Good News of Great Joy

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
    I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
    against your sons, O Greece,
    and wield you like a warrior's sword. – Zechariah 9:9-13 ESV

Any Christian who reads these verses will likely recall gospel accounts of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. All four gospel accounts describe Jesus entering the city mounted on the foal of a donkey, but only Matthew and John quote Zechariah 9:9, inferring that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy concerning Israel’s future king.

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
    sitting on a donkey's colt!”

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. – John 12:12-16 ESV

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” – Matthew 21:1-5 ESV

In both passages, Jesus is shown to be the one who orchestrates the details of His grand entrance into the city. He gives His disciples detailed instructions for finding and procuring the donkey and its foal because He had the Zechariah 9 passage in mind. Jesus was intentionally fulfilling the declaration His Father made to Zechariah nearly 500 years earlier. But this was not a case of play-acting on Jesus’ part. The gospels make it clear that the donkey and its foal had been pre-ordained for their part in the prophecy’s fulfillment. Luke records that Jesus sent two of His men to a specific village where they would find the two animals. While donkeys were ubiquitous in Judean villages, Jesus added the important distinction, “You will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat” (Luke 19:30 ESV).  

Jesus was not sending them to find any donkey or foal. He knew the village and the location of the two animals that were preordained for use in His dramatic, prophecy-fulfilling entrance into Jerusalem. Jesus even knew that the disciples would be questioned for their apparent purloining of the beasts and told them to respond, “The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately” (Mark 11:3 ESV).

The disciples must have found Jesus’ instructions to be a bit odd. John points out that they “didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy” (John 12:16 NLT). Even as faithful Jews, they didn’t have the Scriptural knowledge to associate Jesus’ actions with the prophecy in Zechariah. But John adds, “After Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him” (John 12:16 NLT).

For Christians, reading prophetic passages like those found in Zechariah 9 provides a sense of validation and evidence for Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God and Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. Yet, for the disciples, the events unfolding around them did not meet their Messianic expectations. They believed Jesus was the Messiah but few of His actions seemed to fit their vision for how this future King of Israel would make His appearance. They were looking for a conquering king who would appear on the scene and radically restore the fortunes of the people of Israel. Their understanding of Old Testament prophecy painted the image of a descendant of David riding into Jerusalem on a white horse and prepared to lead an insurrection against the occupying forces of Rome.

But Jesus had spent most of His ministry years teaching, performing miracles, debating with the Jewish religious leaders, and telling obscure, difficult-to-understand parables concerning His kingdom. Yet the disciples kept wondering when that kingdom would actually come. Even after His death and resurrection, they questioned whether He was getting ready to fulfill His Messianic responsibilities.

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” – Acts 1:6 NLT

Jesus understood their curiosity and their eager hope that His resurrection was the sign they had been looking for, but He simply answered, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.” (Acts 1:7 NLT).

With all this in mind, it’s easy to understand how Zechariah might have had reservations about the prophecy God had given him. He would have been familiar with the prophecies of men like Zephaniah who, more than three centuries earlier, had declared the following words of encouragement from the lips of Yahweh.

“Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
    shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
    you shall never again fear evil.” – Zephaniah 3:14-15 ESV

Zechariah would have been well-versed with the writings of Isaiah.

For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen! – Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT

While living in Babylon, Zechariah would have been exposed to the writings of Daniel, a fellow exile who, a century earlier, had served in the Babylonian court and as a prophet of Yahweh. It was Daniel who was given a vision of Israel’s coming king and recorded it for posterity.

As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed. – Daniel 7:13-14 NLT

Zechariah would also have been exposed to the writings of Jeremiah, another fellow prophet whose ministry preceded his by at least a century.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” – Jeremiah 23:5-6 ESV

So, when Yahweh told Zechariah, “Your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9 ESV), he would not have been surprised. But it’s likely he was slow to understand or comprehend the full scope of Yahweh’s words. As Zechariah stood in the still-dilapidated surroundings of Jerusalem, it must have been difficult for him to believe what he was hearing. The walls of the city remained little more than rubble. The houses were uninhabitable and the Temple was unfinished. The enemies of Israel were numerous and their opposition to the rebuilding efforts was relentless. And to top it all off, the Persians remained firmly in control of the entire region.

But almost as if to assuage Zechariah’s doubts, Yahweh provides the following description of what He will accomplish through the coming king.

“I will remove the battle chariots from Israel
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem.
I will destroy all the weapons used in battle,
    and your king will bring peace to the nations.
His realm will stretch from sea to sea
    and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.” – Zechariah 9:10 NLT

Little did Zechariah know that these verses formed two bookends that covered the foretold the first and second comings of the Messiah. Verse 9 predicts Jesus in His first advent, entering Jerusalem at the end of His earthly ministry to serve as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). But verse 10 prophecies Jesus’ second advent when He returns to earth as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16). In His first coming, Jesus was the humble servant who willingly laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:15). He came to die for the sins of men, sacrificing His life in their place and offering His righteousness in exchange for their guilt. In His second advent, Jesus will return as the victorious King and deal a death blow to both sin and death. He will conquer the rebellious nations of the earth and render judgment against the unrighteous. 

Sandwiched in-between these two verses lies the entire Church Age. From the moment of Jesus’ ascension to His eventual return, the Church will be the focus of God’s ministry. It is not that He will take His eyes off of Israel or replace them with the Church, but that the growth and spread of the bride of Christ will be His primary concern. But as verse 10 makes clear, God will one day finish what He began with Israel. He will keep every promise He has made to His covenant people, including their restoration as a nation and the revitalization of their relationship with Him.

There was so much about this prophecy that Zechariah did not understand. But Yahweh was giving His faithful prophet a glimpse of His future plans for the people of Israel. Like the shepherds who received the angelic announcement concerning the birth of Jesus, Zechariah was the recipient of Yahweh’s good news of great joy.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” – Luke 2:8-14 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Filling in the Blanks

20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” – Luke 17:20-37 ESV

This section contains a fascinating and somewhat confusing series of lessons on the kingdom of God. From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus had declared the good news regarding the arrival of the long-awaited kingdom of God. 

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:14-15 ESV

Jesus was declaring that He was the Messiah or Savior the prophets had written about. He was the son of David who would ascend to the throne and re-establish the Davidic dynasty in keeping with the covenant God had made with David (2 Samuel 7:11-16). And this message struck a chord with the people of Israel because they had been longing for the arrival of the warrior-king who would be their emancipator, releasing them from their subjugation to the Romans. For centuries, the Israelites had been waiting for God to send the next David, a man whom He would use to redeem His people and restore their fortunes as a nation. So, everywhere Jesus went, His words concerning the kingdom were met with joyous expectation and hope.

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread… – Matthew 4:23-24 ESV

But the longer Jesus’ ministry went on, some of the people began to have doubts about His message. While they were amazed by His miracles and blown away by the power of His words, they were disappointed that He had not done anything to establish His earthly kingdom. If He truly was the long-awaited Messiah, when was He going to turn His attention to the Romans and clean house? How were they supposed to believe He was who He claimed to be if He never did the things the Messiah was supposed to do? This led many to demand that Jesus perform a “sign from heaven” to validate His identity. Yes, He had healed many people, but there were others who did the same thing – even His own disciples. He had cast out demons, but that was nothing new. Even the Jews had their own exorcists who were known for doing the same thing.

In fact, on one occasion, Jesus cast out a demon from a man and the people immediately proclaimed, “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” (Matthew 9:33 NLT). But the Pharisees rejected their enthusiastic endorsement of Jesus, saying, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons” (Matthew 9:34 NLT). And to prove their point, these men “demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority” (Luke 11:16 NLT). Their refusal to accept Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah led them to constantly demand that He provide them with some kind of heavenly sign as irrefutable proof.

One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” – Matthew 12:38 NLT

So, it should come as no surprise that Luke records yet another confrontation between Jesus and this religious leader where they demand that He perform a sign. But this time, their request is hidden behind a question regarding the kingdom of God. They ask Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” (Luke 17:20 NLT). This question wreaks of sarcasm. In essence, they are ridiculing Jesus for having declared that the kingdom had come, but they could see no signs of its arrival. He was still nothing more than an itinerant Rabbi wandering around the countryside teaching, preaching, and performing the occasional miracle. He spent more time in Galilee than He did in Judea, where Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel was located. He had many followers, but no army. And while He had cast out a handful of demons, He had done nothing to get rid of the Roman centurions who occupied the land of Israel from north to south. If He was the Messiah, they wanted proof. When was He going to do something to usher in the kingdom He claimed to have brought?

But Jesus saw through their ploy and understand the real focus of their question. They wanted some kind of sign that Jesus was the warrior-king who was going to conquer the enemies of Israel and re-establish the Davidic dynasty in Jerusalem. And it seems unlikely that these men were expecting Jesus to fulfill their demand for a sign, because they believed Him to be a fraud. To them, He was little more than a charlatan and anything but the Savior of Israel. Yet, Jesus responded to their question.

“The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” – Luke 17:20-21 NLT

Jesus knew what they wanted. They were demanding that He do something that would affirm His kingly role and prove that He had been ordained by God to be the next ruler over Israel. Like all the Jews, the Pharisees and scribes were expecting the Messiah to establish an earthly kingdom that mirrored the glory days of David and Solomon. And Jesus knew that they were looking for visible, tangible signs that would demonstrate He meant business. As far as they could see, there was absolutely no evidence that would suggest He was a king, by any stretch of the imagination. But Jesus informed them that the nature of the Kingdom of God was radically different than what they had been expecting. In fact, the kingdom was already in their midst. The King was standing right in front of them. But Jesus didn’t look like a king. He didn’t do kingly things. At least, not according to their understanding of the role.

But it is interesting to note what the psalmist wrote concerning David.

He [God] chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
    to shepherd Jacob his people,
    Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
    and guided them with his skillful hand. – Psalm 78:70-72 ESV

The Jews were expecting another David, a warrior-king who would destroy the enemies of Israel. But God had spoken of David as the shepherd-king who cared for the people of Israel. Jesus had come to seek and to save that which was lost. His first advent to earth was intended to bring a different kind of victory over a completely different kind of enemy. Jesus had come to conquer sin, death, and the grave. His coming had inaugurated a different kind of kingdom that would not be of this world. What the Jews failed to understand was that the Messiah’s mission would come in two parts. There would be a first advent and, when the time was right, it would be followed by a second one.

And this is where Jesus turns His attention to His disciples, in an attempt to help them understand the full scope of the divine redemptive plan. Even they were beginning to have doubts about Jesus’ identity and role. They were just as anxious for Him to set up His earthly kingdom, and they were having a difficult time understanding the apparent delay in what they believed to be the primary point of His mission.

Jesus informs His disciples about future events that will need to take place before His earthly kingdom can be established. In the days ahead, He will die, resurrect, and return to His Father’s side in heaven. And after His departure, they will long for His return.

“The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it.” – Luke 17:22 NLT

With the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, the church age began. The kingdom of God will exist in its partial form through the lives of all those who, through placing their faith in Christ, become citizens of that kingdom. They will live their lives on earth as sojourners and strangers. But one day, Christ will return for His bride, the church. He will gather up all those are citizens of the kingdom and take them to be with Him in heaven. That will usher in the days of Tribulation – a period of great suffering and persecution on earth when the enemy will focus all his wrath on the nation of Israel. During that time, many will come to faith in Christ and even suffer martyrdom at the hands of Satan’s earthly proxy, the Antichrist. But at the end of that seven-year period of time, Jesus will return. This will be His Second Coming when He appears as the warrior-king with the armies of heaven beside Him, and He will defeat all the enemies of God and judge all those who have rejected God and His Son.

At that time, there will be two groups of people on earth: Believers and non-believers. And Jesus indicates that the destruction will be severe. But those who have come to faith in Christ during the days of the Tribulation will be spared. That is what He means when He says, “I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left” (Luke 17:34-35 ESV). People will be caught completely by surprise. They will be going about their lives, “eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building” (Luke 17:28 ESV), and then, suddenly, the King will return.

And it will be after this apocalyptic event that Jesus will set up His earthly kingdom and rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem for 1,000 years. The sign the Pharisees were demanding was one they really didn’t want to see. The kingdom for which the disciples longed would eventually come, but not during their lifetimes. God has a plan and He is working that plan to perfection. And the first phase of the plan required that His Son come to earth as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NLT). It will be at His second advent that He comes as the Lion of Judah and conquers the enemies of God and re-establishes the rule and reign of God on earth.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

The Rest of the Story

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. – Isaiah 61:1-3 ESV

How was God going to fulfill the many blessings He promised to bring upon the people of Israel? What would be the mechanism by which He restored them to favor and returned the city of Jerusalem to its former glorious state? Chapter 61 opens up with the voice of God’s servant proclaiming His role in God’s future redemptive plan concerning the nation of Israel. And there should be a  familiar ring to His words. Jesus Himself would one day read from this very same passage of Isaiah and apply its words to His own life and ministry. 

Not long after His temptation by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth, where He attended the synagogue on the Sabbath.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” – Luke 4:16-19 ESV

And to ensure that the people in the synagogue that day understood the significance of what Jesus had just read, He stated, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21 ESV).

Jesus was boldly and unapologetically claiming to be the servant of God prophesied about by Isaiah. Hundreds of years after the prophet penned the words found in Isaiah 61, Jesus appeared on the scene, declaring Himself to be the one who would accomplish all the things Isaiah describes in these opening verses of this chapter.

When Jesus told the audience in the synagogue that day that He was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, they “all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth” (Luke 4:21 ESV). But in just a matter of minutes, their marvel would turn to rage. Luke records that “they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff” (Luke 4:29 ESV). What happened? How did their apparent delight in Jesus turn to uncontrolled rage in such a short period of time?

The answer is found in the exchange that took place between Jesus and His fellow Jews that day in the synagogue. To the people of Nazareth, Jesus was nothing more than Joseph, the carpenter’s son. They had no reason to suspect Jesus of being anyone significant. And His claim to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy must have caught them off guard. They would have found this assertion hard to believe. And Jesus knew what was going through their minds. He was fully aware that they wanted proof of who He claimed to be. If He truly was the servant of God who was going to bring salvation to the people of God, they needed evidence.

Jesus was fully aware of their doubts. He even told them what they were thinking.

“You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.” – Luke 4:23-24 NLT

The wanted evidence. But what kind of evidence? If Jesus truly were the long-awaited Messiah, they would have been wanting to see miracles that exhibited His power. Why? Because they were looking for a conquering king, who would lead them out of bondage to the Romans. They had a particular kind of salvation in mind, and it had nothing to do with their spiritual deliverance from captivity to sin. And, using two well-known stories related to the prophets, Elijah and Elisha, Jesus predicted that the salvation of God would first go to the Gentiles because the Jews would reject it. This infuriated His Jewish audience and caused them to turn on Him in anger.

But what they failed to understand was the dual nature of Jesus’ advent. In their minds, the Messiah would come only once, and when He did, He would bring them victory over their physical enemies. He would establish His kingdom on earth and return the Jews to the former glory they had enjoyed under King David’s reign. But even the Old Testament prophets failed to recognize that Jesus, the Messiah, would come to earth twice. First, at His incarnation and then, thousands of years later, at His second coming. And, in between, the message of the gospel would be taken to the Gentiles because the Jews would reject Jesus’ call to repentance and their need to place their faith in Him as their sole means of achieving a right standing before God.

That scene of the Jews attempting to throw Jesus off of the cliff foreshadows their eventual rage against Him that resulted in His crucifixion. They would demand His death and rejoice to see His life snuffed out by the Romans. All because they missed the two-part nature of His coming. But the apostle Paul states that their rejection of Him at His first advent was not a deal-breaker with God. He had foreseen it. He had even orchestrated it. Because He has a future plan in store for the people of Israel that will be fulfilled at the Messiah’s second coming.

Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it. – Romans 11:11-12 NLT

And Paul is emphatic in his belief that God is not done with the people of Israel.

For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. – Romans 11:15 NLT

The Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah because He didn’t meet their expectations. He came offering salvation from sin, but they refused to see themselves as sinners in need of a Savior. After all, they had the sacrificial system to provide them with atonement. And, because they were the descendants of Abraham, they saw their standing with God as more than adequate. But Paul, as a Jew, knew that they were in need of the same salvation that God was offering to the Gentiles. TheirJewishness was not going to be enough to save them from the wrath of God. Their standing as God’s chosen people would not prevent God from bringing His judgment against their sin and rebellion against Him. But Paul states that there is a day coming when God will save Israel in spite of Israel.

Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,

“The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem,
    and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.
And this is my covenant with them,
    that I will take away their sins.” – Romans 11:25-27 NLT

Which brings us back to Isaiah 61. The Messiah, God’s servant, will come a second time, and when He does, He will restore God’s people. And the servant explains that the once rebellious descendants of Abraham will become truly righteous.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
    that the Lord has planted for his own glory. – Isaiah 61:3 NLT

This will be the work of God, accomplished by the servant of God. Jesus will return a second time, and on this occasion, it will be as the conquering King, not the suffering servant. God is not done with Israel. His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be fulfilled. And God will accomplish all that He has promised through His servant, the Messiah. And the apostle Paul reminds his readers of God’s unwavering faithfulness and His commitment to do all that He has promised to do – through His Son.

Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. – Romans 11:28-29 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson