Jesus - King of the Jews

 

·         The prophets that God sent to the kingdom of Israel, foretold of the coming King of the Jews. 

·         Some Bible scholars believe that there are over 300 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament.

·         What were the prophecies? By looking at the prophecies, we can get a better idea of why the Jews, were at that time, and still are today, expecting the King of the Jews to come.

·         More importantly, it will give us a better understanding of who Jesus is, so we can know Him better.

·         Before we look at the prophecies, we need to understand that the prophets used terms such as, “Seed”, “Ruler” and “Branch” when they spoke of the coming King.

·         Other than Daniel 9, they did not use the words “Messiah” or “Christ”, but they did use the concept of a messiah to describe the coming King, therefore they were able to understand that the prophets and the Scriptures were speaking about a future messiah. 

·       Because the Jewish Scriptures, or Torah were written in the Hebrew language, Israel and the Jews were anticipating a mashia, rendered messiah in English, for the coming King.

·         The New Testament was written in Greek, and christos is the Greek translation of mashia. Christos is translated Christ in English.

·         Therefore, messiah and Christ are the same word and have the same meaning, which is anointed or anointed one.

·         The King of the Jews would be the Anointed One whom the prophets foretold of to the kingdom of Israel.

·         Who did the Jews expect the Anointed One to be?

·         Jews during Jesus’s time believed that the Messiah would be a political or military leader, raised up by God to defeat Rome, and to reign over a restored kingdom of Israel to which all the Jews of the Babylonian exile would return.

· L      Let’s take a look at a few of the prophecies about Jesus:

·         God made a covenant with Abraham which prophesied of the Messiah,

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” - Genesis 22:18

·         God made a covenant with King David which also prophesied of the Messiah,

“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ” - II Samuel 7:12-16

·         “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.

 

·         “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. - Jeremiah 23:1-6

 

·         Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here. ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: Upon the stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘Everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ” - Zechariah 3:6-10

 

·         Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the Lord; Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’ “Now the elaborate crown shall be for a memorial in the temple of the Lord for Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. Even those from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your god.” - Zechariah 6:12-15

·         In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain. - Isaiah 4:2-6

·         There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. - Isaiah 11:1-5

·         ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: ‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. and this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ “For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ “ - Jeremiah 33:14-18

·         At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” - Daniel 9:23-27

·         And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” - Matthew 2:23 

·         Nazarene is a transliteration of the Hebrew word Netzer, which means, branch, so Matthew points out that Jesus is the prophesied Branch, from the Root of Jesse (David’s father).

·         The New Testament provides evidence of Gentiles who recognized or called Jesus, the King of the Jews.

·         Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” - Matthew 2:1-6

·         We see in Matthew 2, that the Maji said, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” - Matthew 2:2

·         After this, Matthew said, “Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.” - Matthew 2:3-4

·         The location of the Messiah’s birth was foretold by the prophet Micah, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” – Micah 5:4

·         When Jesus was arrested and taken to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, he asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”, and Jesus answered him, “It is as you say”. – Matthew 27:11

·         While Jesus was in Pilate’s custody, Pilate stood Jesus before the Jews and said, “Behold your King!” But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” - John 19:14-15, 19-22 NKJV 

·         The Maji, Herod and Pontius Pilate seemed to have knowledge of “the King of the Jews” who was prophesied about.

·         We see in the following passages from the New Testament that there were also Jews who were aware of the coming King.  The apostles Andrew and Peter were familiar with the idea of a coming Messiah or Christ, and they recognized Jesus as being Him:

·         “One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).” - John 1:40-41

·         “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” - Matthew 16:15-16

·         Before becoming a disciple of Jesus, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, who was Jewish, and was sent by God to make it known that the Messiah was coming very soon. This is probably how Andrew knew that Jesus was the Messiah.

·         Simeon and Anna, who we already talked about a few weeks ago, were awaiting the Messiah ‘s arrival, and recognized Jesus as being Him when they saw him.

·         Though the Messiah was not who many of the Jews expected, He began to bring healing and restoration to the broken world, and is the King of God’s eternal kingdom.

I would challenge you to read this passage on your own, asking God to open your understanding of the Scriptures and sharing with someone what you’re learning because we need knowledge, obedience and sharing in order to grow in faith. Ask God to give you ears to hear, and listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in how to obey Him. If He’s guiding you to do something, do it immediately, practicing IRCO – Immediate, Radical, Costly, Obedience.