Solomon 2.0

I love it when you have a moment when the light bulb goes on and you see something you never saw before. I had one of this moments yesterday when I was listening to a sermon on my ipod. It had to do with the title given to Jesus as the "Son of David." I had always understood that this title meant that Jesus was from the same blood line as David, which is true as shown in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. I also understood that this title identified Jesus as one who had a heart after God, as David did. Perhaps the distinguishing quality about David's life, even through all of the ups and downs, was his passion for God.

While these understandings certainly fit, I learned another way to look at this title. On a literal level, David had several sons. The one that we know the most about and the one who succeeded David as king was Solomon. Solomon had it all: wealth, wisdom, and power. David was a very successful warrior; so successful that most of the Israelite enemies had been decimated and Solomon was set up to reign in relative peace. Solomon was in a prime position to make God's dream for the world a reality. He had the resources to see that everyone's needs were met and that shalom could come on the earth. The whole world watched Solomon to see what he would do with the abundant resources that were given to him.

And you know what, he failed. He let the wealth and power go to his head. He allowed foreign wives to distort and compromise his understanding of the Torah. He used the abundant resources to glorify himself.

So, I think that part of what it means that Jesus is the Son of David is that he is the second Solomon. Not in the sense that he had all of this wealth and power. Actually, Jesus was born into quite opposite circumstances (see Luke 2). Jesus was the second Solomon in the sense that he had abundant resources. After all, everything that is God's also belongs to Jesus (because Jesus is God!). Jesus was the second Solomon because he was in a prime position to make God's dream for the world a reality. He had the resources to see that everyone's needs were met and that shalom would come to the earth.

And you know what, he wildly succeeded. He resisted the temptation to make his blessings all about him (see Matthew 4). He lived such a life that still inspires millions of people 2000 years later. He gave everyone a glimpse of what the world can look like when God reigns (the Kingdom of God). He even entered into sin and death and destroyed it to remove all fear of living the way he did.

The truth of the matter is that we all have been given abundant resources. So whose path are we going to follow? Solomon or Solomon 2?