Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Zechariah 9:9-13
Zechariah was given this prophecy that the king would come to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. John recorded in his gospel that the people in fact welcomed Jesus as king on the day he rode into Jerusalem:
“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!’
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’” (John 12:12-13).
Jesus accepted this praise because he did come to earth as the king of Israel. It is who he is. He came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey because he came in peace. But he in fact came as the King.
There is plenty of evidence that Jesus came as King. In fact, his primary purpose when he came to earth was to establish his kingdom. He was the long-awaited king that had been promised to David:
“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam 7:16).
When the angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her that she would conceive and give birth to the Messiah, he also told her that Jesus was coming as the King:
“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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32-33).
Also John the Baptist announced Jesus’s arrival and introduced him as the King:
“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (Matt 3:1-2).
John referred to Jesus as the King by declaring that the “kingdom of heaven has come near.”
The King has come and he has brought his kingdom. Jesus also declared this at the outset of his ministry:
“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’” (Mark 1:14-15).
And from that time until he was crucified, Jesus’s main message was to announce the arrival of his kingdom:
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (Matt 4:17).
Jesus spoke about the kingdom more than any other subject in his ministry. The word “kingdom” is mentioned over 100 times in the four gospels. Jesus came as the King, announced his kingdom had arrived and then taught everyone who would listen about his kingdom. He told us what it’s like to live in his kingdom, who would be in and who would be out and that we should seek it more than anything else. He even sent his twelve apostles out in the power of the Holy Spirit to spread the word about his kingdom:
“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: “The kingdom of heaven has come near”‘” (Matt 10:5-7).
Just as Jesus’s primary purpose was to declare the coming of his kingdom, our primary purpose is the same – to preach his kingdom. Jesus wants as many people to enter his kingdom as possible. He told us exactly how to get in:
“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’
“‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’
“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit’” (John 3:3-5).
Paul also reiterated that we must have the Holy Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God:
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval” (Rom 14:17-18).
The kingdom of God is here. We must be born again to enter it. But also, the kingdom is yet to come. It is here but it is not yet in its fullness. When Jesus returns, he will bring the fullness of his kingdom to earth so that we can live with him for all eternity in his kingdom:
“I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt 26:29).
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev 11:15).
So until we pass away or Jesus returns, our mission is to preach the good news of his kingdom and live in a way that reflects the reality that we have been given admittance into his glorious eternal kingdom.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire’” (Heb 12:28-29).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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