And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
He is the Son of the Highest and Son of God, born of a woman by the miracle of the Holy Spirit in which divinity was joined to humanity. God gives Him the throne of David as the promised Son of David, fulfilling the promise that David's throne and dominion would endure through all ages. He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever in a kingdom that will have no end, and the redeemed shall behold His everlasting throne and glory and share His inheritance forever. That throne is not a temporal rule set up during His earthly life, but a spiritual kingdom now that will be given Him in glory when His work as mediator is finished and the world to come begins. The Jews looked for a mighty earthly prince to subdue the Romans and exalt Israel to national power and riches, but that power and glory belong to His second coming, not to His first advent as a lowly babe with His divine glory veiled.
Promised Son and Throne
The verse identifies Jesus as the Son of the Highest and Son of God, whose human birth was a miracle of God brought about by the Holy Spirit, joining humanity with divinity. It declares that God gives Him the throne of David, for He reigns over the house of Jacob forever and of His kingdom there shall be no end. As the promised Son of David He has the rightful claim to that throne, fulfilling God's promises to David and his house that his throne and dominion endure through all ages.
The words belong to the angel's announcement before Jesus' birth, which Mary pondered and by which she believed that Jesus was Israel's Messiah, though she did not yet understand His mission. They promise His coming to sit on the throne of His father David and redeem Israel, and that coming with its unending kingdom is the faith into which believers are called to be baptized.
Future Glorious Eternal Kingdom
The throne promised is not a worldly government set up during his earthly life, but is to be given to him at the end of this world when the world to come begins, for God gives him the throne with rightful claim to reign over the house of Jacob forever in a kingdom without end. He will receive David's throne and reign over the everlasting kingdom of glory only after his work as mediator is finished, for the kingdom of glory has not yet begun. While he serves as priest he sits with the Father on the Father's throne and intercedes for humanity.
His kingdom is spiritual, not a temporal earthly rule in Jerusalem and not of this world. Though he is the promised Son of David and heir of David's throne, he does not take his earthly position on that throne. From a fisherman's boat he speaks eternal wisdom, and his words are given to the world as God's enduring legacy in an everlasting kingdom that has no end. The plan to make him king by force misunderstood the nature of this kingship.
The promise of his reign over David's people is fulfilled through a mission that includes suffering, not an unobstructed path to earthly rule. His work is also for the Gentiles, making him the Redeemer of the world and not merely Israel's deliverer, in a kingdom that will never end. Reign on David's throne with the nations gathered under his banner is a kingship of highest exaltation. That honor fittingly belongs to a heavenly being who took human nature, taught the knowledge of God and the mysteries of science, set a perfect example of purity and holiness, sympathized with human sorrows, bereavements and afflictions, and suffered the punishment of sins.
Through humble fishermen who heard Jesus teach in Galilee he laid the foundation of his spiritual kingdom, which will never be destroyed. The day will come when the kingdoms of the earth become the kingdom of the Lord and his Christ. He reigns in majesty over a kingdom that will have no end, and his throne is from everlasting to everlasting. The redeemed will behold his everlasting throne and eternal glory, rejoicing in the unending kingdom secured through his sacrifice. They will praise him as the Lamb whose blood redeemed them and as their Redeemer. Those he redeems are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ and will share his inheritance forever.
Mistaken Earthly Expectations Corrected
The promise that he would reign over the house of Jacob forever was read as the coming of a mighty earthly prince to sit on David's throne and hold an endless kingdom by worldly power. It was taken to mean that at his appearing he would at once assume kingly honors, take David's throne by force of arms, subdue the Romans and other nations, reduce oppressors to subjection, and establish a temporal national kingdom. In that kingdom Israel would be exalted to authority and power over its enemies, with worldly honor, riches and national glory more exalted and glorious even than Solomon's reign.
That power and glory belong to his second coming with power and great glory, not to his first advent in humility as a frail helpless babe born in a stable and cradled in a manger with divine glory veiled by humanity. Prophecies of his power and glory were wrongly applied to his first advent, while prophecies pointing to humility were overlooked, confusing his coming in glory with his coming in lowliness. Proud and lofty ideas, narrow views, ambitious desire for worldly honor, riches and national glory, and spiritual blindness left them ignorant of the manner of his appearing and wholly unprepared for the revelation of the Messiah. The priests likewise misused prophecies of his return in power and glory, when he will put down all authority and rule over the whole earth, to claim he would soon free the Jews and restore their political power, with pride and self-interest darkening their understanding.
John shared that indistinct understanding of the kingdom, expecting an earthly rule from David's throne in Jerusalem in which Christ would take political authority, subdue the Romans, and thereby free him from prison. The disciples also looked forward to his prosperous reign on David's throne in a political sense of worldly exaltation and honor. During the triumphal entry and otherwise they forgot and did not understand that suffering and death would come first, nor did they see that his crucifixion was his true coronation.
The people rightly recognized Jesus as the promised Deliverer and King whose rightful inheritance is David's throne. Yet they wrongly sought to make him king by force as an earthly king in Jerusalem and to establish his rule as a temporal kingdom, though he did not come to set up a temporal kingdom and his kingdom is not of this world. That plan would have obstructed his work of mercy and instruction. Because they expected the Messiah to come in honor and glory and to establish David's throne by force of arms, they rejected Jesus as Israel's Redeemer when his humble life and home among the poor did not match that expectation.
He is the Son of the Highest and Son of God, born of a woman by the miracle of the Holy Spirit in which divinity was joined to humanity. God gives Him the throne of David as the promised Son of David, fulfilling the promise that David's throne and dominion would endure through all ages. He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever in a kingdom that will have no end, and the redeemed shall behold His everlasting throne and glory and share His inheritance forever. That throne is not a temporal rule set up during His earthly life, but a spiritual kingdom now that will be given Him in glory when His work as mediator is finished and the world to come begins. The Jews looked for a mighty earthly prince to subdue the Romans and exalt Israel to national power and riches, but that power and glory belong to His second coming, not to His first advent as a lowly babe with His divine glory veiled.
Promised Son and Throne
The verse identifies Jesus as the Son of the Highest and Son of God, whose human birth was a miracle of God brought about by the Holy Spirit, joining humanity with divinity. It declares that God gives Him the throne of David, for He reigns over the house of Jacob forever and of His kingdom there shall be no end. As the promised Son of David He has the rightful claim to that throne, fulfilling God's promises to David and his house that his throne and dominion endure through all ages.
The words belong to the angel's announcement before Jesus' birth, which Mary pondered and by which she believed that Jesus was Israel's Messiah, though she did not yet understand His mission. They promise His coming to sit on the throne of His father David and redeem Israel, and that coming with its unending kingdom is the faith into which believers are called to be baptized.
Future Glorious Eternal Kingdom
The throne promised is not a worldly government set up during his earthly life, but is to be given to him at the end of this world when the world to come begins, for God gives him the throne with rightful claim to reign over the house of Jacob forever in a kingdom without end. He will receive David's throne and reign over the everlasting kingdom of glory only after his work as mediator is finished, for the kingdom of glory has not yet begun. While he serves as priest he sits with the Father on the Father's throne and intercedes for humanity.
His kingdom is spiritual, not a temporal earthly rule in Jerusalem and not of this world. Though he is the promised Son of David and heir of David's throne, he does not take his earthly position on that throne. From a fisherman's boat he speaks eternal wisdom, and his words are given to the world as God's enduring legacy in an everlasting kingdom that has no end. The plan to make him king by force misunderstood the nature of this kingship.
The promise of his reign over David's people is fulfilled through a mission that includes suffering, not an unobstructed path to earthly rule. His work is also for the Gentiles, making him the Redeemer of the world and not merely Israel's deliverer, in a kingdom that will never end. Reign on David's throne with the nations gathered under his banner is a kingship of highest exaltation. That honor fittingly belongs to a heavenly being who took human nature, taught the knowledge of God and the mysteries of science, set a perfect example of purity and holiness, sympathized with human sorrows, bereavements and afflictions, and suffered the punishment of sins.
Through humble fishermen who heard Jesus teach in Galilee he laid the foundation of his spiritual kingdom, which will never be destroyed. The day will come when the kingdoms of the earth become the kingdom of the Lord and his Christ. He reigns in majesty over a kingdom that will have no end, and his throne is from everlasting to everlasting. The redeemed will behold his everlasting throne and eternal glory, rejoicing in the unending kingdom secured through his sacrifice. They will praise him as the Lamb whose blood redeemed them and as their Redeemer. Those he redeems are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ and will share his inheritance forever.
Mistaken Earthly Expectations Corrected
The promise that he would reign over the house of Jacob forever was read as the coming of a mighty earthly prince to sit on David's throne and hold an endless kingdom by worldly power. It was taken to mean that at his appearing he would at once assume kingly honors, take David's throne by force of arms, subdue the Romans and other nations, reduce oppressors to subjection, and establish a temporal national kingdom. In that kingdom Israel would be exalted to authority and power over its enemies, with worldly honor, riches and national glory more exalted and glorious even than Solomon's reign.
That power and glory belong to his second coming with power and great glory, not to his first advent in humility as a frail helpless babe born in a stable and cradled in a manger with divine glory veiled by humanity. Prophecies of his power and glory were wrongly applied to his first advent, while prophecies pointing to humility were overlooked, confusing his coming in glory with his coming in lowliness. Proud and lofty ideas, narrow views, ambitious desire for worldly honor, riches and national glory, and spiritual blindness left them ignorant of the manner of his appearing and wholly unprepared for the revelation of the Messiah. The priests likewise misused prophecies of his return in power and glory, when he will put down all authority and rule over the whole earth, to claim he would soon free the Jews and restore their political power, with pride and self-interest darkening their understanding.
John shared that indistinct understanding of the kingdom, expecting an earthly rule from David's throne in Jerusalem in which Christ would take political authority, subdue the Romans, and thereby free him from prison. The disciples also looked forward to his prosperous reign on David's throne in a political sense of worldly exaltation and honor. During the triumphal entry and otherwise they forgot and did not understand that suffering and death would come first, nor did they see that his crucifixion was his true coronation.
The people rightly recognized Jesus as the promised Deliverer and King whose rightful inheritance is David's throne. Yet they wrongly sought to make him king by force as an earthly king in Jerusalem and to establish his rule as a temporal kingdom, though he did not come to set up a temporal kingdom and his kingdom is not of this world. That plan would have obstructed his work of mercy and instruction. Because they expected the Messiah to come in honor and glory and to establish David's throne by force of arms, they rejected Jesus as Israel's Redeemer when his humble life and home among the poor did not match that expectation.