| Having discussed in part one of this four part | | | | suffer before taking His throne (Isaiah 53 and |
| series of articles, we determined that the vision | | | | Psalm 22). |
| Ezekiel had of the four creatures represented | | | | Matthew wrote his book with this in mind. That is |
| four aspects of the person of Jesus, and that | | | | why his book begins with Jesus' genealogy, giving |
| they should in some way tell us something about | | | | His ascent from King David, who came from the |
| the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and | | | | family of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). This is because |
| John. Going back to the faces, then, your next | | | | a king must ascend to his throne. |
| question could be, "how is this so?" | | | | Matthew, also, throughout his book, gives the |
| Well let's see, the New Testament begins with | | | | account of the times Jesus fulfilled the prophecies |
| four books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; all of | | | | concerning Him being "The King of the Jews." For |
| which give us an account of Jesus' time here on | | | | instance, when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a colt |
| earth; all four of them giving us its own picture of | | | | (21:5). But to really see how Matthew describes |
| Him from a different view. | | | | Jesus as the King of the Jews, you need to read |
| Now each of the writers of these four books, like | | | | his gospel and behold the face of a lion for |
| any other, had a particular audience in mind. The | | | | yourself. |
| Jews at that time - as some are now - were | | | | But in the meantime, as we have discovered how |
| expecting and looking for the Messiah as the first | | | | Matthew's gospel describes the fulfillment of |
| covenant had prophesied would come. They | | | | Ezekiel's vision, which he had of the face of a lion, |
| understood the verses that described Him as | | | | we will next need to look at how Ezekiel's vision |
| being the King who was to come from the lineage | | | | with the face of an ox and man describe the |
| of David, promised to come from the seed of | | | | gospels of Mark and Luke. And for this you will |
| Abraham. Some of them, however, stumbled | | | | need to proceed to part three of this four part |
| over the prophecies concerning Him having to | | | | article series. |