A Resurrection Day Meditation
“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.”
(Zec 9:9)“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
(Mark 15:2)
I write this on Palm Sunday, the day we remember when Jesus made a triumphal entry into the Jerusalem. It is estimated that over a million pilgrims and residents[1] were there in the city for the coming Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Mk 14.1) As Jesus approached, the people shouted:
9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
Mark 11.9-10
Why were the people so excited? What was it that seemed to put electricity in the air? In short, it was the messianic hope of the people. The people recognized Jesus as the son of David. They knew the messiah would be the son of David. They also knew the prophecy in Zechariah about the messiah coming on a donkey. Perhaps most of all, they were all aware of the King David, whose military career was not only legendary, but they assumed such exploits would be repeated by the messiah to come since he would be the “son of David”. Even in David’s day the people chanted about his prowess in battle:
But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”
(1 Sam 21:11)
When the people of Israel went to the prophet Samuel demanding a king, it was with the express purpose of getting a king who could “fight our battles.” (1 Sam 8.20)
No doubt this was in the mind of many when David was anointed King at Hebron, since they already knew of his military successes.
When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
(2 Sam 5:3)
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey some 2,000 years ago, no doubt many were hoping to see a reprisal of the reign of King David—that of a military leader to go out before them and fight their battles. At that time that would have meant overthrowing the Romans and their oppression and establishing Israel as an independent kingdom again.
By the middle of the week they had buyer’s remorse. Since it appeared Jesus had no intention of overthrowing the Romans, when the chief priests and Jewish officials had him arrested and brought before the Roman governor Pilate, the Jewish leaders had no problem in whipping the crowd into a frenzied chat of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (Luke 23.21) Clearly, they missed the part of the prophecy that said he was coming “having salvation, gentle …” Jesus came to fight and win a battle. That’s true, but it was not a battle against fleshly powers like the Romans. It was the battle against sin—the guilt of sin which had, up to that point, held all humans under its power and had condemned all humans to a guilty verdict, and worthy of spiritual death – eternal separation from God – if they were to stand before God without a way to have that sin forgiven.
Jesus came to provide a way for God to forgive that sin, so that God could be both just and the one who justifies sinners who believer in Jesus:
“… he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”(Rom 3:26)
But, like the people of Jesus’ day, many people did not understand why the messiah, the son of David, the conquering hero, had to come first as a suffering servant, as prophesied in Isaiah 53, before he could be revealed as the King of Kings. (Rev 19.16) So, though Jesus did indeed come and was the “son of David” and the “King of the Jews”, most did not understand what his first job as the “King of the Jews” was: to win the battle over sin.
When he went for his trial before the Roman governor Pilate, who could free him or execute him, Pilate asked him:
“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
(Mark 15:2)
But that didn’t mean anything to Pilate. Jesus did not seem in any way to be a king. Instead, Pilate seemed to mock Jesus with the title, presenting Jesus back to his people as “the King of the Jews” (Mark 15.9). He asked the Jews if they wanted him to free Jesus, since to Pilate, Jesus was no threat to Pilate or Rome. When the people refused and asked for a criminal, he asked them, “What shall I do with “The King of the Jews”? (Mark 15.12) John points out that Pilate speaking to the Jews, twice refers to Jesus as “your king” (John 19.14, 15) making it clear that he did not consider Jesus a king and certainly not his king. In what he likely thought was his final piece of irony, he had that title “Jesus, King of the Jews” written on the sign above the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. To make sure no one missed the point, he wrote it in three languages: Aramaic, Latin and Greek. (John 19.19-20)
Jesus’ confession that he was the “King of the Jews” made no difference to Pilate. Pilate was one skilled at making practical, pragmatic decisions and calculations. He was apparently one for whom truth was no obstacle, as he famously asked, “What is truth?”(John 18.38) as if it didn’t matter. So Pilate didn’t understand the significance of Jesus being the King of the Jews. Jesus was an understated and misunderstood king.
The Jewish leaders didn’t accept him as the King of the Jews. They only saw him as a threat who needed to be killed, which is why they brought him before Pilate. They didn’t have the authority to carry out executions.
The people no longer believed he was the King of the Jews, so they quickly turned on him and, under the prompting of the Jewish leaders, demanded he be handed over for execution by crucifixion. Under the shrewd calculations of the Jewish leaders, death by crucifixion would place Jesus under God’s curse (Deut 21.23) and thereby be the trump card of evidence against Jesus being the promised messiah. (As with Balaam’s curse, a curse God turned into a blessing (Deut 23.5) – see Gal 3.13).
For the guards who had placed the sign “Jesus, King of the Jews” over his head on the cross (Matt 27.37) he was just another criminal who would no longer need his clothes so they cast lots for his clothing (Matt 27.35).
For those who passed by, he was no king. He was one to be mocked. They thought he had said he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. The Apostle John explained what he actually said and meant. (John 2.19-21) But, for the people, he was no king who could rescue them. He couldn’t even rescue himself, they thought. (Matt 27.39-40)
For all these people, Jesus was an understated, and misunderstood king. But the question that remains is the question that Jesus asked his disciples:
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
(Mat 16:15)
To Pilate, who understood Kings, Jesus confessed himself to be the King of the Jews.
To the Jewish leaders and the chief priest, who understood messianic titles, Jesus confessed himself to be the messiah (Christ), Son of God (a divine person), and Son of Man (another messianic title from Dan 7.13):
63 But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
64 “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Matt 26.63-64
For those who understood scripture. Jesus claimed to be more than just the “King of the Jews.” He is the long awaited “Hope of Israel” (Acts 28.20) But the question remains “Who do you say I am?”
In the Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Rings, there is a big reveal at the council of Elrond concerning the identity of Aragorn.
Aragorn: The One ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master.
Boromir: And what would a Ranger know of this matter?
Legolas: This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance.
Video: This is no mere Ranger
Arathorn was the rightful ruler, making his son, Aragorn, the “mere” Ranger in Boromir’s eyes, the rightful heir of the throne of Gondor, the land where Boromir’s father currently wielded power as “steward.”
God, as creator (Gen 1.1), is the rightful ruler and owner of heaven and earth, making Jesus more than merely the “King of the Jews”. He is the Son of God and the rightful king and heir as Psalm 2 says:
6 “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me,
“You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Psalm 2.6-12
Jesus is not merely the “King of the Jews”, he is the Son of God, God’s Holy King, and the long awaited messiah. You owe him more than your allegiance. You owe him your faith. And not just a little faith, with all the faith in your heart as the Proverbs writer says:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
(Prov 3:5-6)
That is an appropriate response to the “King of the Jews” since he has been revealed to be not a mere, understated, earthly ruler, but the Son of God, the long-awaited messiah. As Jesus said when he started his ministry.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
(Mark 1:15)
The “good news” is the forgiveness of sins through the King of the Jews: Jesus. Repent from your unbelief and believe today!
Duane Caldwell | April 4, 2026 | Printer friendly version
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Notes
1. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus puts the number in Jerusalem for the Passover at about 3,000,000. He calculated that from the number of lambs sacrificed, stated at 256,500. He assumes each lamb represents a family of 12, which puts the number at a little over 3 million (3,078,000) (Flavius Joseph, War of the Jews, Book 2 ch 14:3 (280); Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987 p616)
Historian Joachim Jeremias believes Josephus’ number is overstated. He calculates a number based on the size of temple and arrives at 125,000 pilgrims and 55,000 inhabitants, so 180,000 total. (Joachim Jeremias, “Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus“, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1962, p.83
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