Behold Your King

Well, this morning I get the privilege to preach, and the subject is beautiful.

! I get to preach about the triumphal entry of Jesus our King, Palm Sunday.

We have heard already, and we'll read it again, believe it or not, in the New Testament.

We've heard already the story, the New Testament story out of the book of Matthew

of the entrance of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem as a King,

announcing Himself to the Jewish nation as the King, acknowledging that He is the Messiah.

But this morning, we're going to actually have a text out of the Old Testament.

I'll be preaching out of the book of Zechariah.

This morning, in one verse, is going to be the focus of our time this morning.

We'll look at the context.

Next, I'll talk about that, but predominantly, we're going to look at the one verse in Zechariah 9.

And if you don't know where that's located, if you go to the Matthew and you go backwards two books,

you'll be at Zechariah.

So I would ask, if you will, to open a Bible.

If you don't have your own, there's Bibles in the seat back in front of you

or in the tray underneath the seat.

We'd encourage you to open the Scriptures this morning.

We will look at more than just the one verse.

It would be good to be able to glance at that.

So if you're physically able to stand,

I would ask you to stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning out of Zechariah 9.

Let's pray one more time.

Let's pray one more time.

God, would you make this truth come alive.

Would you move us to rejoicing that, Father, we too this morning would sing of your great mercies that you've given to us.

And I pray in your name.

Amen.

Y'all can have a seat.

Well, I've said this before and I'll say it again.

It's not right to cherry pick one verse out of a book in the Old Testament from a prophet

and not paint the picture of the context that we're reading it from.

So I want to take a couple of minutes and talk about the time frame of this message that was given by God

through the prophet Zechariah to the people of God that lived roughly 500 years before Christ was born.

So if you will think about the history of the Jewish nation,

you would remember that they were gifted by God the promised land.

And because of unfaithfulness, they were conquered.

The northern tribe was conquered by the Assyrian kingdom

and they were distributed never to be seen again as a gathering of people.

They were taken and splashed around the kingdom of the Assyrian empire.

And then in 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the southern kingdom

and deported most of the people to Babylon.

He left some, but most of them were deported to Babylon

and they were there for 70 years until the time of Cyrus, the Persian king.

So the Babylonian kingdom was destroyed by the Medo-Persian empire.

And when Cyrus was made king, he declared to the Jewish people

that they were free to go back to Israel.

And a small remnant of the nation of Israel chose to go back.

It was roughly 50,000 that made the long journey back to Israel.

And they were intending to rebuild the temple and they started to do that.

But because of the fear of the people around them, they stopped.

Until Zerubbabel was moved by God to do that, to begin to rebuild the temple.

And that is the time we find ourselves in the life of the nation of Israel.

God raised up two prophets.

One of those prophets was Zechariah.

And Zechariah is speaking to the people during that time frame

when they're small in number in Israel

and they've got all the people around them that do not want them to rebuild that nation.

They do not want them to rebuild the temple.

And so Zechariah prophesies.

The first eight chapters in the book of Zechariah is his prophecy to the people of that time.

It was meant for them in that time frame.

And then in chapter 9, there's a transition.

You see the first verse of chapter 9.

It says,

The oracle of the word of the Lord.

This is a transition that from chapter 9 to the rest of the book,

Zechariah is prophesying about the future.

He's prophesying about what will come to pass

after all of these people have passed away.

And it's real interesting, this text in chapter 9, what he's prophesying.

He's talking about in chapter 9 verses 1 through 8,

he's talking about a king.

And this king is a great conquering king and he's on conquest.

And as you study the book of Zechariah,

you will learn that he's talking about Alexander the Great.

If you were to follow the exploits of Alexander the Great

and you see the path that he took along the Mediterranean in this area,

that he came from the northeast and he came down toward Tyre.

And if you look, if you were to read this and study it,

it talks about Tyre and Zidon.

It talks about Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron.

These are cities that are along the Mediterranean.

It also talks about, in verse 8,

it talks about Alexander the Great coming to Jerusalem.

And it's a fabulous story to chase and see how God protected them from Alexander the Great.

These other cities were destroyed and yet Jerusalem was preserved.

And we see the prophecy of that truth here.

It's fascinating.

And then in verse 9, we see a change.

So you have Alexander the Great, the conquering king on conquest.

We see here a message that there's another king and another conquest.

And so we read about this king.

And if we read on through the rest of the chapter,

not only do we get to know about him in verse 9,

which is where we will spend our time here in a few minutes,

we get to know about him,

but we also get to know what he did or what he's prophesied that he will do.

This is a prophecy that was given in roughly 500 B.C.,

specifically 520 B.C. is what we believe.

And it talks about, if you look quickly at verse 10

and following the rest of the chapter,

you're going to see something very interesting about this king.

And it's God speaking,

I will cut off chariot and war horse and battle bow.

I will cut him off from my nation.

And I shall speak peace, or he shall, that is this coming king,

will speak peace to the nations.

Interesting.

That this is a king who's coming with peace.

And if you keep looking,

there's something in verse 11 about a covenant.

A covenant associated with blood.

Interesting.

Interesting.

He says,

because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will set the prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Interesting.

This king is doing something different than Alexander the Great.

This conquest is much different than what Alexander the Great did.

He destroyed.

Yet this king seems to be bringing peace.

He seems to be bringing something different,

setting prisoners free.

In verse 12, there's hope that's talked about.

He talks about in 13 that he's going to use his people

as if they were a bow and an arrow.

He talks about the Ephraim in the area of land above Jerusalem.

He talks about Judah.

So the Judah being the southern portion.

He talks about using them as a bow and arrow as a weapon.

He's using his people as a weapon.

What type of weapon is he talking about?

We want to look at that.

We see that in verse 15 that there is going to be bloodshed.

But it's different.

There's a message here that is difficult perhaps to understand.

As we read this, it's like, all right, who is this king?

Now, some of you may never have read

or at least never have studied the book of Zechariah.

And you might wonder, who is it talking about?

Though I've never studied the book, there is a ring in my ear.

I've heard this somewhere before.

Well, we've heard it because we read it this morning

in one passage in Matthew.

And I want to read it again.

And I want you to listen to who the New Testament says

this king actually is.

So we read the Old Testament prophecy

and we wonder, who is this?

And then we come to the New Testament

and it answers the question for us.

No longer do we have to wonder who that king is

out of Zechariah chapter 9

Zechariah 9 · chapter mention

because Matthew and Mark and Luke and John,

they tell us exactly who this king is.

Specifically, there's two places

verse 9 is quoted in the New Testament.

First is in Matthew.

Listen again to what was read earlier this morning.

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem

and came to Bethpage,

we all pronounce that word different.

I don't know how it's really pronounced,

but that's the way I'll say it.

To Bethpage, to the Mount of Olives.

And Jesus sent two disciples saying to them,

go into the village in front of you

and immediately you'll find a donkey tied in a colt with her.

Untie them and bring them to me.

If anyone says anything to you,

you shall say the Lord needs them

and he will send them at once.

This took place to fulfill.

I will stop there.

To fulfill what was spoken by the prophet.

Which prophet?

Zechariah.

Zechariah said there's a king coming

and Matthew just said,

here's when it happened.

This is the moment that was spoken of by Zechariah.

This is the fulfillment of the promise

that he gave about this coming king.

And notice what it says about this king.

Say to the daughter of Zion.

Zion is a term that refers to the people of God.

In essence, say to the people of God,

behold your king.

Now you know, and we've talked about this,

that the people were expecting an earthly king

to have an earthly reign and an earthly ministry.

So they would hear this in Zechariah

and they had an expectation

that there was going to be conquering.

And there was, but not in the way they thought.

Behold, your king is coming to you.

He is humble.

And he's mounted on a donkey on a colt,

the foal of a beast of burden.

That is the prophecy of Zechariah 9.

And there's no question who's being spoken of here.

Because we read right below it

and it tells us that this is talking about Jesus.

And so we look, the disciples went and did

as Jesus had directed.

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 those that followed him were shouting,

Hosanna to the son of David.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And the whole city was stirred saying,

Who is this?

And they said,

This is the prophet Jesus.

How clear could it be?

How much clearer could it be

to know that Zechariah is talking about Jesus?

Let's see what John says.

I won't read all of it.

I'll read a little bit of it.

Listen to the book of John

talking about the same event.

The next day,

the large crowd that had come to the feast

heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

So they took branches of palm trees

and went out to meet him crying,

Hosanna.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,

even the King of Israel.

Even then,

they're acknowledging that he's the King of Israel.

Well, if you were a Jew,

you would understand what that meant.

That meant that he's the Messiah.

And Jesus found a young donkey

and sat on it,

just as it was written,

Fear not, daughter of Zion.

Behold, your King is coming,

sitting on a donkey's colt.

And I could read more there about that process.

But I want you to hear this.

There is absolutely no question

who Zechariah is referring to

as we look at this Old Testament prophecy.

He says,

there's coming a day,

he doesn't tell how many years,

but there's coming a day.

We know that it was roughly 500 plus years.

And Jesus came as that King.

Well, this morning,

I want us to focus the rest of our time

on verse 9.

And there's five points

I want you to see this morning

out of verse 9.

Five points.

And the first is this.

If you'll look at verse 9.

Rejoice greatly.

Rejoice greatly.

This is a time for incredible rejoicing.

Why?

Why is it a time for rejoicing?

Because your King is coming.

And notice,

I want you to notice

that he specifically talks

about two terms

or a group of people

that would be included

by these phrases,

O daughter of Zion,

O daughter of Jerusalem.

He's saying to these people,

whoever that refers to,

he's saying to them,

this is a time for rejoicing.

Well, if we look back

at the New Testament text

and we look at the actual event

when this was fulfilled,

what do we see?

Do we see a time of rejoicing?

Amazing rejoicing.

They're shouting,

Hosanna.

They're,

they're,

hallelujah.

They're,

they're,

I mean,

they're so honoring him

that they're taking their cloaks,

their clothing,

and they're putting it on the ground

so that not even his donkey gets dirty.

So that they honor him as a king.

It's just a way to,

to,

to honor the triumphal king

as he comes into the city

and proclaim,

you are the Messiah.

We see incredible rejoicing

and that's,

there's call for rejoicing.

But remember how I said that

they were thinking one thing.

As we walk through this,

we're going to see

that what they were thinking

was not what was intended

by the passage.

We're going to see

that the conquering,

this conquering king

is conquering something

much different

than Alexander the Great conquered.

And we'll look at that

as we go along.

Rejoice greatly.

This is a time to shout

and to rejoice

and to be thankful

and to celebrate.

You know,

that would be true

back in those days

when the men went to war,

went off to war,

and they fought

and after the battle,

if they won the battle,

what would they do?

They would take the spoils

and they would take them

into the town.

And so when,

when it's all done

and all the people

that are still back at town,

when the army comes back in,

they ride in

with great procession.

And there's incredible rejoicing.

The excitement

that our men are back,

that they were not defeated,

that we weren't defeated,

that we're safe,

and all the spoils of war

that come along with it,

it is a time of,

of incredible rejoicing

and thankfulness.

And so we see that mirrored here,

this entrance,

we call it

the triumphal entrance,

right?

The triumphal entrance

of a king.

And this king,

Jesus,

has defeated.

And we will see that here

in just a second

as we talk about that.

He is coming into Jerusalem,

he's letting the world know,

he's announcing

that he is the king,

he is the long-awaited king.

You know that

the nation of Israel

has been waiting

and waiting

and waiting

and waiting.

As a seven-year-old kid,

do you remember

waiting for Christmas?

As a guy who works,

you know,

in the marketplace

and you think

December's coming,

I sure hope my bonus

is big this year.

And you wait all year,

you work hard,

looking forward to that.

Many things we wait for,

nothing like this.

For hundreds of years,

they've been waiting for this.

We would know

that

God has said,

even as far back

as Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

that I will send

a snake crusher.

that gives us a little clue

into what this king

is coming to conquer.

But the word says here,

behold,

your king is coming to you,

this long-awaited king.

We think of Genesis.

We think of what he said to David.

You remember the covenant

he made with David?

He said,

you will always have

on the throne

a king from your line.

You know who he was talking about,

right?

He was talking about Jesus.

This king is in the line of David.

This king is the one

that's from the Lord.

This is the long-promised king.

He has come.

And

where else would we see this

in Scripture?

You know,

so many places

in the Old Testament

point us forward

to what God is doing.

And what is he doing it for?

It's his redemptive plan.

This king is not coming

to fight a physical battle,

to win a physical war,

to set up a physical kingdom.

This king is coming

for a different purpose.

He's coming

as a redeemer.

He's accomplishing

the redemptive plan

of God.

And if

we look

at another

very familiar

passage to us,

we would recognize

this quickly

that it's talking

about Jesus.

We talk about this

at Christmas

a lot.

So listen to what

Isaiah says

about what God

is going to do,

who he's going to send.

Isaiah says this,

for unto us

a child is born,

to us a son

is given,

and the government,

I'll stop there,

the kingdom,

the government

shall be upon

his shoulder

and his name

will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Of the increase

of his government

and of peace

there will be no end.

You see why

they thought

it might be

a physical kingdom?

It's talking

about government.

But you remember

what Christ said

about his kingdom?

He said,

my kingdom

is not of this world.

If my kingdom

were of this world,

my servants

would fight,

but my kingdom

is not of this world.

Okay, Jesus,

what is your kingdom?

His kingdom

is a heavenly kingdom.

And in his kingdom,

all the people

that are part

of his kingdom

will be redeemed.

They will be

made right with God.

This is a spiritual conquest.

So we're looking at

the message of Zachariah

and he talks about

a physical conquest

of Alexander the Great,

but he talks about

a spiritual conquest

with this far greater

than anything

Alexander's ever accomplished.

Because the result

of this conquest

is hearts

that are yielded to God.

The results

of this conquest

is people

that are redeemed

and purchased

and given new hearts

and made right

and in relationship

with Almighty God.

They have a hope

of a city,

an eternal city.

And so we continue here,

of the increase

of his government

and of peace

there will be no end,

on the throne of David

and over his kingdom

to establish it

and uphold it

with justice

and with righteousness

from this time forth

and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord

will do this.

Do what?

Establish this kingdom.

What kingdom?

This heavenly kingdom

through his son Jesus Christ.

By what means

as a Passover lamb?

We look here

and it says,

Behold,

your king is coming

to you righteous.

Point number three.

So if you missed it,

point one,

it's a time for rejoicing.

Point two,

the long-awaited king

is coming.

Point number three

is this,

this king

is fully

and completely

righteous.

He did not come

for self.

He did not come

to make a name

for himself.

Alexander the Great

came to make

a name for himself,

to conquer in his name

and the esteem

that he would get

because of his great

accomplishments.

You know,

Christ didn't come

with that.

Christ came

in righteousness

with righteousness.

And with New Testament eyes,

we look at Christ

and we say,

he was sinless

in every way.

He never sinned.

Matter of fact,

he was born

of a virgin.

What's the big deal?

To be born

of a virgin

means that he's not

born in Adam.

That means he's not

born with original sin.

He's not born

with Adam's sin.

God placed him

in the womb

of Mary.

The hand of God

placed him

in the womb

of Mary.

He did not

come into the world

as a sinner.

He came into the world

as a son of God,

as a savior.

sinless

in every way.

And he lived

his life

honoring the Father

with everything

he said

and everything

he did.

He fulfilled

all of God's will.

All of it.

All of it.

This is a righteous king

and he came

to give

or bring

righteousness.

You know that

all

people

that he

purchases,

all people

that he forgives

and redeems,

you know that

all are considered

righteous.

The word of God

talks about

that the righteousness

of Christ

because he lived

and died

in our place

is given to us.

We give our sin

to him

and he carries it

to the cross

on a cruel death

and he gives us

his righteousness.

And like a garment

you can picture

a coat that you

would put over

your shoulders

and would totally

cover you.

We're made

fully righteous

not by what

we've done

but by what

this righteous

king has done

on our behalf.

And notice

what it says

point number

four

he comes

this king

comes

having salvation.

This king

comes

to save.

You know

the children

of Israel

thought yes

he's coming

to save us

he's going

to free us

from the oppression

of these countries

these kingdoms

that are oppressing

us

and they're

lording over us

and making us

slaves and servants

to them

and he's going

to destroy

all that

no no no

he's going

to destroy

an enemy

much much

greater than that

much much

bigger than that.

Do y'all know

who our real

enemy is?

You know

if we look

at Ephesians

Paul says this

he says

we war not

against flesh

and blood

but our true

wars against

principalities

and powers

and rulers

of the darkness

and spiritual

wickedness

in great places

there is a kingdom

a demonic kingdom

headed by Satan

who seeks

to devour

that's our enemy

and even

our in addition

to that

we have an enemy

that's called sin

we were born

as sinners

we were born

as slaves

to sin

Paul says

in Romans 6

we were slaves

to sin

because we're born

in Adam

we could not

do anything

righteous

we could not

do anything

that honored God

because of

our innate

sinfulness

the word of God

says that we were

enemies at birth

against God

but this king

comes bringing

salvation

it is the

redemptive plan

of God

right

we've talked

about what God

intended

through all

of the prophecies

and all of the

covenants

all of them

pointing to one

man

and they're

pointing to

Jesus

and what was

the intention

of God

he was intending

to write

what was destroyed

in the garden

but we've already

preached about

revelation

the end

is far greater

than even

what was in

the garden

it's this

hope

and this

dream

and this

reality

that we will

enjoy

in the heavenly

kingdom

where there will

be no sin

there will be

no tears

there will be

no crying

we'll be

face to face

in the presence

of God

we don't

I don't know

that we realize

the greatness

of that gift

that we've been

made right

with almighty

God

we will enjoy

what he brings

and this salvation

is talked about

let me just

mention a couple

of places

in the scripture

where this type

salvation

is mentioned

what is the

salvation

that Jesus

brings

is it saving

us from other

kingdoms

other people

other groups

from the Roman

empire

no no no

no

it's saving

us from sin

sin is what

separates us

from God

sin is what

caused Adam

and Eve

to be pushed

out of the

garden

and they placed

an angel

with a flaming

sword at the

entrance and

said you

cannot come

because of

your sin

you can't

be face

to face

or in

relation

with the

holy God

you can't

be

and so

our sin

is separate

us from

God

but the

word of

God

says this

it says

the wages

of sin

is death

but the

free gift

of God

in Christ

Jesus

excuse me

the free

gift of God

is eternal

life in

Christ

Jesus

the wages

of sin

is death

all of us

all of us

all of us

were born

in sin

and guess

what that

means

that means

that we

spiritually

speaking

are dead

physically

we're alive

spiritually

speaking

we're dead

until the

free gift

of God

is extended

to us

and by

faith

we see

that the

life that

Christ lived

the death

that he died

was in our

place for

us

in

Acts

the book

of Acts

it says

this

it said

this

Jesus

is the

stone

that was

rejected

by you

talking about

the leaders

of the

Jewish

nation

you

the

builders

which

has

become

the

cornerstone

and there

is

salvation

in no

other

name

excuse me

there is

salvation

in no

one

else

for

there's

no

other

name

under

heaven

given

among

men

by

which

we

must

be

saved

and

then

Romans

says

it

this

way

it

says

if you

confess

with your

mouth

that

Jesus

is

Lord

and

believe

in

your

heart

that

God

raised

him

from

the

dead

you

will

be

saved

for

with

the

heart

one

believes

and

is

justified

and

with

the

mouth

one

confesses

is

saved

for

everyone

who

calls

on

the

name

of

the

Lord

will

be

saved

you

that

was

coming

that

would

establish

a

kingdom

that's

spiritual

in

nature

and

those

who

receive

the

work

of

Christ

by

faith

will

be

a

part

of

that

kingdom

the

word

of

God

says

the

New

Testament

says

Paul

says

it

it's

by

faith

that

we

accept

these

truths

it's

by

faith

that

we

believe

what

God

has

done

is

for

us

those

who

reach

out

to

him

and

say

I

recognize

I'm

not

able

but

I

know

you

are

Lord

I

need

you

and

I

ask

you

to

forgive

me

for

my

sins

and

you

would

save

me

because

of

the

work

of

Christ

in

my

place

friends

have

you

done

that

have

you

understood

that

have

you

received

!

the

salvation

that

he's

talking

about

in

Zechariah

so

point

one

is

it's

a

time

for

rejoicing

point

two

is

there's

a

long

awaited

king

that's

been

proclaimed

that

God

was

going

to

send

point

three

is

this

king

is

righteous

in

every

way

and

worthy

worthy

to

receive

a

kingdom

and

fourth

he

is

bringing

salvation

this

redemption

that

is

salvation

in

Christ

his

spiritual

in

nation

and

number

five

the

last

point

here

is

a

conquering

king

have

you

ever

wondered

!

why

he

would

choose

to

ride

in

on

a

donkey

you

know

it's

not

the

first

time

we

see

this

in

the

scriptures

matter

of

fact

David

the

king

rode

on

a

donkey

it

was

a

royal

mount

instead

of

the

humongous

thoroughbred

or

the

huge

thick

beefy

war

horse

he

rides

in

on

this

royal

mount

this

donkey

why

would

you

ever

if

there's

any

risk

of a

kingdom

that

you're

fighting

getting

ready

to

attack

why

would

you

be

sitting

on

a

donkey

who's

slow

it's

a

beast

of

burden

it's

not

a

war

horse

if

there

was

any

war

still

raging

guess

what

you'd

be

on

the

war

horse

if

you

come

back

in

for

provisions

could

not

conquer

he

conquered

them

on

our

behalf

that

we

might

be

made

right

that

we

might

be

in

a

relationship

with

God

that

we

might

have

the

hope

of

the

heavenly

kingdom

that

we

might

see

the

father

face

to

face

one

day

praise

be

to

Jesus

let's

pray

Lord

Jesus

we

marvel

at

the

brutality

of

what

you

had

to

endure

the

wrath

of

God

against

sinners

Lord

Jesus

that

you

would

take

on

our

sins

and

you

would

carry

them

to

a

cross

and

you

would

endure

the

wrath

of

your

father

that

was

intended

for

us

because

of

our

sinfulness

Lord

Jesus

a

marvel

that

you

would

be

so

gracious

as

to

invite

me

to

be

in

your

kingdom

and

Lord

I

am

so

thankful

that

many

here

today

would

have

that

same

confession

a

confession

that

you've

changed

our

life

you've

caused

us

to

be

born

again

that

you've

brought

us

into

your

kingdom

that

you've

paid

the

ransom

price

for

our

soul

that

you've

promised

us

a

place

in

heaven

that

you've

made

us

to

be

a

part

of

the

bride

that

we

will

enjoy

the

wedding

supper

of

the

lamb

But

God

I

wonder

Is

there

anyone

here

Lord

that

doesn't

know

you

I

pray

that

you

would

speak

to

their

hearts

this

morning

and

that

Father

you

would

share

that

apart

from

the

work

of

King

Jesus

bringing

salvation

to

them

there's

no

hope

on

our

own

we

have

no

hope

it's

only

through

your

Lord

Jesus

and

so

would

you

do

a

work

in

the

heart

of

anyone

here

that

doesn't

know

you

as

Lord

and

Savior

this

morning

I

pray

would

you

show

them

the

gift

that

you

freely

offer

through

your

son

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

and

I

pray

in

your

name

amen