Good Monday Morning from the Bitterroot Valley;

A new week and a new month begin.  I hope you all survived April Fool’s Day!

There are conservatively over 100 Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah.  Why then did the most of the Jews not recognize Jesus as the Messiah when he came?  Many books have been written on the subject and a full covering of the details would take more space than I have here.   But I would like to look at a couple of texts briefly.  First is Zechariah 9:9-13

The Coming of Zion’s King

9. Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  10. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.  11. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.  12. Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.  13. I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword. 

Notice that verse 9 was fulfilled on what we know as Palm Sunday.  Matthew 21 details the fulfillment.

Matthew 21:4-9

4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ “6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

Look at the verses from 10 through 13.  Were the Jews expecting Jesus to be the conquering hero?  Would you blame them?  It doesn’t talk about a gap of thousands of years in the text.  If you read through just this text about the coming Messiah what would you decide about his actions?  This is a good example of the reason not to take just a few verses and hang a whole belief system on them.  Many of the Jews expected and wanted the conquering Jesus to come and save them from the Roman occupation.  They wanted relief now!  They were not ready for a Jesus who came to suffer and die on a cross for humanities sins.

Today as we approach the end of the age and Jesus Christ’s second coming there are those who only look for a Messiah of love.  They will not accept the Jesus who this time comes to conquer and judge.  This Jesus comes riding a white horse and wears a white robe with its hem red with the blood of those who have rejected him and worshipped the Beast.  Only then does the fulfillment of verses 10 through 13 of Zechariah take place.

How many will miss Christ’s second coming because they will not accept him for who he is?

Are you willing to accept Jesus for who he is?

Regular Joe