If you work at the same company for a long time, you will likely work under a number of different managers. It’s always shocking when a new manager comes in and does things completely differently. However, if the manager is good, the changes will probably be for the better. Jesus’s birth is completely different from what we expect of a king. His death on the cross is a different means to display his kingship from what anyone could have imagined. Somehow, though, Jesus’s different model of kingship is exactly what we need.
When Jesus was about to be born, the angel Gabriel told Mary that Jesus would be called the “Son of the Most High” and He would accept the throne of King David. He would reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom would have no end (Luke 1:32-33).
The Jews were expecting a new king because the prophets in the OT had predicted a descendant of David would come. But the Jews largely expected the wrong kind or the wrong type of king. So Jesus had to take three years to show and tell the Jews what type of king God really wanted Jesus to be.
Zechariah the prophet, who lived during the time after Israel returned to Palestine after the 70 years of exile in Babylon (9:9), predicted the entry into Jerusalem of the Messiah, meek and riding on the colt, the foal of a donkey. It is instructive that King Solomon, when he assumed the throne of his father, David, entered Jerusalem riding on a mule (1 Kings 1:32-40) and Solomon was humble at the beginning of his reign.
JESUS MOVES TOWARD HIS CORONATION – 19:28-37:
There are two paradoxical ideas we see relevant in this event. First, Jesus is the “humble” king. He had the right and the ability to enter Jerusalem as a conquering king. Indeed, He could have thrown off the Roman yoke of servitude and began reigning in Jerusalem as king, if that had been God’s plan. But that was not God’s plan since the kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36). So, Jesus entered Jerusalem in a spirit of humility, just as He left heaven for earth (Phil. 2:5-8).
Secondly, Jesus is the humble “King.” Jesus went to the Father in His ascension in order to receive His kingdom, as Daniel prophesied in Daniel 7:13-14. Jesus now reigns as King: Acts 17:7; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15; Revelation 15:3; 17:14; 19:16. Riding a colt instead of a stallion also shows His contemporaries that Jesus was not coming to assume control of Israel against the reign of the Roman Empire. He was not a threat to their rule.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY THAT JESUS IS KING? – 19:37-40:
First, it means that Jesus has all authority. Jesus reigns over every person in this world, over every nation in this world, over everything. He is above everything: Eph. 1:21-23.
Secondly, this means that Jesus has conquered Satan. Satan has no power but what Jesus allows Him to have.
Thirdly, when Jesus conquered Satan and returned to heaven to receive His kingdom, He gave gifts to us. The abilities we have, have been given to us by God to use in service to His Son, our King. We owe Him everything.
Fourthly, He is coming again to take His people home to be with Him.
Fifthly, Jesus teaches us that, in the end, humility wins.
Sixthly, Mankind is extremely fickle and capricious. That’s why we need to walk closely with the Word of God – to keep us stable.
Jesus entered Jerusalem as the humble King. Serve the King with the humility that He demands.
Paul Holland