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"Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9,CSB).
God gave Zechariah foresight to see the coming day of the long-expected King. How would he come? He would come in righteousness. He would come victoriously. He would come humbly. Jesus fulfilled these events on what we call Palm Sunday (see Matthew 21:4, 5 and John 12:12-16).
And yet—Zechariah has more to say about the coming of the King:
"Sword, awake
against my shepherd,
my associate —
this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.
Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones."
(Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:31)
The coming King would be sold for the price of a slave:
"Then I said to them, "If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them."
So they weighed my wages, thirty pieces of silver" (Zechariah 11:12; Matthew 27:3-10).
The coming King would be abused and mistreated:
"If someone asks him: What are these wounds on your chest? — then he will answer:
I received these wounds in the house of my friends" (Zechariah 13:6).
The coming King would be crucified:
"Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn" (Zechariah 12:10).
The city of peace would reject the Prince of Peace.
A person might be excused for thinking Christmas is much more than fun and games, gifts and treats. Christmas is serious business. Christmas is the invasion of God into enemy-occupied territory. Christmas began a battle Jesus was destined to lose, and in losing, gaining all things for all time.
Winner take all.
Having won the war on the cross and at the resurrection, the mop-up work began in earnest and continues today. It will continue until that Day when Jesus gathers all who belong to him at the renewal of all things.
The Prince of Peace will remove everything that prevents peace.
As we saw in Isaiah 9:6,
"He will be named Wonderful Counselor." He will bear wisdom without limit.
"He will be named . . . Mighty God." He will have the power necessary to turn wisdom into executable action.
"He will be named . . . Eternal Father." He will be the source of every good and perfect gift.
"He will be named . . . Prince of Peace." His object is not subjection, but release into the glorious freedom of a deep and abiding relationship created and sustained by his perfect love.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and Zechariah were given eyes to see and pens to record something wonderful, something good. God himself would come to his people and draw all individuals from every people group to himself. Evil would do its damnedest. Jesus would damn death and throw open the gates of heaven for all who would enter through the justification of his victorious death and resurrection.
God wins. Peace reigns. Joy endures forever.
The best is yet to be. And to think the Great Renewal began with a baby in a manger.
Our Father, so many hymns and songs of Christmas have been penned and sung. A new song a day could never express the glory of that day and the Day it foretells. We will sing the best we have until we sing the best ever composed that awaits its debut on that Day to end all days. Amen.
 | David Bowman, (DMin, PCC) is the Executive Director of Tarrant Baptist Association in Fort Worth, Texas. He also serves as a Multiplying Trainer for Future Church Co. Learn More » |
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