The title “Son of David” is employed ten times in Matthew’s gospel, more than twice its occurrences in the other threes gospels combined. This makes sense given that Matthew seems to be addressing a Jewish audience, and wants to stress that Jesus of Nazareth is their Messiah. It was the belief among the Jews, because of the LORD’s covenant with David, that the Messiah must be a descendant of David (2Sam 7:12-13; Mat 22:41-46). The descendant God promised David would rule forever as King. So important is this title to Matthew, he identifies Jesus as the Son of David in the very first verse of his gospel. He ends by indicating that Jesus, after the resurrection, possessed the authority to rule as King (28:18-20).
In Matthew 20:29-34, two blind men addressed Jesus as Son of David when they requested to be healed of their blindness. Did they believe Jesus to be the Messiah King, and ask Him to restore their sight because in His kingdom, blindness would no longer exist? When John the Baptist began to doubt whether Jesus was the Messiah King, and wondered if he should look for another, the Lord sent him this message – “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:5). That Jesus was indicating to John His royal authority and power to bring about the conditions of the coming kingdom seems certain when we read Isaiah’s prediction of the future kingdom (35:1-10).
The King is coming! May we all be ready, and be praying for His kingdom to come (Mat 6:9-10).