It seems that the understanding of the Messiah being both the Son of David and the Son of God is pictured in the Tanakh (Psalm 2, 2 Samuel 7:8-16), but the Jews in Yeshua’s day did not understand how Yeshua could be both.
Jesus (Yeshua) answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus (Yeshua) answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”
The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
Jesus (Yeshua) answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came–and Scripture cannot be broken– do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God‘? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. (Joh 10:25-39 ESV)
They considered Yeshua, who they knew to be a man, was making himself God, yet Yeshua never said such a thing. He only claimed to come from the Father and to be “the Son of God”. I believe Yeshua was speaking of a spiritual Father-Son relationship, but they weren’t getting it.
This is also seen in the following exchange:
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ (Messiah)? Whose son is he?”
They said to him, “The son of David.”
He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, “‘The Lord (YHVH) said to my Lord (master), “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”‘? If then David calls him Lord (master), how is he his son?” And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. (Mat 22:41-46 ESV)
Ironically, it seems many today do not fully understand how the Messiah could be both the Son of David and the Son of God either. And I believe the teachings of Christianity are largely to blame. So many of us have been preconditioned to believe that Yeshua is God through such doctrines as “the Trinity” and “the Virgin Birth”, it makes it hard for us to clearly flesh it out.
Yeshua never directly claims to be God. And I have found zero precedent in the Tanakh for the idea that YHVH God would ever be born of a woman, let alone anyone righteous being born of a woman without relations with a man. Yet so many cling so fiercely to these beliefs and fear the discussion, let alone the study of these matters, and sadly condemn those who do study and discuss them.
I strongly encourage all to prayerfully seek these matters out in the Scriptures, because it influences our perspective on what the New Testament text is really saying as well as who we perceive Yeshua Messiah to be.
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DISCLAIMER: We need to seek our heavenly Father for wisdom and understanding. Mankind, myself included, is fallible. Even with the best of intentions, we can lead others astray. While I don’t mind sharing what I have learned and where I’m presently at in my understanding of these matters, I know I have not arrived and my understanding is continually being refined. So, please test everything I share.
