In Anticipation of the King ...

 

Ye know that Christ was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
(1 St. John 3:5)

 

 

          This account – of David and Bathsheba – surely is one of the most well-known in all of Scripture. It might rank just below the account of David and Goliath in terms of popular fame.

          You and I know the basic structure of events: how David saw a good-looking woman named Bathsheba, sent for her, committed adultery with her and ultimately had her husband, Uriah, killed to cover up David’s evil deed. We like to point to this account to demonstrate that each of us, no matter how spiritually mature, can sin – grievously. We use this text both as a warning and as a source of comfort, because the Lord forgave David when David finally repented.

          Well and good. You and I ought to understand this event in David’s life both as a warning and as a source of hope for sinners like us.

          But if you’ll note, as we’ve done through the Sundays of Advent, David and Bathsheba are mentioned in Matthew’s record of Jesus’ genealogy. That means there’s another reason you should study 2 Samuel 11-12 carefully: this sad occasion points you and me to the greater King whom we must desire this Christmas. It shows us our true King, our true victory and our true hope.

          It shows you and me that we need to want more – more of Christ our King – this Christmas.

 

          The account of David and Bathsheba first points you and me to our need for the true King, Jesus.

          It certainly is fair to say David ranks atop the list of Israel’s earthly kings in terms of fame and success. He was foremost “a man after God’s own heart” – beloved of the Lord, and one who loved the Lord. You and I are mindful not only of his military successes but also of his bringing the Ark of the Covenant (which signified the Lord’s rule over Israel) to Jerusalem. We think of his unexpected but milestone defeat of Goliath. And as a spiritual man, God utilized David the king to record inspired songs to Him, which you and I know as the psalms.

          So Godly. So successful. So vital as a cog in redemptive history.

          Such a sinner.

          I say that not in judgment of David but in recognition that each and every one of us is conceived in sin, as David wrote in Psalm 51 (after Nathan the prophet confronted him with his sin). As we read 2 Samuel 11 earlier, did you note how this “man after God’s own heart” indulged the wicked desires of his heart? Time after time in the early part of the chapter, you and I read of David “sending out” in progressive stages of sin. Instead of doing his duty as king, he lazily tarried in Jerusalem. He allowed his eyes to go where they pleased instead of making a covenant with them, as did Job; when he saw Bathsheba, he sent word to inquire about her. He then sent for her. He then sent for her husband the valiant soldier Uriah, in hopes of covering up his sin with Bathsheba by getting Uriah home so Uriah could sleep with her. David finally sent faithful Uriah – carrying his own death sentence – back to war, and then sent a word of sinful rationalization to Joab about Uriah’s death (“Hey, Joab, anyone can die in war”).

          David was awfully active in pursuing and in seeking to conceal his sin. Yet this mighty king – the finest merely human king Israel would know – tumbled at temptation.

          This sordid account in David’s life reminds you and me how desperately we need the true King, Jesus, who would not fall victim to our real enemy, sin. David, while a man after God’s own heart, was not “consumed with zeal for the house of the Lord” as was Jesus. David found occasion to indulge his fleshly appetites; Jesus’ “meat and drink” was to do the will of his Father in Heaven.

          You and I need an impeccable King and Savior, as Isaiah 53 and 1 John 3:5 describe. Jesus, the prophet Isaiah foretold, would have no sin and do no violence. St. John tells us he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him was no sin. Granted, Jesus was tempted; but there was nothing in him to respond to temptations, and he who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin’s womb never acquiesced to temptation. If Jesus had sinned, he would have been no greater than King David and really would have been less than David, because David at least enjoyed great earthly military success. But because Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God – as the Levitical laws required – he is able to represent you and me on the Cross and in the presence of the holy Father.

          David’s victories astound you and me as we read of them.

          His great losses – and this notorious sin with Bathsheba – drive you and me to One who was far greater, though he did not lift a sword.

 

          The inclusion of David and Bathsheba in Jesus’ lineage secondly points you and me to our true victory over our true enemies – sin and death.

          Back in David’s era, if your tribe’s name ended in “ite,” you could be assured King David and the Israelites were going to crush you in battle. The Scriptures say the Lord was with David so that he prospered in whatever he undertook, and that prosperity clearly manifested itself on the battlefield. Israel as a nation was the covenant community of God; all the other nations of the earth served self-made idols. When the Israelites defeated the Jebusites, then, they actually were defeating the false gods of the Jebusites in the Name of the one true God of Israel.

          There remained, however, a greater enemy: sin. Sin, as St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, always leads to death. And before he faced his own mortal death, David lost battles with sin.

          Thank the Lord for our true victory over our true enemy by the work of our true King, Jesus Christ. In his life on earth, Jesus lived victoriously over sin, resisting Satan in the power and truth of his Father. In his death, Scripture tells us, Jesus destroyed him who had the power of death; death has no more dominion over him. Unlike David, Jesus ascended to the right hand (the place of honor, influence and dominion) of God the Father Almighty and now rules over his Church from Heaven.

          It’s easy for you and me to become engrossed in the historical accounts of David’s military victories. Even the Judahites in the centuries following David would look back on his reign as Israel’s “glory days,” much like (ahem) Alabama fans look back on Paul Bryant’s days at Alabama as never-to-be-equaled glory days. But every one of David’s victories was but a faint foreshadowing of the Lord’s coming victory over sin and over the last enemy, death.

          What do you perceive are your greatest enemies? Someone at work? Your “personality flaws?” Your bad habits?

          Your true enemy is sin, which mighty David could not conquer. Thank the Lord for our true victory in King Jesus.

 

          Third, the mentioning of David and Bathsheba in Jesus’ genealogy points you and me to our true hope: life with Christ in the New Jerusalem.

          David’s victories, and especially the ascent of the Ark in Jerusalem, were times of ebullient celebration in the history of God’s people. To have conquered the foes and established Israel’s dominion in the Promised Land marked the pinnacle of success for the covenant community. With their enemies subdued, the people of God finally could enjoy rest in the land.

          But that rest could not, and would not, endure.

          Until great David’s greater Son came to defeat the true enemy, sin, God’s people continually would face enemies. After sin ravaged most of Israel’s and Judah’s kings and people, they were carried off in exile to foreign lands. So much for hope. So much for the “good old days.”

          David’s success and subsequent failure with Bathsheba drive you and me to recognize our need for a greater hope and an enduring place of rest. Our Lord Jesus commanded us to be of good cheer, for he had overcome the world; but you and I will not enjoy the full experience of that conquest until he ushers in the new era in the New Heavens and New Earth. There, righteousness will dwell perfectly, and God’s enemies will have been conquered finally. No longer will you fear tomorrow, or illnesses, or temptations and trials of various sorts. You will have full spiritual rest in Jesus as you serve him in his new creation.

          A few years ago I was having a problem with keeping my car’s engine running after I cranked it. In a pinch, a mechanic propped open a fuel-intake valve until I could leave the car in the shop for a longer period of time. It worked for a while, but the measure was a stopgap. Likewise, as joyous as were Israel’s victories under King David, at the end of the day they were stopgaps. The real enemy persisted.

          Not with King Jesus. He made an open show over his – and your – enemies on the cross. And he is coming to usher in full-orbed victory like you and I, and David, never have experienced.

 

          Christmas soon will be upon us. Are you excited?

          We have some holiday traditions in the Rolison and Cometti families that I anticipate every year. I always look forward to Uncle Harold’s “Christmas pie” (not an actual pie!) and to playing games (yes, I said that!) with my cousins and, of course, to food and football. Gotta have Grandmama’s Coca-Cola salad. You’re probably the same way with traditions.

          When your family moves off, though, it’s easy to lower your expectations. Perhaps we’ll see them; perhaps we won’t. Either way you don’t get too excited.

          It’s one thing to have lowered expectations of material celebrations. But have you lowered your expectations for Jesus?

          In this world of sin – as David knew and as you and I well know – let us look again to Bethlehem to our true King and to his true victory.