Have you ever sat in a Bible study and marveled at the biblical insights of the group leader? Imagine how the two despondent disciples felt when they encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Luke tells us that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). I can only guess that as they listened, they did so with increasing wonderment. Later that day, Jesus appeared to the other disciples and “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). I have often wondered what these men thought as their risen Lord enabled them for the first time to understand that the whole Bible was about Him. I think they all probably sat in stunned silence as Jesus gave them a personal tour of the testimony of what Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms taught about Him (Luke 24:44).
There are, of course, passages in the Old Testament that point clearly and wonderfully to Jesus (see Isa. 53). But when Jesus said to His disciples that “all the Scriptures” spoke of Him, what did He mean?
Typology in Scripture
Have you ever encountered the word typology? The Apostle Paul uses this word to describe Jesus’ relationship to God’s first man, Adam. He calls Adam “a type of the one [Jesus] who was to come” (Rom. 5:14). A “type” is a pattern, an example. Adam was God’s created servant-son (Luke 3:38). Jesus was God’s uncreated, obedient Servant-Son. Adam failed dismally, but Jesus triumphed gloriously.
Nowhere is King David described as “a type of the one who was to come” as Adam was. However, reading the Scripture for what it is, God’s unfolding story of salvation, we can see that the New Testament portrays Jesus typologically as the “new David,” the King who came and fulfilled all righteousness. Let me briefly explain.
In 2 Samuel 23:1, David tells us that he is “the anointed of the God of Jacob” (emphasis added). In the Old Testament, three kinds of significant people were anointed by God to serve Him and His people: prophets, priests, and kings. The prophets were anointed to speak God’s Word. The priests were anointed to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the people and to intercede for them. The kings were anointed to lead and rule God’s people according to His Word.
These three offices came together in King David. David was “the Lord’s anointed,” but the sad tragedy is that David failed as the Lord’s anointed. He sinned, as did all the prophets, priests, and kings. He was not the One God promised would crush the head of the serpent and bring salvation to God’s sinful world (Gen. 3:15).
Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King
This is the background that helps us to see Jesus as “the new and better David.” Jesus is the anointed Prophet who not only faithfully spoke God’s Word, but who was Himself God’s incarnate Word (John 1:1–18; Heb. 1:1–4). Jesus is the perfect anointed Priest who came not to offer sacrifices, but to be Himself the sacrifice that would deal fully, finally, and forever with the sin that separates us from God (see the letter to the Hebrews). Jesus is also the anointed King who rules and guides His people with perfect wisdom, grace, and power, defending us from all our enemies.
This is why Jesus is called the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One. What King David was as a deeply flawed pattern, Jesus was in perfection. In their totality, the New Testament presents Jesus as the better Prophet, Priest, and King than David, just as He was the better Servant-Son than Adam.
Pointing Beyond David to Jesus
Some of the early church fathers used typology fancifully at times, but this is no reason to ignore patterns in God’s Word that are intended to point us to Jesus. Jesus is the only One of whom God ever said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mark 9:7; see also Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Luke 9:35).
Seventeen verses in the New Testament describe Jesus as “the son of David.” The words are not first highlighting His physical descent from the line of David (though that is true); rather, they are a messianic title. In His controversy with the Pharisees, Jesus asked them this question: How can the Messiah be the son of David when David himself calls Him Lord? (Mark 12:35–37; Ps.110:1). Jesus understood that David pointed beyond himself to Him. This is why we must learn to read the Scriptures through the lens of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are all about Him.1
If you would like to explore in greater depth biblical typology, and especially the way the Bible presents Jesus as the new David through typology, read Jonathan Edwards’ The Types of the Messiah (recently published in a 108-page paperback, extracted from his Works).↩
Ligonier Ministries