Zechariah 9:9-10 * April 1, 2007 * Palm Sunday * Pastor Leyrer
Dear
Friends in Christ,
If
you grew up going to Sunday school or learning Bible stories in the home, you
are familiar with the names Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These were the three men who were thrown into
a fiery furnace because they refused to give King Nebuchadnezzar the kind of
honor they reserved only for God.
These
men had a contemporary by the name of Daniel.
You may remember his story as well.
He was thrown into a den of lions the king kept on reserve for those who,
for one reason or another, got on his bad side.
Daniel found himself there for the same reason Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego got themselves in trouble: he
refused to give his king the honor he reserved only for God.
Both
of these events took place in that period of time before the birth of Christ we
call the Old Testament. We call them
Bible “stories,” but they were real events.
In
the New Testament Book of Acts we learn of Christian men and women being
imprisoned and persecuted and driven from their homes. Why?
Because when the authorities of the day insisted they either deny their
relationship to Jesus Christ or suffer the consequences, they chose to suffer
the consequences.
It
didn’t end there. Persecution of
Christians continued for centuries. Early
believers were considered to be subversive and “enemies of the state” because
they would not recognize the Roman emperor as their heavenly king. Often they paid for this with their
lives. Those stories of early Christians
being thrown to wild animals in Roman arenas as a grisly form of spectator
sport really happened. There was always
a way out – a simple verbal denial of Christ was usually sufficient – but for
many this was not an option.
And
it’s still not over. In many places persecution
continues to this very day. Make a
search on the internet and you will find organizations and sites dedicated to
chronicling modern day persecution. If
you don’t want to do that, talk with our own Pastor Yu about those in
The
question that begs to be asked is, why?
What prompts such loyalty, such allegiance? The answer is simple. Christians have a king. And when a choice had – or has – to be made between
Him and any earthly authority that sets itself up in opposition to Him,
Christians choose Him. Because ours is
no ordinary king. For us, Jesus Christ
is
THE ONLY TRUE
KING
Today,
on this Palm Sunday, we’d like to talk about this king. Specifically
1.
His character, and
2.
His achievements
First, a word or two on the historical background of our text. God’s instrument for delivering this message
to His Old Testament people was the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah’s work spanned a long period of
time, but if we’re looking for a date we can place him around the year 500 BC.
It
was a time when some of God’s people had just recently returned from a 70-year
captivity in the land of Babylon. They
were busy reestablishing themselves in their homeland of Israel. They were also enjoying a certain measure of
freedom. But the fact of the matter was
that from this time on their freedom would never really last for more than just
relatively short periods of time.
Consequently, the comforting words of our text do not have a political
meaning, but a great spiritual meaning.
Through
these words of Zechariah God is telling His people to look forward and find
strength in what was to come. No matter what the external circumstances of
God’s people may be, they will never be overrun spiritually, because they have
a powerful leader. When this leader
comes he will make all things right.
He’ll bring peace to the hearts of those who know him and eventually, at
the conclusion of all things, that peace will extend throughout eternity. This is reason for God’s people to rejoice.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and
having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a
donkey.” Zechariah
calls him a king. We know Him to be
Jesus Christ. And today, in direct
fulfillment of this Old Testament prophecy, He rides into Jerusalem. Notice how He is described.
First of all, He is a righteous
king.
What do you think of when you hear the word “righteous” attached to an
individual? Probably someone who does no
wrong; one who is just and fair and without a hint of corruption. But for humans, this is always a general
statement, because even the most “righteous” among us is still a sinner.
When it comes to Jesus,
however, this is not a general statement.
It’s a simple statement of
fact. Jesus is perfectly righteous. The
writer to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus was like us in every way but with one
exception: He never sinned. Living out this sinless righteousness is part
of what He came to do as our substitute.
This is the way it
works. God asks us to be sinless and
righteous. It’s the covenant of our
creation. But we can’t do it. We sin.
So God, in a profound act of love far beyond our understanding, sent His
Son to do in our place what we cannot do:
be perfectly righteous.
Theologians sometimes refer to this as the “active obedience of Christ.”
God also said that the
soul that sins is the soul that shall die.
Again, that’s us. So after living perfectly as our substitute,
Jesus then died as our substitute. We
refer to this as the “passive obedience of Christ.” That’s why He’s riding into Jerusalem
today. By week’s end He’s going to be on
a cross. But no one took Jesus’ life. He gave
it.
Zechariah clues us in on
what this righteous life and death translate into when he tells us our King
comes to us “having salvation.” Providing
salvation is what Jesus Christ is all about. Salvation means we have been rescued from
the damning consequences of our sin. It
means we are in a right relationship with God.
It means that the wall of our own sinfulness that once barred our
entrance into heaven has been dismantled.
No earthly king or
authority could do this for us. Only
Jesus. Christ our King may not have
conquered any foreign nations. He may
not have ushered in the golden age of the Jewish nation as many in His day
mistakenly hoped He would. And He may
not have left behind any self-aggrandized memorials or monuments like earthly
kings often do. What He did makes all
those things insignificant in comparison.
Because He took on stronger enemies like death and the devil and He
conquered them with His sinless life and death.
And that is why He is
truly the King above all kings.
Yet, look how He came to
us. Zechariah continues the
prophecy: He comes “gentle and
riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” In many ways
the world back then was the same as it is today. People of power and influence show it by
their trappings and their entourage.
Since the time of great
King David and his wise son Solomon, horses were the animals of royalty and
military power. Donkeys were the pick-up
trucks of the time. Dependable, reliable
and good for hauling; but not exactly the image a political handler would
choose for conveying royalty.
But here comes
Jesus. And if this isn’t enough, we
learn from the gospels that the donkey was borrowed. Such is the humility, the low station our
King willingly accepted to carry out our redemption. That, of course, is the great paradox of our
King…
…Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God did not
consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.”
Zechariah’s prophecy
continues with an explanation of what this King above all kings would
achieve. “I (God) will take away
the chariots from Ephraim and the war horses from Jerusalem and the battle bow
will be broken. He will proclaim peace
to the nations. His rule will extend
from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Christ came
to proclaim and provide peace. What kind
of peace? Earthly peace, as in no more
fighting? If that’s the case, Christ has
failed miserably. At any given time and in
any given place there is a war going on or about to go on.
The peace that Christ
provides is better than that. The night
before His enemies nailed Him to the cross Jesus said to His disciples and
followers of all time: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give
you. I do not give you as the world
gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled and do not be afraid.” The kind of peace our Lord gives us is the inner
peace and tranquility of knowing that our sins are forgiven and that we are
loved, forgiven and cared for by God.
And this peace is within our hearts no matter what the outside
circumstances may be. No health problem,
financial setback or personal tragedy can dislodge it.
In a commentary he wrote
on the Psalms the great Church Father Augustine personalizes the peace Christ
brings to us and puts it in comparison terms that we can understand:
Peace shall be your gold. Peace shall be your silver. Peace shall be your God. Peace shall be to you whatever you most
desire. On the earth, gold cannot be
silver, wine cannot be bread, and the rage of the sun cannot quench
thirst. But the peace of God can be all
things for you. He is the eternal bread
that satisfies your hunger forever. He
is the eternal wine that quenches your thirst forever. He is your light, so you shall never be
plunged in darkness. He shall hold you
up, so you shall never fall. He shall
possess you whole and entire. And in him
everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you. In him there is fullness of life.
Such fullness of life is
passed on to all who are in Christ. A
bumper sticker we’ve probably all seen hits the nail on the head: No
Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.
Not peace from all trouble and
hardship, but peace in the midst of our trouble and hardship. The peace of God, says the Apostle Paul,
which “transcends all
understanding.”
That it
is the kind of peace provided to us and for us by the King above all kings…
Who comes riding into the
city of Jerusalem today approximately 19.5 centuries ago. He may not fit the world’s prototype of a
king, but we know that never has a more important or powerful king walked the
earth. He rides into town today to carry
out the work of saving us from our sins and giving us eternal life. Five days from now this work will come to a
painful climax as our Savior is nailed hand and foot to the cross.
All of which brings us
peace of heart and peace of mind.
What do we do with such a
king? At the beginning of this sermon we
noted the powerful allegiance He instilled and continues to instill in people
like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel and all their historical and modern
day spiritual counterparts. Can He have
any less effect on us today?
So what do we do with Jesus? It’s really quite simple. Furthermore, it’s nothing that has to be
forced, coerced, or demanded against out will.
This is what we do with Jesus. We
love him. We honor him. We are loyal to him. We obey him.
Above all, we live for him.
Because He is the King above all kings.
Soon the divine drama
resulting in our salvation will play itself out before us once again. God grant us a blessed Holy Week. Amen.