Dear friends, during this season of Lent, let us take time to hear what Moses and the prophets and the Psalms say about what Jesus had to suffer. As we do that, we will come to a better appreciation for what Christ has done and why His Passion is such a beautiful gift from God. God prepared so many
King David’s Successor
In the Old Testament times, God chose David, a man after His own heart, to be king. David was not perfect. In God’s mercy, He forgave David of his sin with Bathsheba. God had even chosen Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba, to be the next king.
But that word had not gone around to everybody, and Adonijah, who was the next oldest son, figured that because David was old, he was going to become king soon. So he threw a party for himself, and everybody called him “King Adonijah.” People who knew Solomon would be the next king went to David to tell him of this. David replied, “All right, get Zadok the priest, get Nathan the prophet, get Benaniah, and you all go down to Gihon. And don’t forget my mule. Don’t forget, you’ve got to get my donkey down there.”
The Significance of a Donkey
This was significant. When David would go about from place to place, he did not ride a warhorse. He rode a donkey, a beast of burden, to show that he was a servant. Much like Christ said, “I did not come to be served but to serve,” David had always reigned as one who did not come to be served but to serve. He would show that by riding his donkey about when he went. And the people knew that donkey, because they knew their king.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve…
Nathan anointed Solomon at
The people rejoiced. The noise of their celebration was so loud that it carried out of the city to the place where Adonijah and all the others were having their party, and they wondered about it. Somebody from the city arrived to share the news with Adonijah:
Celebration Time
‘…(O)ur lord King David has made Solomon king…And they had him ride on the king’s mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. Solomon sits on the royal throne.’ 1 Kings 1:43-46
Zechariah foretold this:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The king is righteous. He has no sin of his own. He is absolutely perfect in the eyes of the Lord and in the eyes of man. Being righteous, He also has salvation. He has the freedom to take his life and lay it down on behalf of others and thus give them salvation.
This is the kind of King that you have who enters on the donkey: Jesus, the humble King.
You Have Peace in Christ
Zechariah then goes on to say,
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim.
I will cut off the warhorse from Jerusalem.
I will cut off the battle bow, and He shall speak peace to the nations.
Jesus Christ speaks peace to you. Through His death on the cross and His resurrection, Jesus speaks peace to the most horrible parts of your life, the darkest things that you know, and even the things you can’t even bear to remember. The Gospel of Christ speaks peace to you and to those places that are still lost in darkness. And His Word always delivers that which it says.
This prophecy of Zechariah was made true in Jesus, and it is still true for you today.
You have peace with God through Jesus Christ.
God loves you so much, that He prepared all these things. He did this, so that not only would these prophecies be fulfilled when Christ came, but that you would hear them, believe, and have salvation.
Rejoice, dear friends. You are beloved of the Lord.
In Christ, Pastor Horn