The entire book of Zechariah has been moving toward this revelation: the King is coming! He is known as the Branch of the line of David in Zechariah 3:8, the One who says He can remove sin. He is symbolized in Chapter 6 when the high priest Joshua wears the turban of a priest and the crown of a king in the same time, representing His dual role of both a king and a high priest. He is the Word of God who spoke with Zechariah in yesterday's passage, promising to turn the mourning of the people into dancing, assuring them He will vanquish their every enemy, and vowing that people from every nation will someday come up to worship at Jerusalem. We have been provided with some powerful declarations regarding this character up to now, and finally today He comes more fully into view.
Whenever a great king would visit a city in ancient times, he would send someone ahead of him to announce that he was on his way. This allowed the people time to prepare themselves to meet him. We find the Lord making just such an announcement now. The King is coming and the people must prepare themselves to meet him. The coming of this King is good news. The last time a king rode toward Jerusalem it was to wage war, but this King is coming to bring peace. What dread must have filled the hearts of everyone at Jerusalem when they heard that King Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon were on their way; what a difference it must be to hear that the King of their own people, of the tribe of Judah, is coming. "Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9)
The Lord says, "This is your King! This is not Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who I allowed to take you captive to a foreign land because you were serving false foreign gods. This is not Cyrus the Great of Persia, who in obedience to Me (though he did not know Me) wrote the decree that set you free. This is not Darius, a man of violence who became a king by force and not by birthright, who has guaranteed protection for you by My will while you rebuild. This is not Alexander the Great, the mighty conqueror I told you is coming to bring My judgment upon your old enemies. This is your King. This is My servant the Branch, this is the Man of the royal line of Judah who has the right to reign from David's throne. You have been ruled over and oppressed by foreign kings, but someday your King will rule over you forever in righteousness."
This King enters the city riding a donkey, the animal kings rode when they came in peace. On the day David crowned his son Solomon king of Israel, he instructed that Solomon be set on his own donkey and that a trumpet be blown before him and that his men cry out, "Long live King Solomon!" (1 Kings 1:32-36) We find the Lord Himself doing these things for His chosen King in the book of Zechariah. He places this King on a donkey and makes the joyful announcement ahead of Him, "Long live the King!" He urges the people to rejoice with Him that at last the King has come. Today's Old Testament prophecy of Zechariah was fulfilled in the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Luke, a Greek convert to Christianity who wrote the books of Luke and Acts, tells us something that happens on the Sunday before the crucifixion as Jesus goes up to Jerusalem. Jesus instructs two of His disciples, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' say, 'The Lord needs it.'" (Luke 19:30-31) Jesus refers to Himself in this passage as "the Lord" and He is orchestrating an event that is intended to proclaim Himself the king of Israel. He purposely sets up the scene from the book of Zechariah. (The colt He rides is identified as the foal of a donkey in Matthew 21:2.) Jesus intends there to be no mistake about who He is saying He is. The people at Jerusalem know the Scriptures and there will be no doubt in their minds what Jesus is saying about Himself when He comes into Jerusalem in this manner.
After obtaining the donkey, we are told that the disciples "threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When He came near the place where the road goes down to the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'" (Luke 19:35-38) Matthew describes for us what the crowds, who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, do as Jesus approaches, "The crowds that went ahead of Him and the crowds that followed shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Hosanna in the highest heaven!'" (Matthew 21:9) The gospel writers Mark and John share the same details with us in Mark 11 and John 12. The people are calling Jesus by the Messianic title of "Son of David" and are quoting Psalm 118 in reference to Jesus when they say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Matthew points out, "This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 'Say to Daughter Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" (Matthew 21:4-5) As we know, the "prophet" here is Zechariah and the passage Matthew quotes is the passage we are studying today.
The disciples clearly understand that Jesus is declaring Himself the king of Israel. The people who throw their cloaks in His path and spread palm branches in the road (Matthew 21:8) clearly understand that Jesus is saying He is the king of Israel. The Pharisees are the only ones who appear a bit confused as to whether Jesus is proclaiming Himself the king of Israel or whether the disciples and the people in the crowds are taking it upon themselves to make such a bold statement. The Pharisees can't believe Jesus is allowing the disciples to announce His approach as if He is indeed the reigning king of Israel. These religious leaders are outraged and some of them approach Jesus and say, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" (Luke 19:39) These men not only reject the idea of this rabbi and miracle-worker as their promised King, but because they are under the iron boot of Rome they fear what Rome will have to say about a Jewish man being publicly proclaimed the king of Israel. This is why these religious leaders will fervently declare their allegiance to Rome during Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate, crying out, "We have no king but Caesar!" (John 19:15)
These men want Jesus to order the crowd into silence, but instead He says, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40) What does He mean by this? He means that the prophecy of Zechariah must come true. The Lord, through Zechariah, ordered the people to rejoice at the arrival of the King. If they do not, the very stones on the ground will take up the hallelujah chorus. The Lord commanded the people to rejoice, and they were going to rejoice, and no power of man or even of hell itself could prevent them from shouting hallelujahs at the approach of the King.
The disciples and the people in the crowds are broadcasting the arrival of the King promised in the book of Zechariah. Will He be accepted at Jerusalem or not? More to the point, will He be accepted by us or not? This Jesus who displayed all the credentials of the Messiah: teaching the Scriptures with an authority no other teacher ever possessed, speaking as no other rabbi ever spoke, prophesying as no other prophet ever prophesied, who gave sight to the blind, who granted hearing to the deaf, who made lepers clean, who made the crippled walk, who made the speechless talk, who raised the dead, who Himself was raised from the dead.....is He the King of our hearts, or not?
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