“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and
riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and
the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak to the nations; His dominion
shall be ‘from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.’”
When we read the above passage in scripture, it could be
confusing as to the coming Messiah, the Annointed One. Parts of it point to the first coming of
Jesus and His entrance into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey. But what about the parts that refer to His
justice, His speaking to the nations and cutting off the battle bow? Clearly that part of the prophecy has yet to
be seen.
One of the most helpful things I have been taught by good
pastors that love the truth of God is that scripture is the best explanation
for scripture. Use the whole Bible to
understand the Bible. In the Gospel of
Matthew, the Holy Spirit segregates for us the fulfillment of the prophecy
regarding the first coming of our Lord. “All this was done that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the
foal of a donkey.’” (Matthew 21:4-5)
It is important to note what has been left out. These are the things that will occur at His
second coming.
“When Jesus comes again, He is coming, first of all, in
righteousness to judge the earth. "He is just." The coming to judge is
yet future. So that is why it is not quoted by Matthew in the first coming of
Jesus? That awaits the second coming when Jesus establishes His throne and
gathers together the nations of the earth for judgment. It is then when the
promise of salvation will be to the Jews and to the world. So, "He is just
and having salvation," that day is not yet come. Matthew significantly
does not quote that part of this prophecy. But Jesus did come even as Zechariah
described, riding upon the colt. There
are many promises in the Old Testament concerning the reign, the coming reign
of Jesus Christ. "For unto us a
child is born, unto us a Son is given. And the government will be upon His
shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and
peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to
order it and to establish with judgment and justice from that time forward,
even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." (Isaiah 9:6-7)
This is that time when the Rock not cut with hands smites the great
image of man's government and brings an end to man's futile efforts to govern
man. And the Rock grows into a mountain that covers the earth, the glorious
coming kingdom of Jesus Christ that will cover the earth. And then shall be
fulfilled Psalm 2:7-8, "I will
declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have
begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give
You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your
possession." His kingdom shall be from sea to sea, from the river to
the ends of the world. "Oh, I can hardly wait as I look at the poor governments
of the world today struggling. Getting more expensive all the time, and failing
to bring real peace, real justice, real hope for man. Oh, Jesus, come quickly.
Establish Your righteous kingdom.”
(Chuck Smith)
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, the
custom for a Jewish king arriving in peace.
God told the Jewish people not to multiple horses. Jesus’ actions were contrary to the methods
of conquerors like Alexander the Great or the Roman rulers and generals, but
His actions were perfectly aligned with God’s Word. God’s ways are not our ways, and certainly
not the ways of the world. His first
coming was to fulfill the law and satisfy the only way for peace between us and
a Holy God. “You will remember that our
Lord rode into Jerusalem as a King, but he was also brought there as the Lamb
of God's passover, whose blood must save the people. It was not meet that the
Lamb of God should go to the altar without observation; it was not fit that he
who taketh away the sin of the world should be led to the temple unobserved.
The day was near when he was to be offered up, and all eyes were called to look
on him and know who and what he was. Therefore he permitted this great
gathering and this honorable attention to himself, that he might say to Israel,
by deeds as well as by words, "I am he that should come. I am he who of
old had said, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I
delight to do thy will, O my God." Thus he beyond all question manifested
himself to the people. When they crucified him the rulers knew what he professed
to be. Albeit many of them were in ignorance as to the truthfulness of his
claims, yet they knew right well that they were crucifying one who professed to
be the Lord of glory, one who was acknowledged to be the Son of David, one who
had in public avowed himself to be King in Zion. I think this was one reason
for the joyous entry into the city of God.”
(Charles Spurgeon)
“Our Lord was ever careful and earnest to fulfill each
prophecy of Holy Scripture. He held the inspired Word in high esteem, and was
careful of each letter of it. You never hear a word from him derogatory of the
inspiration, authority, accuracy, or infallibility of the law and the prophets.
He fulfils the Word of the Lord even to its jots and tittles. He directed his
life by that old chart, in which the way of the Messiah was laid down long
before he came to earth. Oh, for the same reverence of Scripture among
preachers nowadays! God forbid that we should be lowering men's ideas of
inspiration, as some are fond of doing. May we value every word which came from
the Lord in old time! May we willingly change the course of our thought and
teaching rather than neglect a single word of inspiration! When we see what the
will of the Lord is, let us follow it implicitly. Obedience to the rule of
Scripture was the way of the Head; it should also be the way of the members. If
the King himself is careful in his walk towards the Word, surely we ought to
be.” (Charles Spurgeon)
Do you believe, truly believe, that when Jesus comes the
second time He will be no less accurate to Holy Scripture? Will He not fulfill it down to the last ‘jot
and tittle’? God is so faithful and His
Word is so true that there should be no doubt in our minds! When Jesus returns, the entire earth will be
under His authority and His reign will be universal. And He will rule without the need for
military action but through His Word alone.
When Jesus comes to reign, it will not be temporary as our governments
are today. His reign will be everlasting. In today’s world of continuous wars,
persecutions, hatred, lies and blasphemy, it can be hard to fathom such a world
of peace, a world without trouble.
Indeed for many of us, times seem desperate. There is no justice and certainly no
righteousness in our governments. Do not
despair. Jesus said what would come
about and He told us that His Word will never fail “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass
away.” (Mark 13:31). These words were spoken by Jesus after he had
described the great tribulation and told the people that “they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and
glory” (Mark 13:26). These same
words were given to us by the prophet Daniel in the description of the last
kingdom, the everlasting kingdom “I was
watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with
the clouds of heaven! He came to the
Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and
a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be
destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)
Precious saints, Jesus is coming again. He will be sure that all prophecies of His
second coming are fulfilled. To those of
us who love Him, it is a glorious hope. Finally
– a Righteous Ruler! To those who have
not surrendered to His divine authority, the second coming of Christ is a
terrifying thought. Even when Jesus came
as the Lamb, He showed Himself as the King.
Just in case we missed that, on the cross where Jesus hung it was
written in three languages “King of the Jews.”
What a different and glorious time when Jesus comes again as a
King. I pray you are on the side that
earnestly awaits the return of the eternal King. If you are unsure, now is the perfect time to
get that settled. Drop us a note if you
have any doubts.
May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
