David is a familiar biblical figure. But when most of us think of him, Bathsheba is not what comes to mind first. We think of his brothers and how God chose him to be anointed king. Or we think of his bravery when fighting Goliath. Or we think of his work tending the sheep and his psalms.
Or even the fact that he’s is called a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). We don’t often talk about his sin with Bathsheba in Sunday school class (2 Samuel 11).
But Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew makes a point to reference it (Matthew 1:6). Why? I think it’s because of what this tells us about redemption: the importance of repentance and the offer of a second chance.
1) The importance of repentance.
In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan goes to David, and at first, David doesn’t even seem to acknowledge he did something wrong. But when he’s convicted, he repents.
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.
– 2 Samuel 12:13a
Why is this important? Well, 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Did you notice the first step? Confession.
David had to acknowledge that he sinned against the Lord. That God saw his sin. So many times we think we can hide our sin, but we can’t. God sees it. And it’s important that we go to Him and offer an honest confession. Then we can go forward knowing that God has forgiven us.
2) We get a second chance.
David and Bathsheba lost their child (2 Samuel 12:18), but God gave them another son: Solomon.
I don’t think Solomon replaced the child they lost. I’m sure there were many times that they grieved their child. But Solomon was a visual representation that God had forgiven David. And Solomon’s inclusion in the genealogy is a reminder to us that God offers second chances.
God had every right to exclude David from Jesus’ genealogy, to find someone else. But He didn’t. He chose to use David anyway.
And He can use us no matter how much we’ve messed up. That’s the beauty of redemption. No one is too far gone for God.
For me, these are the two takeaways from David’s mention in Matthew 1:6, that repentance is important for redemption and that God offers us second chances. But the great thing about the Bible is that the more we study it, the more we find. If you see something that I missed, please let me know in the comments!
