One of the greatest tragedies of history is the rejection of Jesus as the Christ by the majority of the Jewish peoples of the 1st Century. Indeed, to this very day, the Jews are still waiting for their Messiah.
Why did they reject Jesus as their Anointed King? It was because they had studied the messianic prophecies with carnal minds and came to the false conclusion that their Messiah would be a mighty conqueror of the gentile nations who would re-establish David’s throne in a great palace in Jerusalem. The Messiah would release the Jews from servitude to heathen masters and, instead, cause the heathen to bow before and become slaves to the world-dominating Jewish Kingdom.
When Jesus failed to live-up to their carnal expectations, they rejected Him in derision. How awfully sad.
It is almost as sad to realize that there are many professing Christians who have made almost the very same error as the misguided Jews. There are people today who still believe that Jesus’ kingdom is still future. They believe that His kingdom has yet to be established and that, when it is ushered-in, Jesus will sit on a physical throne in the physical city of Jerusalem and reign over a world-wide physical kingdom.
This view is unBiblical. The Scriptures plainly teach that JESUS NOW REIGNS AS KING OVER HIS KINGDOM, SITTING UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID. Every Old Testament prophecy relating to the Kingdom of the Messiah has been or is now being fulfilled.
Let’s study the Scriptures:
1.The Time of the Establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.
The prophet Daniel has provided us with the chronology of when Christ’s divine kingdom would be established. The Babylonian monarch Nebuchadnezzar had a prophetic vision which spoke of four kingdoms, in the form of a statue, which would exist prior to the coming of the kingdom of God (Daniel 2:36-45). The first kingdom was the Babylonian, the second was the Medo-Persian, the third was the Greek, and the fourth was the Roman.
A "stone" struck the portion of the statue representing the Roman kingdom or empire and the stone "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth". The stone is identified as the kingdom of God.
Thus, we are to expect the Kingdom of God to be established during the period of the Roman Empire.
It is no coincidence that the Messiah-King Jesus appeared during the time of the Roman Empire (Luke 2:1-7; 3:1). For, Jesus preached, "THE TIME IS FULFILLED, AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND (Mark 1:14-15)."
Jesus further narrowed the time-frame of when the kingdom would be established when He boldly asserted to the Jewish people that "there are those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power (Mark 9:1)".
Evidence points to the fact that Jesus began to reign as King after His resurrection when He ascended to the Father’s right hand. The powerful events that took place on Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2, were proofs of the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.
2.David’s throne is in Heaven at the Father’s right hand.
All would agree that the Messiah would rule His kingdom sitting on the throne of David (Psalm 89:3-4; Isaiah 9:6-7). That this would be the case with Jesus was confirmed to Mary by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:31-33).
The Apostle Peter states that these prophecies were fulfilled when, after the resurrection, Jesus sat down upon the throne at God’s right hand - "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David....because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne. He looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus, God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.... Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ - this Jesus whom you crucified (Acts 2:29-32, 36)."
Thus, we see that Jesus is now sitting on David’s throne, at the Father’s right hand, as Lord and Christ (Messianic king).
There are two reasons why David’s throne is not currently - nor in the future can be - on the earth:
A. God decreed that the descendants of unfaithful King Jeconiah would never rule in Judah again.
King Jeconiah was the last royal descendant of David to rule in Judah before the Jewish Nation was carried-off into Babylonian Captivity. Jeconiah or Coniah was unfaithful to God’s purposes, therefore, God decreed that none of his descendants would ever be allowed to sit and rule "IN JUDAH" (Jeremiah 22:24-30).
According to Matthew 1:11, Jesus is a descendant of Jeconiah. Thus, Jesus could never sit on a throne in physical Jerusalem IN JUDAH. Instead, Jesus sits on David’s throne, which has been transferred to God’s right hand.
B. The Messiah is to be a high priest WHILE also reigning as king.
Zechariah 6:11-13 prophesies that the Messiah will "bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. He will be a priest on His throne."
Never had there been a situation where the Jewish monarchy and priesthood were united in one person. This was because the monarchy was confined to those of the tribe of Judah and the priesthood to those of the tribe of Levi.
However, this prophecy states that with the Messiah, "the counsel of peace will be between the two offices". That is to say, the Messiah will peaceable combine the two offices of king and priest. When he is the ruling king, he will also be the practicing priest. When he is the practicing priest, he will also be the ruling king.
This prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus. In Him, "we have such a high priest, Who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens (Hebrews 8:1)."
But, we must note that this prophecy could not be fulfilled if Jesus was to sit on an earthly throne; for, "if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all (Hebrews 8:4)." Because Jesus can never be a practicing priest on the earth, he can never rule as king on the earth. Only in heaven, at the Father’s right hand, can He fulfill His combined messianic offices of king and priest.
In Psalm 110, David foretold that the Messiah would rule as King and serve as Priest at the right hand of God: "The Lord [God] said to my Lord [the Messiah], Sit at My right hand until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet. The Lord will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, ’Rule in the midst of Thine enemies.’...The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ’Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’"
There are several places in the New Testament where the Apostles claim that Jesus began fulfilling Psalm 110 when He ascended to the Father’s right hand (Acts 2:34-36; Hebrews 1:13; 5:5-6; 7:11-24).
3.God would install the Messiah on the throne despite opposition.
Zechariah 9:9 prophesied the Messiah’s coronation parade: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
Each of the four Gospels record the fulfillment of this prophecy on the occasion of Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem prior to His crucifixion (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-40; John 12:12-16).
While many of the common people welcomed Jesus as their long-awaited anointed King, the Jewish authorities were "indignant" and tried to put a stop to the celebration (Matthew 21:15-16; Luke 19:39-40).
The truth was that no authority - Jewish or Gentile - could have stopped the coronation of Jesus. That both Jewish and Gentile authorities would fruitlessly try was foretold in Psalm 2: "Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ’Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’ He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, ’But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.’ ’I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ’Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ’You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!"
The Apostles have stated that this prophecy in Psalm 2 was fulfilled when God raised Jesus from the dead and placed Him on the throne after the Jewish and Roman authorities had arrested, tried, and condemned Jesus to death (Acts 4:24-28; 13:32-34).
4.The Messianic kingdom would start small but grow to become world-wide.
Many mistakenly think that Christ’s kingdom would immediately encompass the entire globe. This nowhere is taught in the Scriptures. The prophecies relating to the kingdom always spoke of it as something that would start small but grow to become global.
Isaiah 9:7 prophesies that the Messiah’s "government" would "increase". If you remember the prophecy found in Daniel 2:34-35, the kingdom started as a small "stone" but, in time, grew to become "a great mountain and filled the earth."
Jesus spoke of the kingdom in this manner, too. Mark 4:30-32, "And He said, ’How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.’"
This is easily understood when we realize that the Kingdom of Christ is composed of those who, having heard the Gospel, volunteer to accept Jesus as their King and follow His laws or commands. The Kingdom grows as the Gospel spreads and people adopt it.
According to Isaiah 2:2-3, the Messianic law would "go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem". After His resurrection, Jesus restated this to the Apostles in Luke 24:45-49, "Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, ’Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem."
Again, Christ proclaimed to the Apostles, in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you."
Peter was granted the "keys of the kingdom" (Matthew 16:16-19) which he used when he preached the first gospel sermon in Jerusalem, as recorded in Acts 2. From that start in Jerusalem, the Apostles did take the gospel of the kingdom into all the world as Christ prophesied and commanded.
Membership in the Messianic kingdom is reserved to those who have heard and obeyed the Gospel; that is, for those who have been "born again". John 3:3,5, "Jesus answered and said to him, ’Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God....Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
The Messianic Kingdom is not like other kingdoms of this world (John 18:36-37), it is a divine, spiritual kingdom. As Paul says, in Romans 14:17, the "kingdom of God... is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Born again Christians belong to the Messianic kingdom "which cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28)." The Christians in Colosse were members (Colossians 1:12-13), as were those in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2:12) and the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 1:6).
5.The Messiah would rule above all other powers and authorities.
Some may question whether Christ Jesus presently has the full dominion that the Messiah was to enjoy. The Scriptures indicate that Jesus does have complete sovereignty. Jesus, Himself, claimed to have "all authority... in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). Paul minces no words in declaring that God "seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet." Jesus, as the Messiah, is now "ruler of the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5).
We must remember that even though the Messiah was to have full sovereignty, not all would submit to it. It was prophesied that the Messiah would "rule in the midst of [His] enemies" (Psalm 110:2).
6.The Messianic Kingdom will continue until the Resurrection.
The Kingdom of the Messiah will continue until His "enemies" became "a footstool" (Psalm 110:1).
Paul speaks of the conclusion of the Messianic kingdom in 1 Corinthians 15:22-26. The Apostle says that the last enemy to be conquered will be death at the Resurrection.
When Christ returns and resurrects His faithful, He will then "deliver up the Kingdom to the God and Father". Then, according to Verse 28, "the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One Who subjected all things to Him."
It is a joyous thing to know that Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is reigning. His Kingdom was established when He ascended to the right hand of the Father and it will continue until He returns to take all of His loyal subjects to their Heavenly reward.
This is the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 4:23). It is the Gospel taught by the early preachers (Romans 10:13-15; Isaiah 52:7-10). It is the Gospel today.
Are you a member of the kingdom of Jesus Christ?
