Luke 1:32, commentary and pictures

The child to be born will be great as the Son of the Highest, the only begotten Son of God and long-promised Messiah and heir to David's throne. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David to reign over the house of Jacob forever in a kingdom without end, whose complete fulfillment looks to the eternal ages. He does not receive that throne of glory at His first coming, but after His work as mediator is finished at the end of this world, and until then He sits with the Father on the Father's throne as priest. At His first coming He appeared not in outward royal grandeur but as a helpless infant born in a stable, with divine glory veiled by humanity, leaving heaven's royal courts to bear sorrow and offer Himself for sin. The Jewish leaders, and with them the disciples and the people, read the promise as meaning He would at His first appearing establish a worldly kingdom by force, overthrow Rome and exalt the nation, wrongly applying to His humble first advent the prophecies of power and glory that belong to His second coming.

Identity of the Promised Child

The child announced to be born would be great and would be called the Son of the Highest, which means He is the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God, the long-promised Messiah and the promised heir to David's throne. The promises made to David and his house reach their complete fulfillment in Him and look forward to the eternal ages, for His kingdom would endure forever. Before His birth He was already declared to be the Son of God and the promised Messiah to whom God would give David's throne. That promised reign did not mean He would establish a temporal kingdom or use kingly power to subdue foreign rulers, but He is the Saviour foretold by the prophets whose life included suffering, grief, and poverty. Expectation of a mighty prince who would seize power in outward grandeur did not accord with the prophecies, for He came as a helpless infant with His divine glory and majesty veiled by humanity.

His birth was a miracle in which He took human nature while remaining the Son of God, with humanity joined to divinity. He is a real, personal being, and a lovely person, whose glorious presence had filled the courts of heaven. He shared glory with the Father before the world existed, yet He took human nature and came in humility to accomplish humanity's redemption, bearing sorrow and offering Himself for sin. Even lying in a manger in a lowly shed He was identified as that glorious one, and even in that humiliation His character deserved dignity and glory. The throne of David given to Him is a reality and not something to be spiritualized away, for turning the verse into something merely spiritual destroys both the lovely person of Jesus and the throne and takes away the glory of heaven.

Before His birth He was declared to be the Son of God and Messiah, and His later childhood showed He knew His relationship was to God, not to Joseph.

Throne Promised to David

Luke 1:32 promises that the Lord God will give to the child the throne of His father David, for He is the great Son of the Highest. That gift makes Him the one entitled to David's throne, to reign over the house of Jacob forever in a kingdom without end. The promises made to David and to his house reach their complete fulfillment in Christ. That fulfillment looks forward to the eternal ages.

David's throne was the throne of the Lord. After Zedekiah broke his covenant the kingdom was overturned, passing through Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The throne will be given to Jesus, whose right it is.

His coming to sit on the throne of His father David is joined to His work of redeeming Israel. Belief in this hope belongs to the faith into which His people are to be baptized.

Time and Nature of Reign

He does not receive the throne of glory at His first coming. He receives David's throne and kingdom only after His work as mediator is finished, at the end of this world when the world to come begins. David's throne was the throne of the Lord, but after Zedekiah broke his covenant the kingdom was overturned through Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, and the throne will be given to Jesus, whose right it is, that He may reign over the house of Jacob forever in a kingdom without end. Until then He sits with the Father on the Father's throne as priest, which is distinct from His future reign. That future reign is the kingdom of glory, which has not yet begun, and His kingdom is not of this world.

The throne of David given to Him is a reality and is not to be spiritualized away. He is a real, personal, lovely being, and the throne is real with the glory of heaven belonging to it. Turning the promise into something merely spiritual burns up both truths in the mind, destroying the lovely person of Jesus and the throne of David and taking away the glory of heaven.

The promise does not mean He would reign as an earthly king, for His kingdom is spiritual. His rejection, humiliation, death, and resurrection fulfilled what Scripture had foretold about Him.

Jewish Hope for Temporal Rule

The Jewish leaders, priests, scribes, and Pharisees took the promise of David's throne to mean that the Messiah at His first appearing would be a temporal prince and mighty ruler who would establish a worldly kingdom by force of arms. They expected Him to overthrow the powers they were compelled to respect and obey, to defeat Roman rule, to free the Jews, and to restore their former privileges, political liberty, and exalted standing. In their teaching He would exalt their nation to rule, and they demanded that fulfillment in immediate kingly honors, worldly authority, and lasting national glory. They taught that every kingdom and nation would be brought into submission to His authority, while showing contempt for all nations except the Jews.

That reading did not come from seeking God's glory but from national pride and desire for worldly honor and riches. They did not search the Scriptures with an eye single to God's glory or to conform their lives to the prophets' standard, but to sustain lofty pride. Their reading of prophecy was therefore distorted, corrupt, and perverse, pursued under Satan's leading until their understanding was darkened and they had no light in themselves. So they became spiritually blind leaders of the blind, studying riches and worldly honor instead of discerning sacred things, to their own ruin.

Their central error was to take prophecies of power and glory that belong to His second coming with power and great glory to put down all authority and rule over the whole earth, and apply them to His first advent in humility. The expectation of a mighty prince destined to sit on David's throne with an enduring kingdom was true to prophecy, but the proud idea that He would appear first in worldly power and outward grandeur did not accord with the prophecies of His first coming. They overlooked the prophecies of His humble first advent in poverty, suffering, grief, and lowliness. The promised Messiah foretold by the prophets was instead a Saviour whose life included suffering, grief, and poverty, not one who would use kingly power to subdue foreign rulers at His birth.

Because of that expectation they were ignorant of the manner of His appearing and wholly unprepared for Him. When He came, to all outward appearance He was a frail, helpless infant born in a stable and laid among the beasts, with divine glory and majesty veiled by humanity and in human form. While angels heralded Him and heaven rejoiced, the great men knew Him not. His humble life and home among the poor did not match their demand for military power and worldly honor, so the dignitaries rejected Him despite the evidence that He was their Redeemer.

Herod likewise understood the promised reign as a temporal kingdom that would rival him and drive him or his descendants from the throne, so he determined to destroy Christ. The people also recognized His divine power and authority as the promised Deliverer and rightful heir to David's throne and claimed He should be king in Jerusalem. But they misunderstood His mission by planning to force Him to become an earthly ruler and to seize political power. He refused because He had not come to establish a temporal kingdom, and because that exaltation would bring violence and insurrection, obstruct His work of teaching and mercy, and interrupt that work.

Disciples and Mary's Expectations

John and the disciples understood the promise that He would be given the throne of His father David to mean that Christ would establish an earthly kingdom on that throne in Jerusalem. They expected Him to take kingly authority and to reign prosperously there, defeating the Romans. John in prison shared that mistaken idea of the kingdom Christ came to establish, hoping Christ would use His power to free him. That understanding led them to compete with one another for the highest places in that kingdom. At the triumphal entry the crowd hailed Him as the Son of David while the disciples looked forward to His prosperous reign.

During that triumph they forgot His repeated warnings that suffering and death must come first. They did not understand that the rejoicing preceded His suffering and death. They wrongly expected His exaltation to a worldly throne and honor. His crucifixion was in truth His coronation, though they did not recognize it at the time.

Mary believed her child was Israel's Messiah and heir to David's throne, as declared before His birth when He was announced as Son of God and promised Messiah to whom God would give David's throne. She dared not express that faith openly. She did not yet understand His mission and His relationship as Son to God, not to Joseph. She expected His reign but did not yet understand that it would be won through suffering, for His work was to redeem the world and not merely to deliver Israel. She remembered the angel's announcement and saw it confirmed by His unselfish life as the Messiah and Sent of God.

Humility of the First Coming

The promise of a mighty prince destined to sit on David's throne with an enduring kingdom forever was true to prophecy. The proud and lofty idea that He would appear first in worldly power and outward grandeur, seizing power as a worldly ruler with immediate kingly honors, worldly authority and lasting national glory, did not accord with the prophecies of His first coming. The priests, Pharisees and scribes knew that promise and demanded its fulfillment in power at His first coming, because they overlooked the prophecies of humility and applied the glory of the second coming to the first. They were therefore ignorant of the manner of His appearing and wholly unprepared for Him, proving spiritually blind leaders of the blind who studied riches and worldly honor instead of discerning sacred things.

He came not with the outward grandeur of the mighty prince people expected and not with outward royal power as a visible triumph over other nations. To all outward appearance He came as a frail, helpless infant born in a stable and laid among the beasts, living a humble life and home among the poor. His divine glory and majesty were veiled by humanity and veiled in human form. While the great men knew Him not, angels heralded Him and heaven rejoiced.

Though He is the Son of God promised David's throne and shared glory with the Father before the world existed, He did not take His position on that throne at His first coming. He left heaven's royal courts to teach eternal wisdom from a fisherman's boat. He came in humility to accomplish humanity's redemption, bearing sorrow and offering Himself for sin.

Worthiness of His Exaltation

To be given the throne of his father David as the Son of the Highest is the highest exaltation. It means to be lifted high as King with a great following and the nations gathered under His banner. Such kingship is what men would desire to give to one from heaven who takes human nature. They would eagerly give it even to an angel or seraph who came to teach the knowledge of God, to set a perfect example of purity and holiness, to sympathize with human sorrows, bereavements and afflictions, and to suffer the punishment of human sins.

Jesus Christ surpasses all that imagined greatness and is the true Heir of that throne. Though He shared glory with the Father before the world existed, He took human nature and came in humility to accomplish humanity's redemption, bearing sorrow and offering Himself for sin. Even in that humiliation His character deserved dignity and glory.