Christ's Humble Ride and Righteous Reign (Zechariah 9:9-10)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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

Zechariah 9:9

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

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

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.