A few weeks ago, when we looked at the reasons why we believe the Bible is the Word of God, we saw that one reason is the prophecies recorded in the Old Testament were actually fulfilled and historically accurate. This morning, we will be looking at one of the 300 prophecies from the Old Testament fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Our focus will not be on prophecies, and our focus will not be on the prophet, Zechariah. Yet, we need to have a little bit of background to understand what God intended us to learn from this portion of His Word, the Bible.
Some of you might know your history or your Bible and remember that King Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed in 586 BC the temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon around 960 BC. Many of the Jews were exiled during this Babylonian captivity and then were permitted to return to Jerusalem around 520 BC.
God used the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to challenge His people who returned to Jerusalem to rebuild His temple. The prophet Zechariah was an inspirational visionary who spoke words of encouragement throughout the completion of this second temple in 516 BC.
What we will look at this morning are the words of Zechariah spoken after the temple was rebuilt. God continued to speak words of hope to His people, by telling them of a coming King who would bring peace to all the nations.
God promised to remove the armies that oppressed the Jews in Jerusalem and to send His people a King of Peace. This prophecy or foretelling of the coming King of Peace is fulfilled in Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday as recorded in Matthew 21:7-9: "They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
"Hosanna (meaning ’Praise for salvation’) to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
Now, the Jewish people of Jesus’ day knew of the prophecy, God’s provision of a King in the line of David, and this King would restore peace to the Jewish people. Yet, because of their experience of oppression throughout history and at that point, by the Romans, the Jews wanted a conquering general on a white horse, not Jesus Christ, a carpenter turned teacher on a donkey.
I remember when I was in middle school, being a minority, even in San Francisco, was rather difficult. Yet, because most kids, whether Asian or not, knew about Bruce Lee, in some strange way, Bruce Lee made being Asian more acceptable at the time. To many of us in middle school, Bruce Lee was in some ways a savior who used martial arts to free the Chinese from their oppressors.
In a similar way, the Jewish minority wanted a Savior who would conquer their oppressors, a King they would follow and be proud of. Instead of receiving a King on a chariot or at least a horse, God sent a King on a donkey. This King would be righteous and having salvation in His plan rather than destruction of the oppressors. This King would be gentle, humble and peaceful, not fierce, overwhelming and militaristic. But would such a King be effective in bringing about peace in a ruthless world? Would such a King even survive the situation Himself, not to mention provide protection and peace for the Jewish people?
Many Jewish people have not accepted Jesus as the King of Peace from God. They are still waiting for a King that fits their picture of a Savior. If we’re honest, Christians are forced to ask the same questions because we live in the same world of evil and injustice that the Jews live. Is Jesus really effective in bringing peace to our fallen world -- in a world where your child’s lunch money can be taken, or even worse, your child’s life can be taken without any provocation?
Some believe peace is possible through the use of metal detectors, political power, equalizing wealth or social reform, but through Jesus Christ? After all, wasn’t Jesus crucified for His efforts? How could He prevent evil from winning in our lives and in our world when He did not prevent evil from taking His own life?
Maybe His victory is a spiritual one, in the future in heaven? But could Jesus Christ really bring peace to this world, here and now? Might the Jews be right, that the King God would provide would possess power, might and military force to bring peace to the nations and to mankind? Let’s take a look at what God has in mind for the King of Peace.
FIRST, the King of Peace that God provides is not elected and will not be deposed. (READ v. 9a) Jesus would not be a king elected by popular vote, because Jesus’ values are so opposed to popular values. Human kings look out for their own interest. Human kings come to be served, not to serve others. And maybe for these reasons, human kings get deposed.
But listen to the words of Jesus, the King of Peace: Jesus said to His disciples in Luke 22:25-30, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
What kind of King is this, that even Napoleon’s diary records, "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded great empires; but upon what did the creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions would die for Him."
Jesus Christ, Who chose death to show His victory over death, was never elected by human beings and can never be deposed by human beings. When falsely accused and arrested, Jesus kept His disciples from defending him. Jesus replied, "Do you think that I can not appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?"
In the face of life’s dangers and evils, Jesus did not look out for himself. Instead, He fulfilled the purpose for which He was born, that is to die as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of wicked humanity. His sacrifice as payment for sin made the way for people to have peace with God.
SECOND, the King of Peace that God provides is righteous and having salvation. (READ v. 9b) Most people don’t look for a righteous leader who is concerned for all. Most of us look for a leader who will bring results in our favor at any cost. Maybe we are looking for a leader who could get us out of an economic slump? Maybe we are looking for a leader who is diplomatic with the countries we are sympathetic toward. Maybe we are looking for a leader who would represent our values and execute them in our favor? After all, don’t we think we know what needs to occur to bring peace to this world or at least to our own lives?
Instead, God provides a King who is righteous and having salvation for all. This King of Peace is not nearly as concerned about economics or diplomacy as He is about God’s moral law and God’s will. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." He is not above God’s law, and yet He provides salvation to all law-breakers.
A story is told of a righteous King, Who had to deal with his kingdom, plagued with adultery. He sent out a decree, that those caught in adultery would have both eyes gouged out. To the King’s horror, his daughter was soon caught in adultery. Being a righteous King, he had one of his daughter’s eyes gouged out, and he had one of his own eyes gouged out, in order to fulfill the law.
God never changed His laws, not even for those He dearly loves. The Bible tells us, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.... (And) the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Because of our sins against God and because of His love for us, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to fulfill the law, and to pay the penalty for all lawbreaker, that we might be justified and have peace with God.
1 John 1:10-2:2 reads, "If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives.... But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." This King of Peace fulfills the law of God and provides salvation for all lawbreakers, who would receive Him as King.
THIRD, the King of Peace that God provides is gentle and humble. (READ v. 9b) Would these be qualities we look for in our king to handle the lawlessness and hurts of the world in which we live? Americans would say, "We fight fire with fire." And the Chinese have a saying, "We fight poison with poison." In a world where evil and injustice seem to get noticed and get ahead, why would we choose a gentle and humble King? Why not choose a benevolent dictator?
When Jesus was falsely accused and arrested, one of His disciples came to His defense. But Jesus responded, "Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Jesus Christ did not retaliate even when He was falsely convicted and crucified. If saving His own life required violence or disobedience to God’s will, the very things that separates us from God, then He was willing to forfeit His life.
Someone tells another story of a King, who sent His soldiers into the village to restore order and to clean up the moral and economic decay. After several weeks, because the soldiers did not return to the palace, the King went to the village Himself. He looked everywhere for his soldiers, but he could not tell his soldiers apart from the conmen, the thieves and the extortionists in the village.
The Bible tells us not to walk in the ways of the wicked, not to return evil for evil, but to love our enemies, so that the world may know we belong to Christ. Colossians 2:15 tells us "Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them by the cross (not by retaliation with power and might.)."
The King of Peace was not deposed, but he purposed to bring humanity peace with God through His own suffering and death. Could there have been another way? Would another king have succeeded as well? Would money, military strength, right intellect or information cleanse our hearts from sin and provide peace with God?
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 reads, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
"I (God) will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength."
No amount of human wisdom or human power would bring peace, because evil, sin and lawlessness are not caused by a lack of intelligence or a lack of power. Disobedience to God is the cause of evil, sin and lawlessness in our world. In the face of righteousness, undeserved salvation, gentleness and humbleness, the world can see its evil and injustice that require the payment of God’s Son on the cross in order to have peace with a Holy God. No other solution under heaven is sufficient for mankind to see the need for and to make peace with God and with one another.
If we had a choice in the King who would usher in peace to the nations, would we have chosen Jesus Christ? This Palm Sunday, we are given the opportunity to choose Him for the first time or to reaffirm our choice of Him again. Let us choose wisely.
