THE KING IS COMING
ZECHARIAH 9:9-10
INTRODUCTION: When Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on the Sunday prior to His crucifixion He was fulfilling the words of the prophet Zechariah. The passage actually announces two comings of the King – the first on Palm Sunday, the second yet in the future but drawing nigh. This morning I want us to consider the King Who came and the King Who is coming.
I. The King Who Came – Verse 9
A. He is Just
1. Correct, lawful, righteous
2. Correct in His cause
a. Holiness, absolute justice and the upholding and honoring of His law is a fundamental attribute of God.
b. Man dishonored God’s law and incurred His displeasure and condemnation. God rightly or justly exacts the penalty (death – eternal separation from God) for breaking His law. God cannot act capriciously, freeing sinners from guilt and condemnation without the penalty being exacted. This would deny His intrinsic and inherent holiness. God must punish sin.
c. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”
d. At the same time that God is Holy, He is gracious and loving, as 2 Peter 3 declares that He is not desirous that any should perish. It was determined in the wisdom of the Godhead that Christ would become the vicarious sacrifice for man.
e. Luke 22:22 “…truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined.”
f. Acts 2:22-24 MKJV “Men, Israelites, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by powerful works, and wonders and miracles, which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, this One given to you by the before-determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by lawless hands, crucifying Him, you put Him to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”
g. Psalm 85:10 “Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed.”
3. Lawful in His conduct
a. In order to be a fitting substitute to bear man’s penalty, the substitute would have to be sinless or He would merely bear His own penalty.
b. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
c. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
d. This is a mystery, that Christ can be the obedient, glorious love of God and the full measure of our disobedience, both at once. - Walter Wangerin, Jr., in Reliving the Passion. Christianity Today
4. Righteous in His being acceptable and vindicated by God
a. Acts 2:22 “…a man approved of God…”
b. Isaiah 42:1 MKJV Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; My Elect, in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit on Him; He shall bring out judgment to the nations.
B. He brings Salvation
1. Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
2. John 18:37 “Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are you a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
3. A.B. Simpson is reported to have said that the gospel “tells rebellious men that God is reconciled, that justice is satisfied, that sin has been atoned for, that the judgment of the guilty may be revoked, the condemnation of the sinner cancelled, the curse of the Law blotted out, the gates of hell closed, the portals of heaven opened wide, the power of sin subdued, the guilty conscience healed, the broken heart comforted, the sorrow and misery of the Fall undone.”
4. Acts 4:12 “...there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
5. “The life of Christianity consists of possessive pronouns.” Says Martin Luther. It is one thing to say, “Christ is a Savior”, it is quite another thing to say, “He is my Savior and my Lord.” The devil can say the first; the true Christian alone can say the second. – Resource, July/August, 1990
C. He is Lowly
1. Poor, afflicted, humble
2. Philippians 2:5-8 MKJV “For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
3. “made Himself no reputation” – literally – to pour something out until there is nothing left.
4. Christ’s humility sprang from His love for His Father and appreciation for His Father’s love.”
5. 2 Corinthians 8:9 MKJV “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, for your sakes He became poor, in order that you might be made rich through His poverty.”
II. The King Who is Coming – Verse 10
A. He comes in Power
1. When Jesus Christ returns He will not return as in His first advent, meek and lowly but He will return as the victorious King who has conquered death and sin, and now comes to reclaim the world He created from the hands of Satan. He no longer rides on a donkey but comes on a white stallion!
2. Revelation 19:11-16 MKJV “And I saw Heaven opened. And behold a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war. And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns. And He had a name written, one that no one knew except Himself. And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike the nations. And He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
3. I would like to take you, if I could, to a graphic portrayal of the Word of God in a great cathedral in Milan. Come in out of the glare of the Italian sunshine, pass through the cathedral doors, and suddenly see stretching out before you, Europe’s third largest cathedral where fifty-two marbled columns hold up the lofty, octagonal dome, with over 4,400 turrets and pinnacles. Statues of angels rise all about us, and the effect is one of an incomparable combination of grace and grandeur, beauty and vastness. Up front behind the altar, like a window opening out of heaven, is one of the largest stained glass windows in the world. Depicted here is not an Old Testament scene. That stained glass window does not depict the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord, not his crucifixion or ascension. With tremendous imagery the window depicts the triumph of Jesus Christ the Lord. The afternoon sun strains in, turning the window into a sea of glass mingled with fire. You see the vials being outpoured; the trumpets, Michael and his angels in battle against the dragon, the great angel with the rainbow upon his head and one foot upon the earth and the other upon the heaven, declaring in the name of Him who lives forever and ever that time shall be no longer. Bound with a chain, Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit at last. The great white throne glows in the sunlight. Most impressive of all is the great, white horse. Upon the horse sits a still greater rider with the armies of heaven behind him. He comes to set everything straight at last for everyone of us who has hoped in him, and for everyone who has been subjected to the pain and prejudice of living for Jesus Christ in a world seemingly gone mad. – R. Geoffrey Brown, "Look! A Great White Horse!" Preaching Today, Tape No. 111.
4. Realize that the victory has already been won for the believer for when death stung Jesus Christ, it stung itself to death.
5. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 MKJV “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
B. He brings Peace
1. I’ve been told that there are places in Europe where you can sink a spade into the earth, and in just two or three spadefuls of earth, you can dig up prehistoric artifacts and also bits of metal from much more modern times. In one spadeful of earth you might come up with a flint fist hatchet, which was used in prehistoric times to crush the skull of an enemy, and in that same bunch of earth, you will also find a bit of shrapnel from some shell fired during the Second World War. Crushing the skull in the one instance, blowing a person to bits in the other--that is a kind of parable of the history of humankind, isn’t it? War after war after war. The absence of peace. – Bruce W. Thielemann, "Hark! The Herald Angels," Preaching Today, Tape No. 63.
2. Isaiah 9:6 MKJV “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
3. Isaiah 11:6-10 MKJV “Also the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the cub lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be the Root of Jesse standing for a banner of the people; to Him the nations shall seek; and His resting place shall be glorious.”
4. Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
C. He is Sovereign
1. Philippians 2:10-11 MKJV “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
2. At the very top of the Hungarian crown is a picture of Christ seated on his throne as ruler of the world. When an earthly ruler wore that crown, he was reminded of that heavenly ruler. He was also reminded of that verse in Scripture which says the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.
3. Revelation 11:15 MKJV “And the seventh angel sounded. And there were great voices in Heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ. And He will reign forever and ever.”
