Promise in the Prophets 426: The King Comes with Salvation

426. The King comes with Salvation

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

This prophecy predicts the coming of Jesus the Messiah on Palm Sunday riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. It is quoted by the Gospel evangelists on that Palm Sunday. Jesus is coming unto His people, lowly, and riding upon an ass, while the Church (daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem) rejoices and shouts praises to the Messiah.

The promise is that the King will come to the Church of believers. The irony of the event is that a King is coming riding on a donkey. This never happens, for a king could only come riding on a horse, high and lofty, victorious and conquering. Jesus did come to win a victory over sin and evil and to conquer our spiritual enemies. But, contrary to expectations, the King comes on a donkey, feet almost touching the ground; no king ever arrives in such a humble manner. But it is precisely the lowly and humble appearance that defeats the surprised enemy. For it is humility, love and service that always defeats pride, hostility and self-service.

The prophecy is fulfilled: Jesus came. God came into our world to be born humbly and give His life in service to humanity and love for us sinners. The prophecy of coming will be fulfilled in the future: Jesus will come a second time. But this time He will come riding on a great horse, as King of kings and Lord of lords, and as a great warrior to finally defeat the enemies of the soul finally and forever. Meanwhile, between the two comings, during our lifetime, Jesus promises to come again and again into our lives daily, and especially at every time of need, to forgive sins and overcome the evil enemies that war against us.

The clue to seeing His everyday coming is that He comes, as it were, on a donkey, lowly, humbly, almost unseen, and observable only to the eyes of faith. We don’t see works of love, acts of kindness, deeds of service, and events of salvation, because it looks like just humble humans doing them. But faith sees Jesus in them. Thus He comes. And when He comes He “has salvation.” Every time we hear a word of forgiveness and a message of gospel He comes with salvation for our salvation. It doesn’t look grand and glorious, triumphant and powerful, but it is. That’s the promise.