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Following Jesus · Part Five · Message Sixty-Seven
See, Your King Comes to You
Across human rebellion, Israel’s failed rulers, exile, and long waiting, God keeps his covenant promise by sending Jesus—the humble Davidic King who comes to save and whose reign reaches the nations.
Part Five · The Hour Has Come
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Lesson overview
Palm Sunday arrives at the end of a story far older than the road into Jerusalem.
Scripture begins with humanity’s rebellion and the first veiled promise that the serpent will not have the last word. God’s covenant with Abraham narrows the promise to a family through whom all families of the earth will be blessed; his later word to Abraham anticipates nations and kings. Jacob’s blessing narrows the royal line to Judah: the scepter belongs there, and the nations will ultimately obey its rightful ruler.
God then creates and redeems a people. He brings Israel out of slavery, binds them to himself, and repeatedly declares the covenant relationship: he will be their God, and they will be his people. The tragedy of Judges and Kings is persistent unfaithfulness to that relationship. Israel asks for a visible king like the nations, thereby rejecting the Lord as King. Saul fails; David receives the promise of a house, kingdom, and throne that will endure; Solomon’s idolatry fractures the kingdom. The northern kingdom falls to Assyria, Judah falls to Babylon, and the Davidic throne disappears from ordinary political sight.
Across human rebellion, Israel’s failed rulers, exile, and long waiting, God keeps his covenant promise by sending Jesus—the humble Davidic King who comes to save and whose reign reaches the nations.
The first promise after rebellion
Yet God’s promise remains. After centuries without a Davidic king, Jesus rides into Jerusalem in the manner Zechariah foretold: righteous, bringing salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey. His kingship exposes every merely human model of power. He does not come to enrich himself or dominate by spectacle. He comes to give himself, fulfill God’s covenant purpose, make peace, and extend God’s reign to the nations. Palm Sunday is therefore not an isolated pageant; it is the public arrival of the King whom the whole story has taught God’s people to await.
Genesis 3:15 gives an early, mysterious promise of conflict with the serpent and final victory through the woman’s offspring.
Genesis 12 and 17 trace God’s covenant from one childless couple toward a people, many nations, worldwide blessing, and coming kings.
The family story moves through Isaac and Jacob to Judah’s blessing, where royal authority and the obedience of the nations enter the promise.
Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9
They rejected me as their King
Exodus and Leviticus show God redeeming Israel, dwelling among them, and calling them to covenant faithfulness under his care.
Judges records repeated unfaithfulness, oppression, cries for help, and gracious deliverance as Israel resists the Lord’s rule.
Israel asks Samuel for a king like the nations; Saul’s failure exposes the danger of sinful rulers over sinful people.
The Davidic covenant promises an enduring house and throne, reaching through Solomon and the royal line toward its ultimate fulfillment.
The King gives himself
Solomon’s divided heart leads toward a divided kingdom, and the northern kingdom’s sustained rebellion ends in Assyrian conquest and exile.
Prophets call God’s people back; Judah nevertheless falls to Babylon, the temple and city are destroyed, and restoration comes without a reigning Davidic monarch.
Centuries of foreign rule and waiting sharpen Zechariah’s announcement as Jesus rides into Jerusalem in humility and fulfills the royal hope.
The closing prayer contrasts self-serving earthly power with Jesus, who comes to offer himself for sin and conquer death.
Read, trace, and live the teaching.
This lesson belongs within the whole Gospel story. Read the principal passage slowly, follow the supporting texts in their own contexts, and notice how the words and works of Jesus reveal the kingdom he brings.
Read the passage
Genesis 3:15; Genesis 12:1–3; Genesis 17:1–8; Genesis 49:8–12; Exodus 6:6–8; Leviticus 26:3–13; Judges 2:10–23; 1 Samuel 8:1–22; 2 Samuel 7:8–16; 1 Kings 11:1–13; 2 Kings 17:5–23; 2 Chronicles 36:11–21; Zechariah 9:9–10
Trace the promise
Numbers 24:15–19; Deuteronomy 17:14–20; Psalm 2
See the Gospel connection
Psalm 72; Psalm 89:19–37; Isaiah 9:2–7; Isaiah 11:1–10; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Ezekiel 34:23–31
Follow the truth
Daniel 7:13–14; Matthew 21:1–11; Luke 19:28–44; John 12:12–19; Philippians 2:5–11
Scripture guide
Read the whole teaching in context.
These are the principal passages developed in this message and the texts that clarify its place within the mission of Jesus.
The passage in context
Numbers 24:15–19; Deuteronomy 17:14–20; Psalm 2
Promise and preparation
Psalm 72; Psalm 89:19–37; Isaiah 9:2–7
The Gospel’s witness
Isaiah 11:1–10; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Ezekiel 34:23–31
Life under the King
Daniel 7:13–14; Matthew 21:1–11; Luke 19:28–44; John 12:12–19; Philippians 2:5–11