TEXT:
"[9] 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.
[10] 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."
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Spend a few minutes discussing the shock value that would come from their king coming “humble and mounted on a donkey.” Why is that significant for understanding what he came to accomplish?
In verse 10, we see their king cutting off their weapons, not the weapons of their enemies. What does that teach us about God’s kingdom?
In verse 10, we see that God’s kingdom will stretch “to the ends of the earth,” despite the fact that their weapons have been cut off. What does this teach us about how God’s kingdom will grow?
SERMON MANUSCRIPT:
Aladdin is a cinematic masterpiece. From the overarching storyline to each individual song, this is an all-time great movie. Unfortunately, though, my family disagrees. Therefore, we never watch it.
But there's a scene in this movie that I want us to revisit for a moment. In Aladdin, there's a city named Agrabah without a prince. The Sultan (the ruler of Agrabah) is getting up and years, and he's determined to find a husband for his daughter to marry so that she and the city might be well taken care of when he passes. As the movie progresses, the tension over who will be the next prince rises. Well, halfway through the film, Prince Ali marches into Agrabah. It's a beautiful scene of the entire city rejoicing in hope, wondering if Aladdin could be the long-anticipated prince who would lead their city in the future.
Church, this scene in Aladdin mirrors quite well our passage today in Zechariah. In our passage today, God promises his fragile people a stable future. He promises a people without a king that they will soon have a king. Like the people of Agrabah, they can celebrate and rejoice because their king is coming to rule and bring peace throughout the world.
Let's go ahead and dive in.
"[9] 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.
[10] 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 first thing we see is a call for God's people to "rejoice" and "shout aloud!" This tells us that this is a hopeful message, not a sorrowful message. Here we find an invitation to celebrate with joy and gladness because their king is coming. They are not forsaken, nor are they abandoned. Their king is on his way. Therefore, they can shout and rejoice in hope because their kingdom will be restored.
Now, let's take a moment to look at the character of this coming king.
RIGHTEOUS IS HE
First, he will be righteous. He will be just. He will live rightly. Wickedness will be far from him, and his conduct and character will be correct in the sight of God. He will perfectly walk in obedience to God.
HAVING SALVATION IS HE
Second, he will possess salvation. Often in the Bible, we find righteousness and salvation paired together (Isaiah 45:8; 46;13; 51:4-5). When righteousness is brought near, so too is salvation. When salvation is brought near, so too is righteousness. They're two sides to the same coin. Salvation resides only in the hands of the one who is righteous. The Righteous One is the only one who possesses the ability to save. This is the beautiful reality of the gospel: those who have been saved by the hands of the Righteous One have been declared righteous because they are now found in the Righteous One.
Now, there's some discrepancy regarding what the language here in Zechariah means. Several commentaries I read interpret these words passively instead of actively, meaning the king here will be the recipient of salvation from the LORD, not the extender. He will be divinely protected, delivered, and saved by God.
There's truth here. But, interpreting these verses solely in a passive sense falls short, in my opinion, of what this passage is communicating.
Yes, God will divinely protect, bless, deliver, and save the righteous king. But the righteous king is also coming to save his people. The one divinely blessed and protected by the LORD will save his people. The righteous one will come to usher in salvation for his people, and in him alone will salvation be found.
HUMBLE IS HE
Third, the righteous king who has come to save his people will be humble and mounted on a donkey. The term "humble" is a distinct term of lowliness. It's a term used to describe the poor and needy of society. So, their long-anticipated king, who will usher in salvation, will come in humble lowliness. He will not come to be served. He will come to serve. Humble and riding on a donkey is he.
Now, donkeys aren't anti-kingly. There are multiple examples throughout the Old Testament of kings possessing and riding on donkeys. So, the shock value of this statement isn't that donkeys are anti-kingly; the shock value is that donkeys are anti-warly (I know that I'm making up words here, but bear with me).
During this time, horses would have symbolized war and power (Isaiah 31:1-3; 1 Kings 4:26). Unlike donkeys, horses are big, fast, strong, and powerful. But this king who will save his people won't come mounted on a horse; he will come mounted on a donkey. This would be like the army trading in their Hummers for Prius'. No matter how good the gas mileage is, no sergeant will load up their platoon in a Prius and take them into battle. Similarly, one would expect a king coming to save his people to come mounted on a horse, not a donkey. Yet, this king will come in gentle lowliness, not boastful oppression.
BRINGING PEACE IS HE
Next, this humble king 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..." Ephraim was a northern tribe of Israel, and Jerusalem was the capital of Judah. So, this is in-house language. God isn't cutting off the chariots and war horses of their neighboring kingdoms; he is cutting off the chariots and war horses of his kingdom.
God's kingdom will be a peaceful kingdom. The character of the king will impact the character of his people. A peaceful king leads to a peaceful people; a humble king leads to humble people; a gentle king leads to gentle people. God's people will not be a people of war and conflict; they will be a gentle and lowly people of peace.
KING OF THE WORLD IS HE
And his kingdom will stretch farther than it ever has— "his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth." He will be the king of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Now, every king and ruler throughout history advanced their kingdom through the power of the sword. But not God's kingdom. God's kingdom will not be ushered in by the power of horses and chariots but by the gentle power of a donkey. God's kingdom will increase not by the sword's power but by the power of gentle and loving humility.
HE IS JESUS
Let's spend the remaining time today connecting some dots and drawing some application. Turn in your Bibles over to John 12. In John 12, we find a story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. This is a story that every gospel writer makes a point to record because it communicates that Jesus is the promised king who came to bring peace and salvation to his people.
Let's read it.
"[12] The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. [13] So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" [14] And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
[15] "Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey's colt!"
[16] His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. [17] The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. [18] The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. [19] So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him."
So, rumors are spreading like wildfire about Jesus being the Messiah. Everyone has seen and heard of what Jesus did in raising Lazarus from the dead. So, once this crowd found out that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem (on a donkey), they went out and cried, "Hosanna (save us)," while waving palm branches (an action done for a king) while declaring him as king. And John says he didn't understand the magnitude of what was happening at this point until Jesus died and was resurrected.
The gospel writers want us to realize that Jesus is the long-anticipated king spoken of in Zechariah. Jesus is the righteous one who knew no sin while walking in perfect obedience to the Father. Jesus is the humble one who came not to be served but to serve. Jesus is the one who selflessly came to save his people through his death on the cross. Jesus is the King who came to bring peace.
The king who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey during Passover was coming to be the Passover lamb, the perfect once for all sacrifice for sin. The way he was going to usher in peace would be through his death on the cross. As Paul says in Romans 5:1, "Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
So, Jesus' death is where our hope for salvation resides today. He is our peace. Jesus is our only hope for peace with God and our only hope for peace with one another. The former hostility between God's people and the nations was dealt with viciously on the cross, making us one. Jesus is the promised King who humbly came to bring peace and salvation to his people and the nations.
JESUS IS WORTHY OF SUBMISSION
If you have placed your faith in Jesus, then you are saved. In him, you are righteous. In him, you have peace with God. But what does that practically mean for us in our day-to-day lives today?
First, if Jesus is king, he's worthy of our submission. If we agree with the Scriptures, concluding that Jesus is King, the only proper response is to submit to the King. We bow before our king, saying, "Whatever you desire of me, I will joyfully do. Here is my life, Lord."
JESUS IS WORTHY OF IMITATION
Not only do we submit, but we also imitate. The other night I took our dog to go to the bathroom. As I did so, my youngest son came with me. I'm standing at the edge of our porch, holding my son's hand. Unknowingly, I spit in the grass (bad habit, I know). Not even two seconds later, I watched my son lean over and spit in the grass too. I chuckled and smiled at my son's cuteness in imitating his father's actions. But I was also reminded that this is the way of God's kingdom. If Jesus is King, then he's worthy of imitating. How he serves, we serve. How he loves, we love. How he walks, we walk. The character of the King impacts the character of his people.
The Kingdom of God is not a place where you get to seek selfish gain. Instead, it is a place where we humbly serve one another, laying down our lives for the well-being of others. If you belong to God's kingdom through faith in Jesus, then you are called and expected to be a person of peace. Your chariot and war horse has been cut off, and you're expected to live peaceably with all. As a Christian, you no longer get to consume yourself with questions or concerns about how you can be served. Instead, you get to dwell on how you can serve others.
So, as you engage the lost with the gospel, you do so humbly. When someone combats your faith with hostility (and acts like another word for a donkey), it's easy to want to declare war against that individual to win an argument. But, put to death your pride and ride the truth into that conversation on a donkey. The kingdom of God will advance not by the power of the sword but by the gentle and loving proclamation of the gospel.
As you live with one another in the church, do so humbly, gently, and peacefully. The constant calls in scripture to "be patient with one another" and "love one another" tells us that others will wrong us in the church. Therefore, may we be humble peace bearers within the church.
Serve your family humbly. As a husband, wife, child, father, or mother, you are called to humbly and selflessly place the wants and desires of one another above your own.
We should strive for every aspect of our lives to reflect the character of our king. Every aspect of our lives as Christians should reflect the peace and humility demonstrated here in this passage. May every aspect of our lives reflect the humble service that Christ has displayed to us in laying his life down for us.
The way of the Kingdom of God is one of imitating Christ. So, if I were to go and interview everyone in your life (boss, family members, coworkers, friends, kids, etc.), would they say this is true of you?