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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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
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
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