On Sunday, prior to His crucifixion, Jesus and His
apostles came to the village of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent
two of His disciples into the village to get a young donkey. They found the
colt and brought it back to Jesus. Throwing their cloaks across the donkey’s
back, they lifted Jesus up and sat Him on the cloaks.
As Jesus rode down the hill toward Jerusalem,
people spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and
scattered them in front of Jesus (Matthew 21:8-9). A large crowd of people
began praising God and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21:9).
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and
glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38).
Some Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” (Luke 19:39). In other words, “Tell them to
shut their mouths!”
Jesus replied, “I tell you, if they keep quiet,
the stones will cry out” (Luke 39:40). Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of
Zechariah.
The King in Prophecy
Approximately 500 years before Jesus was born,
the prophet Zechariah described the coming king. Zechariah wrote, “Rejoice
greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes
to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a
colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).
Instead of riding into Jerusalem on a
magnificent horse, Jesus rode on the back of a pack animal. Some people think
Jesus was trying to demonstrate humility, but that was not His primary
objective. He rode on a donkey to identify Himself as the promised Messiah. He
rode into Jerusalem, not to conquer the city politically, but to conquer the
hearts of men and women.
Why were the Pharisees so upset with Jesus’
followers when they shouted praises to Him? They were angry because his
followers recognized Jesus as the Messianic king of Zachariah’s prophecy.
Jesus entered Jerusalem exactly one week prior
to his resurrection. He came into the city as a king with a peace treaty. His
aim was to reconcile all things to Himself “by making peace through his blood
shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20). King Jesus died so that we might have a
friendly, peaceful relationship with God.
The King Fulfills
Other Messianic Prophecies
Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament
prophecies that pointed to Him as the true King. (Genesis 49:10; 2 Samuel 7:16;
Psalm 110:1-2; Isaiah 2:2-4; 9:6-7; 16:5; 32:1; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Daniel
7:13-14; Micah 5:2; etc.). Jesus is referred to as king fourteen times in
Matthew, six times in Mark, five times in Luke, and fourteen times in the
gospel of John.
No wonder people shouted, “Hosanna”, meaning
“save now”, as Jesus rode into the city. They realized that Jesus was the King
who had come to save them.
Gabriel Predicts the
King’s Birth
Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel
appeared to Mary and said to her, “You will be with child and give birth to a
son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his
father David. . . his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33).
Jesus was destined to sit on a throne in His
eternal kingdom.
The King Is Crucified
While on trial before Pilate, Jesus said, “My
kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my
arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36).
Pilate said, “You are a king, then!”
Jesus replied, “You are right in saying I am a
king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John
18:37b).
Jesus is a different kind of king. His kingdom
is not an earthly kingdom maintained by military might. It is a spiritual
kingdom. People who seek truth listen to Him and submit to His kingly
authority.
When Jesus was crucified, Pilate had a sign
made and fastened it to the cross. The sign read, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING
OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19).
The King Rises from
Death
As we saw in Jesus-The
Lamb Of God, Jesus prophesied that He would be killed and that He would
rise again on the third day. Three days after the crucifixion, Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to the tomb to anoint
Jesus’ body (Mark 16:1).
When they arrived, they discovered that the
stone had been rolled away from the mouth of the tomb. Two angels appeared to
them and said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here;
he has risen!” (Luke 24:1-6).
Forty days later, Jesus ascended back to the
Father.
Jesus, the Lion, Lamb,
and King
In the book of Revelation, Jesus is referred to
as a lamb twenty-eight times. But now, He is a different kind of lamb. In a
heavenly vision, John saw God sitting on a throne with a scroll in His right
hand. The scroll was sealed with seven seals, and no one could remove the seals
to look inside. John wept in disappointment, wondering what was written on the
scroll. One of the elders said to him, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and
its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5).
The lion is a symbol of strength, courage, and
royalty. The lion is “king of the jungle”. It’s roar can be heard five miles in
every direction. The sight and sound of a lion strikes fear into the hearts of
many other animals.
John looked up expecting to see a lion, but to
his amazement, he saw a lamb instead. The lamb looked “as if it had been slain”
(Revelation 5:6). At first glance, the Lamb in Revelation appears to be the
same sacrificial lamb that we have seen elsewhere in the New Testament. But a
closer look reveals that it is different. This Lamb is “standing” (Revelation
5:6). It has been slain, but it is alive again, and it is standing in the
center of the throne of God.
Moreover, this Lamb has “seven horns”
(Revelation 5:6). In scripture, a horn is the symbol of strength and power, and
the number seven indicates perfection. The Lamb in Revelation has enormous
power. He has seven-fold strength. Only He has the authority to remove the
seven seals from the scroll (Revelation 6:1-14).
Here, the Lamb and the Lion are one and the
same. Both symbolize Jesus. The Lamb took the scroll from the right hand of
God, and millions of angels encircled the throne singing “Worthy is the Lamb
who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12). The lamb that has seven horns now
receives seven-fold praise from the angels.
The Lamb Is the King
of Kings
In his vision, John saw that the forces of evil
will “make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is
LORD OF LORDS and KING OF KINGS” (Revelation 17:14).
Jesus, the Lamb of God, has received all
authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18-20). He is the king of the
universe. He alone has infinite wisdom and majesty. He alone is perfect in
character and judgment. He alone can give us a full and meaningful life. He
alone can erase our sins and guarantee eternal life in heaven.
John wrote, “I saw heaven standing open, and
there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With
justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his
head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he
himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of
God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and
dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword
with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter.
He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe
and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”
(Revelation 19:11-16).
This is symbolic language depicting the power,
authority, and sovereignty of Jesus Christ. He has sacrificed his life for us.
He has made God known to us. He has revealed the truth to us. He has warned us
of the pitfalls of sin. He has set an example for us. He has invited us into His
kingdom, and He has promised to bless us. He was the perfect man. He is the
Prince of Peace. He was the Son of Man. He is the Son of God. He was a miracle
worker. He is the Light of the World. He is the Lamb of God. He is the Lion of
the tribe of Judah. And now, we see Him as the King of Kings and Lord of lords.
The King Is Coming
Again
Jesus also prophesied about His second coming.
He said, “When the Son of Man comes in glory, and all the angels with him, he
will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered
before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the
goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who
are blessed by my Father’” (Matthew 25:31-34). “Then he will say to those on
his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:41). As King of kings, Jesus has the
authority to make such judgments, and His judgments are right.
The Wrath of the Lamb
The Lamb in Revelation has qualities not
usually associated with sheep. This lamb is capable of wrath.
As the sixth seal on the scroll is opened, John
sees two groups of people. The first group consists of kings, princes,
generals, rich and mighty people, slaves and free men who are hiding in caves
and calling to the rocks and the mountains, “Fall on us, and hide us from the
face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation
6:15-16).
The second group consists of a great multitude
of people dressed in white robes. They are from every nation, tribe, people,
and language, and they are standing in front of the Lamb shouting, “Salvation
belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10).
One of the elders says, “These are they who
have. . . washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”
(Revelation 7:14). These are the people who have believed in Jesus, turned away
from sin, and have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. What will you do
with King Jesus?
