Absalom David Jesus

David’s grief over Absalom is heart-wrenching. His cry—“Would that I had died instead of you!”—is the cry of a broken father, but it is also a cry he could never fulfill. He could not take Absalom’s place, nor could he bear his guilt. And yet, what David could not do, God has done for us in Christ.

Jesus is the true and better King, the One who willingly laid down His life for rebels like us. Where Absalom hung from a tree in judgment for his own sin, Christ hung on the cross in judgment for ours. Where David wept over a son he could not save, the Father sent His Son precisely to save. And now, in Christ, the rebel’s story does not have to end in ruin. By His mercy, the guilty are pardoned, the condemned are justified, and the lost are brought home.