Mensa Otabil - Your King Is Coming to You (10/03/2025)
Welcome to a brand new week. This is a significant week that leads to Palm Sunday, the triumphant entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. My teaching this week will track, first, the prophecy leading to the triumphant entry, and then we'll examine the different steps that Jesus took leading to His entry into Jerusalem.
We start with a prophecy in Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9: 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. Zechariah is known as the prophet of hope. God raised him at a time when there was so much despair in Israel to speak life and bring words of encouragement to His people. There were prophecies he gave concerning the times they were living in, and then there were prophecies he spoke about the future of God's dealings with mankind. This prophecy of his was a messianic prophecy, which means it pointed to the coming Messiah. He states in this prophecy that there would be a Savior King who would enter into Jerusalem.
If you look at the prophecy, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are called the daughters of Jerusalem. We don't want to interpret that exclusively, suggesting he is only addressing women, but the phrase "daughter of Jerusalem" in the Scriptures—and it could be "daughter" of another place—means the inhabitants of the place. Thus, we do not see it as speaking solely to the women of Jerusalem, but to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The daughter of Jerusalem indicates that your King comes to you, and that's a very strong statement because normally it is the subjects who go to the king; the king doesn't go to his subjects.
In this passage, however, the King is coming to us, demonstrating the effort God made for our salvation. It wasn't us looking for Him; it was Him looking for us. The King comes to seek and to save that which was lost. In Christianity, God reaches out to man for salvation; in several other religions, man is trying to reach God for salvation. But in Christianity, God is the one who comes to us and offers us salvation.
So, your King is coming to you. It then mentions a few things about the King: He is a just King and also a humble King. This King who is coming is not arriving as an overlord to dominate the people; rather, He is a servant King. The mission of Jesus Christ was to serve. He was a lowly King, a humble King. The sign of His lowliness, the sign of His humility, was shown in how He approached. In the days when this passage was written, kings entered cities after conquest; however, in this situation, the King had not yet conquered but was entering. He was not entering on a horse, but on a donkey, which was the animal of choice for poor people.
The reason Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph, knowing He was going to die, was because He was fully aware that His entry into Jerusalem was going to fulfill the purposes of God. As far as Jesus was concerned, entering Jerusalem was a triumph; in entering Jerusalem, He brought victory to God's people. Today, we can also reflect on that lowly King who came to us, reached out to us, and offered us salvation. Your King comes to you riding on a donkey. What a King! What a Lord!
Let us pray. Say with me, "Heavenly Father, Your love for me knows no boundaries. Thank You for reaching out to me when I was far away from You." In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. We have set the tone today by looking at the prophecy, and from tomorrow, we will begin examining the steps Jesus took headed to Jerusalem. I'll be with you again tomorrow. I'm Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom! Peace and life to you.