The son of Jesse
With the anointing of David as King of Israel, a new chapter begins in the salvation story. What began as God’s universal relationship with humanity, became a covenant relationship with the descendants of Abraham and Sarah. And God has been faithful to the covenant through thick and thin, through trials and tribulations, through the wilderness and into the promised land. However, the people, perhaps not so much.
But here the covenant gets even more specific. It is not just the people of Israel whom God has chosen, but a family from within the whole people of Israel. It is the family of Jesse, specifically one of his many sons, but not the biggest or the strongest or the best looking (though David was no beast). But through Jesse’s youngest born, God’s covenant would be passed from generation to generation.
It is this story that make Bethlehem the notoriety that we recognize at Christmas. It is why the prophets would proclaim:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” – Micah 5:2
Of course, the line of David is not a clean and clear as we would like. Actually, the gospels of Luke and Matthew trace the line differently. But what matters about 1 Samuel 16 is that this is the moment when everything shifts. When we hear about the see David’s name in the genealogy we flashback to this moment, to the little town of Bethlehem and we wonder with amazement at how God has worked all things for good in this unfolding story.