April 1, 2012. Zechariah 9:9-12.
Why was the Old Testament written? To point us to Christ! Or, as Dr. Rod
Rosenbladt from IssuesEtc.org (and White Horse Inn) says, “The Bible is the
story of God’s rescue plan for sinners -- and you qualify!” Jesus told
self-righteous Jews (John 5:39) “You search in the Old Testament because you
think that in them you have eternal life (by obeying laws, but), it is they
that bear witness of Me!”
You may also remember in Luke 24, while Jesus talked with the disciples on
the road to Emmaus after Easter: “Then beginning with Moses and ALL the
Prophets, He interpreted to them in ALL the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself.”
There are other qualities and uses for God’s Word, but chiefly the LORD
gave us the Old and New Testaments to make us wise for salvation thru faith in
Christ Jesus, and they are given by His inspiration, as Paul wrote in 2nd
Timothy 3.
There are many Bible verses that point indirectly to Christ; yet some are
very direct. Zechariah 9:9-12 is among them. These tell us about what is
labeled Christ’s Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem as King.
It is important to realize what was going on in history. The disciples
didn’t realize any of it. Many wanted to make Jesus king after He fed 5,000+.
Now, shortly after He raised Lazarus from the dead, they really wanted to make
Him king on Palm Sunday. Jesus is purposely acting to fulfill this passage
from Zechariah.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! This
was written about 520BC for returning Babylonian captives to be a message of
hope. But often, those phrases in the Bible refer to believers bound for
heaven. Even as they rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, God was pointing them
forward to the heavenly Temple of His Son.
Behold, your KING is coming to you; He is righteous and having salvation is
He, humble and mounted on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Notice, our King, Jesus, comes to us; not we to Him. He does not come in
power to crush our rebellions or failures. He is righteous. Holy. Spotless.
More than that, He brings salvation - the greatest riches of all. God in the
flesh is coming with salvation.
And how is He coming? Does He come with an armed motorcade of S.U.V.’s
and limos? Like Absalom, with chariots, trumpets, and 50 mighty men? No. Not
even on a royal horse. He comes on a humble, regular donkey. That would be
like President Obama arriving in Washington, D.C. in a used Ford or Chevy. The
hearts of unbelievers lust for money, power, and glory. Sinners love winners
who look the part, not like this humble Savior.
Christ humbly comes to us today. He does not bind His promises of pardon
to catchy music, displays of raw power, special incantations, or empowered
people. He rides in on the humble donkeys of Word and Sacraments. Humbly.
The speaking may be from a pastor or a parent, but the Words are Christ’s.
It may be a common sounding voice, but the power behind it is God’s. Every
time you hear Holy Scripture, the Spirit is at work in you: faith comes by
hearing.
Jesus rides into your mouth as you receive Communion. You do not ascend
into heaven to somehow partake spiritually or metaphysically. In the humble
steed of bread, Christ’s body comes to you to give you forgiveness, life, and
salvation. This IS My Body; My blood. God, Who can not lie (Titus 1:2), tells
you in His Word that Christ’s very blood is given to you in the humble wine.
“Behold, your King comes to you” as you kneel at His altar.
This is why we sing Hosanna in the Divine Service. As our new hymnal
Glossary defines it, ‘hosanna’ means “save us now”. The Palm Sunday crowds may
have expected Jesus to save them from the Romans. Jesus entered Jerusalem to
save us all: from sin, death, and hell.
As even Sunday school children know, the Divine Service is about the
Divine God Serving Us. He humbly comes to us to give us joy, victory, hope,
and heaven, then we return our meager praise.
We sing Hosanna, or ‘save us now’, in the Communion liturgy to ask for His
saving. He comes to us in His real presence to save us. Not to avenge every
hurt, establish a millennial kingdom, or change society by practicing the
ethics of Jesus in a social gospel. He came to save us as the Lamb of God.
Then, after communing, we sing with Simeon that we have seen the glory of God’s
redeeming grace first hand.
And what will this humble Savior do?
“I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The
battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion
shall be ‘from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.’”
God tells us He will not come to start war on people the way militaries
and empires do. He comes to finish the War between us and God. The peace
Christ speaks is for all nations, spoken from the cross.
This was what the Palm Sunday crowds especially did not comprehend. Some
felt King Jesus came to rid them of the Romans; or at least Herod. But
Christ’s reign is not an external kingdom of this world. The true kingdom of
God is the gracious rule of Jesus in the hearts, minds, and lives of us
believers. It spans all time, and it is made of every nation, tribe, tongue,
and people thru and by the cross.
“As for you also, Because of the blood of Your covenant, I will set your
prisoners free from the waterless pit.”
Here we hear how this kingdom is established. People who lived in the Old
Testament looked forward to the time God would fulfill His promises. ‘Abraham
believed God, and that counted as his righteousness.’ Like us, he was saved by
grace, thru faith. “BC” believers were saved by the covenant blood of Christ,
which would cleanse them of all sins. Those prisoners, like us, were set free
from the waterless pit of hell by Christ.
“Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I
will restore double to you.”
Return, they did, in the time of Zechariah; from Babylon to the land where
God’s Messiah would be born, live perfectly, ride into Jerusalem as a humble
King, then willingly become a curse on the cross to provide earthly & eternal
life.
We return to our stronghold: the promise of absolute pardon in the Son of
God. The victory our King came to win on Good Friday is ours now. We do not
make Him our King, any more than the Palm Sunday crowds did. He IS King of
Kings by the Father’s decree. But by His death, He makes us His subjects.
The Old Adam in us would see the parade and long for an earthly king on
Palm Sunday. We might spread our Palms to symbolize our hope for His long
life. Then your voices would join in the Good Friday chorus to crucify Him
when He did not conquer like the earthly king we expected.
But Zechariah, like other OT prophets, pointed us to the true humble
Coming King; Who won the greatest victory for us, and Who still comes to us in
the humble means of Word & Sacraments. He has called us as His Own people, to
follow Him in humility, faith, service, and love.
Traditionally, Palm Sunday has been the day which many churches confirm
youth. They profess their faith before a local congregation, then they are
exhorted to continue to nurture that Christian faith so as to follow the
example of Christ’s great humility and patience, & be made partakers of His
resurrection with us.
As we observe Holy Week, let us cling to the king Who humbled Himself as a
servant by becoming obedient to the point of death on the cross; Whom God has
highly exalted and bestowed the Name above all other Names. So may our knees
bow and our tongues willingly confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father. Hosanna! Amen.
In His Service, Pastor Michael Harman
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