“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. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.” Zech.9:9-12
I love how easy Scripture is for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Any child that has spent any time in Sunday School and has been to church for any length of time can answer this simple question about this text: Who is it that fulfills Zechariah’s magnificent vision? Jesus, and we are grateful to be in His presence every day and we will rejoice with Him this Sunday…Palm Sunday.
What other king would declare His victory by riding the foal of a donkey? What other king could break the battle bow and backbone of warfare, by the brokenness of the cross. What other king could replace the dominion of darkness and the tyranny of evil, with an eternal reign of grace and peace. What other king would give his life and death for the redemption of rebels and idolaters like us. No other king can possibly make slaves of sin into prisoners of hope. On that Day we will all rejoice in the completion of the great victory.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has done this and so much more for He is “…the King of glory, Monarch of mercy, Governor of grace, Prince of Peace, King of Kings and Lord of Lords”! (Another great quote from a book by Richard Sibbes, Puritan pastor) Great is our rejoicing, because great is our salvation! He has come to us and for us…our Immanuel—righteous and victorious, loving and sovereign.
By the riches of His grace, He continues to free us from waterless pits, broken cisterns and worthless idols. By the power of the gospel, through the work of the Spirit, He enables us to live as prisoners of hope and agents of redemption, until the Day He returns making all things new.
Just a reminder: This call by the prophet is NOT just a call to Israel…it is more a call to all true believers who would be the only ones to openly know who this is who is being prophesied about. So you could easily read today, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of the Kingdom! Shout aloud, O daughters of the Church! (Just thought I would throw that in so we can understand how this cry speaks to us today!) So let us, “Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope…” Christ is the stronghold, the Refuge, the Shield of all of us prisoners of hope!
So let us come into worship ready to meet with the King and His people this Palm Sunday with the heart of a true believer that truly “sees” and “hears” Jesus.
God bless you today,
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
