1. Zechariah: The Anointed Comes as a Peaceful King, Expected and Recognized
Zechariah 9:9
“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.”
This text is quoted verbatim in Matthew 21:5 at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Clearly, the Anointed One is portrayed as a King: righteous, victorious, yet humble. This is not a prophecy of sacrifice or rejection, but of joyful recognition and acceptance.
Matthew 21:9
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
The crowd recognises Him; the religious leadership is troubled. That was the prophetic test. God wanted the Anointed One to be received. Why else send a meek king “riding on a donkey”? It was Israel’s great opportunity to turn back to God. That was the whole point.
2. Isaiah: The Anointed Is Sent to Heal, Yet He Is Rejected
Isaiah 61:1–2
“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…”
Jesus reads this very passage in the synagogue (Luke 4:18–21) and declares:
“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
His mission is healing, liberation, good news, not bloody sacrifice. Yet the reaction is rage. When the people realise He is not offering national glory but calling them to personal repentance, they try to kill Him on the spot (Luke 4:28–29).
Isaiah had foreseen this possibility:
Isaiah 53:3
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief… he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
But the text does NOT say God wanted or planned it that way. Verse 10 is the key:
“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him…”
The Hebrew is better rendered “it pleased the LORD to crush him” in the sense of permission, not original intent. God allowed the crushing, He did not orchestrate it. The Anointed One handed Himself over rather than deny the truth, but His death was the result of human choice, not divine decree.
3. Daniel: The Anointed One Is “Cut Off,” but Not for Himself
Daniel 9:26
“And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.”
This is the only clear prophetic reference to the death of the Messiah. Two crucial details:
- “Shall be cut off” = executed, eliminated by others. It does not say God kills Him.
- “And shall have nothing” = He receives none of what was promised (throne, recognition, glory). It is an interruption, not the fulfilment.
The same verse immediately mentions the destruction of the city and the sanctuary, the judgment that falls precisely because the Anointed One was rejected.
4. Conclusion: The Prophetic Plan Was Acceptance of the Messiah, Not His Crucifixion
All these prophetic texts (Zechariah 9, Isaiah 61, Daniel 9) converge on one truth:
- God sent the Anointed One as a King of truth, to be welcomed and enthroned.
- The crucifixion is the rejection of that plan, not its fulfilment.
Therefore, the cross cannot be presented as “God’s eternal plan of redemption.” It is the moment when humanity failed to recognise the Anointed One. God permitted it, not because He desired blood, but because He honoured human freedom to accept or reject His Messiah.
The prophetic hope was always:
“Behold, your king is coming to you…”
The tragedy is that Jerusalem did not behold, and chose Barabbas instead.