the other hand, were associated with times of peace. Many Jewish people at the time were expecting the Messiah to be a military leader who would overthrow the occupying Roman government by force. In contrast to those expectations, Jesus reprimanded one of his disciples who attempted to defend him with a sword. Jesus’ kingdom is not about a central authority figure who uses force as a means of control, it’s about a loving leader who seeks willing partnership with us so that we can become truly human and fully step into our roles as images of God. Instead of using us to accomplish what is best for him, Jesus continually takes a self-sacrificial stance to do what is best for us.

All of these characteristics of Jesus’ kingdom sound wonderful, but are they just wishful thinking? After all, politicians make promises that they don’t keep all the time. This generally happens for one of two reasons: they are lying about their intentions, or they don’t have the power needed to accomplish their goals. Jesus isn’t limited by either of these factors. We know that God’s intentions for us are true and unchanging, since he has been working from the very beginning to restore humans to full spiritual health and help us live out our roles as images of God. The rest of Matthew’s gospel shows us that Jesus is not limited by power. He has power over evil, spirits, and demons. He has power over the physical world, including plants, animals, and weather. He even has power over sickness, disease, and death. In short, Jesus has all of the power and authority needed to bring forth and sustain a kingdom where our needs–physical, spiritual, emotional, relational, vocational, etc.–are not only met, but filled to overflowing.

Matthew’s Gospel as a New Pentateuch

A major part of the “good news” of the Gospel is that this kingdom is already here. Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, has already come and established his kingdom. He inaugurated a new era in Israel’s, and all of humanity’s history, and all of us are invited to join in it. That may seem like a strange statement to make, since the world around us seems so different from the one described above. There is no shortage of violence, famine, suffering, etc. among us. This is one of the now-and-not-yet paradoxes: Jesus’ kingdom is here now, but it is not yet fully realized. A big reason for this is because, as mentioned, God delights in our partnership. Jesus wants us to voluntarily pledge our allegiance to him, to willingly join and share in the work of manifesting his kingdom on Earth.

To help us understand what life in Jesus’ kingdom means, Matthew structures his Gospel like a new Pentateuch for Jesus’ followers. The word “Pentateuch” refers to the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These five books cover the story of God creating the first humans in the garden up to the point where God brought Israel up to the new garden land. To parallel this, Matthew’s Gospel splits Jesus’ teachings into five blocks of content, often called the “five discourses.” These cover much of the essential information for new followers of Jesus: how they should act, strategies for spreading his message, parables about different aspects of faith, instructions for the church community, and warnings about the future. After the discourses, Matthew includes his account of Jesus’ death and resurrection as the climax of Jesus’ life, the point where he is fully enthroned. Matthew ends his gospel with what is known as “The Great Commision,” where Jesus tells his followers to spread his message and recruit more followers all across the world, saying that as they do so, he will be with them. The Great Commission gave Jesus’ followers a new mission, and Matthew’s Gospel gave them the essential information to carry out that mission, just as the Pentateuch had done for the Israelites.

Looking Ahead

Jesus began a new kingdom, one that transcends geographical and political boundaries, which we are all invited to participate in, but that was only part of his work. As we saw in the Clinic section of the story, there is only so much that leaders can do to guide their people. In Israel’s case, even if they’d had perfect leaders, there was still the problem of corrupted human nature in the rest of the Israelites. It is simply not possible for God’s kingdom to coexist with the sin-disease. In order for us to fully take part in this kingdom, we need a way for our human nature to be healed and restored from its corruption. Fortunately, Jesus dealt with the sin-disease in his own human nature and opened the way for our healing and renewal. That is the topic of the next post, Cure, Pt. 2: Jesus Retells Israel’s Story in Luke.