Your King Comes: Merciful and Mighty, Sovereign and Saving
“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” (Zechariah
9:9–12).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ!
People caught in the despair of bondage
have at least two questions. First, does God have the power to free us? Second,
is God compassionate enough to free us? In Zechariah 9, the prophet answers
both questions with a resounding yes! At the beginning (vv. 1-8) and end (vv. 10-17)
of the chapter, Yahweh comes in power. In the middle, He sends a humble King
full of compassion (v. 9).
A god who is powerful but not loving
would have little concern for us. A god who is loving but not powerful would
not have the ability to help us. Yahweh is both merciful and mighty, sovereign
and saving!
Zechariah directs us toward the coming
King and His Kingdom of peace (Zechariah 9:9-10). This coming King is
“righteous and having salvation,” “humble and mounted on a donkey” (Zechariah
9:9). To call the King “righteous,” an attribute of Yahweh
Himself, implies that He rules on Yahweh’s behalf; He is upright, fair, and
shows integrity in all things. “Righteous” kings were hard to come by in Israel’s
history—a fact often pointed out by prophets (e.g., Jeremiah 21:11-12; Amos
5:7, 24). All nineteen kings of northern Israel were apostates. In the South,
twelve out of twenty were evil. The Old Testament mentions two pre-Israelite
kings in Jerusalem whose names derive from the Hebrew root, Zedek, “be
righteous”: Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20) and Adonizedek (Joshua
10:1-28).
What makes this King unique is that He is righteous
and saved by Yahweh, and His victory comes through being “afflicted” or “humble.”
This humility is emphasized by the King’s choice of mount. In Zechariah, horses
denote authority and power (1:8; 6:2, 3, 6). Contrast this with this King who
rides a donkey. He is passive, refusing to engage in military action. Because
Yahweh will cut off chariots and horses, along with the war bow (Zechariah
9:10), the coming King does not need armor or weapons. What God told another of
David’s descendants, Zerubbabel, applies here— “not with might and not with
power, but rather with My Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6).
By not associating this King with horses, Zechariah
invites us to embrace a Ruler who will not exploit or oppress those who live
under His reign. Contrast this with the pride of Egyptian pharaohs (e.g.,
Exodus 5:2; 15:9); Assyrian kings (e.g., Isaiah 10:8-11; 36:4-10), and those of
Tyre (Ezekiel 28:11-19), as well as Israel’s first king, Saul, who was the
tallest and most handsome man in Israel (1 Samuel 9:2). Zechariah’s King became
poor so that through His poverty, He might make us rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)—beyond
our wildest imagination (Ephesians 3:20). “He had no form or majesty that we
should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him (Isaiah 52:2). A
King like this is worth shouting about!
The enthronement ceremony for an Israelite king
provides an important context for Zechariah 9:9. Although Solomon’s (1 Kings
1:32-48) and Joash’s (2 Kings 11:12-20) coronations took place a hundred and
fifty years apart, they are remarkably similar. People were gathered by blowing
trumpets (1 Kings 1:34, 39; 2 Kings 11:14). Presumably, a herald announced the
new king’s accession. Crowds then responded with shouts of acclamation: “May
the king live” (1 Samuel 10:24; 2 Kings 11:12) or “May He reign” (cf. 2 Samuel
15:10; 2 Kings 9:13). Other expressions of joy are also evident (1 Kings 1:40;
2 Kings 11:14).
In 1 Kings 1:38-40, Solomon, the son of David, rides a
donkey on the way to be crowned king. Jesus, the Son of David, rides
into Jerusalem in the same way, descending into the Kidron Valley and toward
the Gihon Spring. No wonder the crowds cry out: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” on
Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:9; cf. Mark 11:10). Christ is riding in victory on His
way to be crowned King.
Yet His crown will be made of thorns. His throne will
be a wooden instrument of execution. This King comes to Zion, but His people do
not receive Him (Matthew 21:12-15; cf. John 1:11). They do not recognize the
day of their visitation (Luke 19:44), thus they reject their King and His peace
(Luke 19:39-42). He hangs beneath a sign indicating why He was executed: “This
is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37). Pilate no doubt intends this
sign to be political mockery, but it is theologically true. The Jews who
looked for a king with pomp and power miss seeing that God works through the
humble and gentle Jesus.
The coming King’s reign is in keeping with Moses’
instructions regarding the vanity of trusting in horses and chariots
(Deuteronomy 17:16; 20:1-4). Meyers and Meyers observe: “Just as the king is
‘humble,’ yet still a royal figure, so too will He rule without activating the
military aspects of political power that had long signified the ability of any
monarch to achieve and sustain sovereignty. Victory comes, not by a superior
military arsenal and strategy, but by Yahweh’s action on behalf of His people
(Zechariah 4:6).
After His victory over horses and chariots, Yahweh
announces the characteristic of the new order: “peace” (Zechariah 9:10;
cf. Isaiah 2:4 ǁ Micah 4:3). The King “will speak peace to the nations”
(Zechariah 9:10). The angels sang about this “peace” when Christ was born (Luke
2:14), and “peace” is what Jesus gave His disciples just before He died and
rose (John 14:27). The Savior’s shed blood makes “peace” (Colossians 1:20) so
that the baptized have “peace with God” (Romans 5:1) as well as “the peace of
God” (Philippians 4:7). God delivers peace in concrete ways in specific
places: in Absolution (John 20:19-23); in the Gospel proclaimed (Acts 10:36;
Ephesians 6:15); in Holy Baptism (Titus 3:4-7); and in the Lord’s Supper (e.g.,
Matthew 26:26-29). Here is where God begins to put broken people back together
again. Christ brings peace that extends to the ends of the earth, and to the
end of the age—even forevermore!
Why is that? “Christ is risen!” Not risen from sleep.
Not risen from confusion. Not risen from stupor or slumber. Not just risen in
the hearts and minds of His followers. No. Christ is risen from the dead—physically,
bodily, and most certainly! Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, when we
die, we go to our eternal home (Ecclesiastes 12:5). We return to God
(Ecclesiastes 12:7), awaiting Christ’s return, when our soul will be reunited
with our risen, glorified, perfect body. Our best years have not passed.
Our biggest moments are not finished. Death is the first chapter of a
story that has no end. No end. Imagine that!
God commands Jerusalem to rejoice and shout for joy
(Zechariah 9:9)—the King comes to speak peace (Zechariah 9:10) through “the
blood of My covenant with you” (Zechariah 9:11).
Taking their cue from Zechariah, all four Gospel
writers connect Palm Sunday with Christ’s passion and death (Matthew 20:17-19;
Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-33; John 12:1-8). All four records of the Words of
Institution include Jesus’ statement “this is My blood of the covenant which is
poured out for many” (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24) or “this … is the new covenant
in My blood” (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). Exodus 24:8 is the only other
place in the Old Testament where “blood” and “covenant” occur together. Moses
describes the ratification of God’s promises at Sinai: “behold, the blood of
covenant that the Lord has made with you.”
Because of our sin, and the sin of others, we know
what it is like to be prisoners in a waterless pit. Yet, because of the Lamb’s
covenant blood, which we drink in the Sacrament of the Altar, we have a new
address. What would that be? “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness
and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
Forgiveness of sins means we get a clean slate, a new
start, a fresh beginning. We do not have to live in the past, rehash the past,
or be bound to the past. Jesus sets us free by His blood (Revelation 1:5). We
need nothing else. Not more effort. Not more work. Not more sweat and blood.
The sweat and blood have already been poured out, by Jesus, on the cross, for
us. Jesus loves us. Forgives us. Heals us. Empowers us. Jesus gives lasting
freedom. How can we be so sure? The tomb is empty. Christ is alive. There were
eyewitnesses. There is a written record. “If the Son sets you free, you will be
free indeed” (John 8:36).
Verse 12 begins with a command for the exiles to
“return” to the stronghold of Zion (cf. 2:6-7) with the promise that Yahweh
will “restore” them twofold. This, along with numerous Gospel promises in
Zechariah 9:9-17, is why the people are not prisoners of despair. Instead, the
exiles are “prisoners of hope.” Jeremiah likewise connects God’s promises with
“hope.” “‘Hope’ here … conveys more than a vague belief that the future will
somehow be better.”[i]
Biblical hope trusts that tomorrow will be better than today because God’s
promises are grounded in covenant blood (Zechariah 9:11). The day will come
when the exiles will also be freed from anguish and gloom.
Zechariah uses the noun “prisoners” in both 9:11 and
9:12. The title fits the Jews who confronted our Lord as well. They were in the
worst prison of all—the one called denial. “We are Abraham’s descendants and
have never been slaves of anyone,” they claimed (John 8:33).
Oh, really? Never? Not when they were in Egypt before
Moses led them out? Not when the Philistines invaded their land and regulated
even the way axes and sickles were sharpened? Not when the Assyrians carried
off captives from the Northern Kingdom? Not when the Babylonians did the same
to those in Judah? Not when Antiochus Epiphanies desecrated the temple with an
image of Zeus? Not when Pompeii and his legions marched into Jerusalem to claim
it for Rome?
None of us can say: “I have never been a slave of
anyone.” Jesus hammers home this hard reality when He says: “I tell you the
truth. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). All people are
conceived, born, and trapped in sin (Psalm 51:3-5). Locked in habits we cannot
beat and bound in bondage we cannot break. The devil wants to lock us up and
throw away the key. The liar keeps whispering: “There’s no way out. Do
something drastic. Cut and run. Admit defeat. Give in, give out, and give up!”
Luther knew this voice. He writes this in his great Reformation
hymn: “The old evil foe now means deadly woe; deep guile and great might are
his dread arms in fight; on earth is not his equal.”[ii]
When we believe Satan’s lies, we find ourselves going deeper and farther and
longer, until we are bound, tied, and shackled. We are slaves to sin and Satan.
Our striving and planning don’t get us out. Our best
efforts and ingenuity are no help. Only the truth sets us free (John 8:32). To
Nicodemus, caged in the hopeless laws of Rabbinic Judaism, Christ said: “For
God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through Him” (John 3:17). To the woman at Jacob’s well, bound to one
broken relationship after another, He said, “The water I give will become a
spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).
Freedom has a price. On the night before His death,
Jesus was bound and taken to Caiaphas, the high priest. He was slapped, spit
upon, blindfolded, struck in the face with fists, and beaten by guards. The
next morning, He was taken to Pilate, who passed Him off to Herod. Herod
dressed Him in a purple robe. Back before Pilate, soldiers stripped and
scourged Him—just short of death. Struck and spit upon again, He walked the Via
Dolorosa. Finally, Jesus was stretched out on two pieces of wood, and three
iron spikes were hammered into His flesh.
His friends ran away. His meager possessions were
gambled away. His strength was ebbing away. Even His Father turned away. At the
end, all He had left was one Greek word, tetelestai,
“it is finished” (John 19:30). But with this single word, our bondage was
broken. The sacrifice was complete. Death defeated. Paradise restored. Christ’s
resurrection means we are liberated from the liar and our prison doors are opened
wide.
This same liberating power sets us free from the
condemnation of our sin, from the pain of our past, and from worry about our
future. No one can take this freedom from us; no law can stop it, and no power
on earth or hell can destroy it. And there is more freedom to come. As we walk
with Jesus and grow in faith, His liberating power unlocks more and more prison
doors. Finally, every believer will experience ultimate freedom in the
resurrection of the dead and in the life of the world to come. On that day, God
will restore us twofold—and then some!
Go in the peace of the Lord and serve your neighbor
with joy. For the sake of the mighty and merciful, sovereign and saving Lord
Jesus Christ, you are truly free. You are forgiven for all your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i] Meyers, Carol L,’ and Eric M. Meyers, Zechariah
9-14: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible 25C.
New York: Doubleday, 1993. 143.
[ii] Luther, Martin. “A Mighty Fortress Is
Our God,” stanza 1 (LSB 656).
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