Jesus is called the “son of David” in seventeen different verses in the New Testament.  This refers to the fact that Jesus, the Messiah, was, and will be, the fulfillment of the promise that God made to David in II Samuel 7.  This is also known as “The Davidic Covenant”.  This is an unconditional covenant that God made with David saying that the Messiah [Jesus Christ] would come from the lineage of David and the tribe of Judah and He would establish a kingdom that will last forever.

The first part of this covenant was fulfilled with the Incarnation, when Christ came into the world in a physical body through Mary.  The two genealogies recorded in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 give proof that Jesus, in His humanity was a direct descendent of Abraham and David, both through his adoptive father, Joseph [Matthew 1] and through His mother, Mary [Luke 3].

The future and complete fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant will happen when Christ returns to the earth and sets up His kingdom.  This is what the angel Gabriel was referring to when he told Mary in Luke 1:30 – 33: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”