Now we turn to the Word of God. We are kind of
started at last Sunday taking a brief break from
Ecclesiastes as we're in this time that is celebrated,
this time of remembering that Jesus went to the
cross for us, this time of remembering the resurrection,
right? And so to help us see this, We're going
to go to a very applicable passage, a very appropriate
passage for today on this, a day that's commonly
called Palm Sunday, a day when we think about
the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
And so our scripture this morning is Zechariah
chapter 9, verses 9 and 10. Now I realize It's
been a long time since this church, to my knowledge,
was in Zechariah, and it may have been a long
time since you yourself were in this book. And
so Zechariah is one of the minor prophets. It's
the second to the last book of the Old Testament
in the English Bible. And it is a remarkable
book for many, many reasons, one of those being
that as you study Zechariah, as you read it,
You see Christ everywhere. You really do. And
we're going to see this today within our reading.
And so Zachariah chapter nine, verses nine through
10, please listen. 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.
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. The grass withers
and the flower fades, but God's word stands forever.
Let us pray. Father, how we do thank you for
your word, how we thank you for the book of Zechariah.
I thank you that as we look at this, we see Jesus
Christ. Would you help us with this to understand
and apply what is here? These things we ask in
the name of Christ. Amen. This week, I was reading
an article that began in an interesting way.
What I'm going to tell you, it almost sounds
like a bad joke, or like a riddle, but the article
started in this way. It said, what do donkeys,
30 pieces of silver, a shepherd, and crucifixion
have in common? Now, Christians, and Christians
especially this time of year, that's pretty easy
to answer, isn't it? All of those things have
in common, of course they have Jesus in common,
and specifically the final week of Jesus's earthly
ministry in common. But what might not be as
obvious or apparent is that all of those four
things, the donkeys and the silver and the shepherd
and the crucifixion, they all can be found in
the book of Zechariah. Zachariah is a remarkable
book for this way that it is the most referenced
Old Testament book during what is commonly called
Passion Week. During the final week of Jesus's
earthly ministry, we see Zachariah over and over
and over again. And what this tells us is that
the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is
no accident. It doesn't happen by chance. No,
it was God's eternal plan prophesied centuries
before it ever happened. If you don't hear anything
else today, I want you to hear this. It was always
God's plan to send the King of Kings to shed
His blood for all who would believe in Him. And
so what do we see in the triumphal entry? Jesus
enters Jerusalem as the prophesied King. and
his ride reveals his humility. His reign promises
peace, and his people are to respond with praise.
Let's look at the ride first. And the way in
which I want us to see this is, yes, to go over
Zechariah 9, 9, and 10, but I do want us to see
the triumphal entry as it's explained by the
New Testament. And the triumphal entry is such
an important episode that it is mentioned in
all four Gospels. I'm not going to read the episode
in all four Gospels, but I will take you to one
of them, to Matthew's version, Matthew 21, one
through 11. Now, when they drew near to Jerusalem,
and came to Bethpage to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them,
go into the village in front of you and immediately
you'll find a donkey tied and a colt with her.
Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says
anything to you, you will 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. Have you heard that before?
Humble and mounted on a donkey on a colt the
full of a beast of burden. The disciples went
and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought
the donkey and the colt and put on them their
cloaks and he sat on them. Most of the crowd
spread their cloaks on the road and others cut
branches from the trees and spread them on the
road. And the crowds that went before him and
that followed him were shouting, Hosanna to the
son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. And
when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was
stirred up saying, who is this? And the crowd
said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth.
of Galilee. And so this is the experience, this
is the episode that we remember. But isn't it
so crucial and important that we see this predicted
hundreds of years before the event? That's what
Zechariah shows us. And so let us think for a
second, what would Zechariah's prophecy have
meant to the people of the prophet's day? We
know many things about Zechariah. And we certainly
know the timing of Zechariah. Zechariah is called
a post -exilic book. And what that means is after
the exile, we know of Israel's history from the
Bible. And we know that there was a time of kings.
There was David, there was Solomon, and then
what happened? There was a splitting up of the
kingdom into the northern kingdom of Israel and
the southern kingdom of Judah, right? And we
know that in each of those kingdoms in the north
there were 20 kings. And scripture describes
none of them in a good way. In the southern kingdom,
we actually have about eight good kings. The
Bible describes them as good. That's still not
even 50%, right? And so what would it have meant
for the people of Zechariah's day after the exile,
after Babylon comes in and takes over Jerusalem.
And then the people are allowed to go back home.
And then here you have Zechariah saying, there's
going to be this great king. He's coming to you
and he is righteous and he has salvation. Can
you imagine hearing that after all of Israel
and Judah's tumultuous history and then learning
there's going to be this great king? who is completely
righteous and he brings salvation. This would
have been very impactful for in Zechariah's day
Jerusalem had no king. After the time of exile
when the people get to move back home they don't
have a king. There is a governor for a time but
they don't have a king and yet they still have
enemies. If you're familiar with the book of
Nehemiah. You see this very well. Nehemiah is
commissioned to go back home and to rebuild the
walls. He gets to Jerusalem and he sees that
his city is in shambles, right? And so they begin
to build the wall, but they have enemies all
around them, right? The text in Nehemiah even
shows it's as if they have a hammer in one hand.
and a sword in the other, they're fighting off
their enemies. And so even though the people
of Judah are allowed to be back home, they are
not free. They're facing opposition from everywhere.
And so now, what are they being promised? This
incredible king. And he would be everything that
the previous kings were not. But how does this
king come to us as we read this. It says, humble
and mounted on a donkey, right? That's an interesting
picture there because we know from scripture
and we know from history that in the time of
the judges and in the time of David and Solomon,
it was common for kings to ride on donkeys. You
can see that with both David and Solomon. But
after the time of Solomon, it's as if the kings
trade in their donkeys for a faster, more powerful
ride. At the time of Solomon, they begin to ride
more horses. And so this king, it's like he's
going back to the time of David. He's going back
to the time of Solomon. He's going back to the
time of the judges. No, this king is coming with
humility. And he doesn't just ride a donkey.
No, what does the text actually say? On a colt,
the foal of a donkey. If you read Mark's version
and Luke's version, you realize something about
this donkey here. It's the offspring of donkey,
but it is an unridden donkey. It probably has
never been ridden before. That's what it says.
It's an untrained donkey, right? This is the
kind of ride for this kind of a king what's going
why right? Why not ride on a beautiful stallion
or some a powerful horse? Because Jesus is the
humble King Jesus is the mightiest King in history
and yet also the one with the most humility I
like how second Corinthians 8 9 puts this for
us For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, he became poor, so that
you by his poverty might become rich. And so
humility and peace and righteousness, these are
the characteristics of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And it all happens exactly as the prophet said
it would. And so what does this mean for you
and I? Why is this important to see that Zechariah
prophesied something that happens perfectly and
precisely? It's important because it means that
all of the promises that God promises to you
in Scripture will come true. Everything that
God promises will come to fruition. I don't know
all of you, but I know most of you. And I know
what some of you are going through. And I know
how some of you greatly need to remember the
promises of God in Scripture. Maybe today you
need to be reminded of the promise of God's presence.
Well, remember that Jesus promised his disciples
at the end of Matthew, I am with you always to
the end of the age. Maybe today you are needing
to be reminded how God answers prayer. Psalm
145, the Lord is near to all who call on him.
Maybe today you need to be reminded of the very
mercy of God, that God is slow to anger and abounding
in steadfast love. Maybe today you need to be
reminded of God's protection of his children.
Do not fear, for I am with you. I will strengthen
you. and I will help you and I will uphold you
with my righteous right hand. Maybe today you
need to be reminded of your eternal home, you
who are united to Christ. Remember what Jesus
said to the thief on the cross. Today you will
be with me in paradise. There are so many promises
and God keeps all of them. And the scripture
says all of the promises of God. to find their
yes and amen in Jesus Christ. And so as we look
at this and as we move into verse 10, keep that
in mind how God is so trustworthy and he will
not forget a single promise that he has made.
And surely hearing something like this would
have been encouraging to the people of Judah.
who are still facing that constant threat of
war. And yet with the constant threat of war,
look at verse 10, what does God promise to do
here through the prophet? I will cut off the
chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow shall be cut off. God is saying,
I will protect you, but these weapons of warfare,
I will remove them. They are not needed. And
I will give you total lasting peace. The text
there, as I read, mentions Ephraim and Jerusalem.
Ephraim is oftentimes used as a synonym for Israel.
And of course, Jerusalem was the capital of Judah.
So what is God promising here? A reunification
of his people, right? That as Israel and Judah
were separated now, they will come together,
that all of God's people will be united. And
because you... believe in Jesus Christ, yes,
you are God's people. You are God's children.
And God promises peace, everlasting peace. So
you see what's really happening in verse 10.
As verse nine is reminding us of the first advent
of Jesus, the first coming, what is verse 10
reminding us of? That which is yet to come. The
return of our Lord Jesus. And the return of our
Lord Jesus shows us something incredible here
within this verse. He shall speak peace to the
nations. Look at his rule though. It shall be
from sea to sea and from the river to the ends
of the earth. King Jesus is surely the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords because his reign
is forever and covers it all, right? But still
you might think, well, How can a humble king
riding on the foal of a donkey produce the kind
of victory that God's people need? He's humble,
doing away with the weapons of warfare. So how
is this possible? Aren't those things needed?
He does it through the cross. Jesus does not
fight with instruments of war. No, Jesus is placed
on the instrument. The text here when it says
he brings salvation, it's quite literally being
delivered, meaning that this king is delivered.
How is this king delivered? Obviously, it's through
the crucifixion. It's through the resurrection,
right? That the death that he endured, the grave
could not hold Jesus. And so he is... Vindicated
in order that he truly would bring us salvation
that we who believe in Jesus would also be saved
And so you might say okay. Well Jesus has the
victory. What is he victorious over? Here's where
I want to take you to another scripture to Ephesians
chapter 6 10 through 13 to see the real enemy
that he is victorious over Ephesians 6 10 through
13 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the
strength of his might. Put on the whole armor
of God that you may be able to stand against
the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the cosmic powers
over this present darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore,
take up the whole armor of God that you may be
able to withstand in the evil day and having
done all to stand firm. The real enemy is sin.
The real enemy is the devil. It is evil and Jesus
conquers all. That's actually what the scriptures
say. through Jesus Christ with his victory we
are more than conquerors as he will reign forever
so we will reign with him as his people and so
don't you see friends that Christ's crucifixion
proclaims victory over sin and death in the grave
and his second advent his second coming means
that all warfare will be gone forever and that
he will establish his eternal dominion just like
this text says, just like this text says. And
so knowing all of this, knowing how Jesus is
victorious and knowing how Jesus truly triumphantly
came into the city, what should our response
be to this? We'll look back at verse nine. to
see that it is the citizen's responsibility to
respond with praise. Rejoice greatly, it says.
Shout aloud, it says. Rejoicing greatly, I don't
know about you, but to me, it doesn't sound like
mild approval. It doesn't sound like a golf clap,
yay Jesus. No, this is tremendous praise and
celebration of who Jesus is and what he does.
The word shout aloud here. That's an interesting
word in Hebrew. Anybody remember the falling
down of Jericho, the walls, right? The word used
here in verse nine for shout aloud is the same
word used for when the Israelites surrounded
Jericho and they shouted and the walls came tumbling
down. And so friends, this is again, no mild
approval. This is a shout of triumphant celebration.
And all of these words here, this prophecy helps
us to see this, that we ought to offer to Christ
the praise befitting of the King of Kings and
the Lord of Lords. Why? Because he is righteous.
Why? Because he brings salvation. Why? Because
Jesus was humble enough to take on flesh and
to die a horrible death on the cross for you
and for me. And so what does he do? Jesus, we
can see as he goes to the cross, he meets his
people in their need. Jesus is the suffering
savior for a suffering people. Jesus arrives
not on a red carpet, but on palm branches and
borrowed cloaks. And the people, as we've already
said, the people praise him in that episode,
but They do that on like a Sunday by Friday.
What are they shouting? Crucify him, right? Crucify
him. Jesus had a great following, but nearly
all of the people leave him. They scatter. And
Jesus is crowned king, but he's crowned with
a crown of thorns. Ultimately, Jesus entered
Jerusalem to lay down his life. And friends,
he did it for you. For you who believe in Jesus
Christ, He laid down His life. They did not take
it from Him, but He laid it down. And you remember,
as we have read from Matthew 21, what they were
singing as He was coming into the city, Hosanna
to the Son of David, Hosanna in the highest.
Well, that word, hosanna, is a wonderful word,
and it is a word of praise, but what's really
underneath it is this. O save us. Hosanna means,
O save us. We know this from places like Psalm
118, 25. Save us, we pray, O Lord. And so what
does Jesus save us from? We've already read from
Ephesians. We know that. And yet the people of
Jerusalem, what did they think Jesus was coming
to do? To be a great military leader. They greatly
underestimate Jesus, don't they? They underestimate
Him. He does something much more powerful than
just being an ordinary King. He, as I said, is
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and
He is King eternal. And a King who dies for sinners
is worth every single triumph and shout. As Rick
Phillips says up at Second Prez, a King like
this is worth shouting over. And so, friends,
I hope you see what King Jesus really does for
us. He meets us where we are. Yahweh, seeing
that we were kingless, He sends a king. Defenseless,
He defends. In need of salvation, and He saves.
As I begin to conclude, friends, if you have
trouble seeing the connection, between the Old
Testament and the New Testament. Let me ask you,
what other king in the history of the world could
be described in this way? What other king could
be described like this? Their answer is there
is no other king who could be described like
this. And so the question then is, since Jesus,
who fulfills this prophecy, Believes himself
to be and knows himself to be the King that is
written in Zechariah since he believes that Do
you Do you believe that Jesus is the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords? Do you believe that
Jesus is the King who came humbly with righteousness
and having salvation? Friends I believe this
text is abundantly clear again all four gospels,
triumphal entry, and we find it hundreds of years
before it happened. And so today, trust Jesus,
worship him, not as the crowds in Jesus' day,
but worship him always, because he will always
reign. Let us pray.