The King Is Coming

Intro: This morning I want to preach about our King. I want to point out three aspects of this prophecy: He is Personal, He is Powerful and He is Precise. When God sent Haggai and then Zechariah to deliver this His Word, Jerusalem was still in ruins. It had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. It is now about 520 BC and only a remnant of Jews have returned to the devastated city and have begun the process of rebuilding the city and the Temple of God. While Haggai focuses on rebuilding the temple, Zechariah does not focus on the tragedy of a broken city. He looks down the telescope of time and sees a day when Jerusalem will be visited by The King of Kings! The prophet sees the day when Messiah will come and Jerusalem will be filled with His glory. Notice 3 elements of Zechariah’s prophecy regarding the King of Glory.

A. A Personal King – “thy King cometh unto thee” – Zechariah tells his readers that this coming King was coming for individuals. The individual was on His heart and at the very heart of His ministry. In the Gospel according to Luke 19 Jesus said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In John’s Gospel he writes, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” In the great parables of Jesus, He is seen looking for the (99) lost sheep, the (10) lost silver coin and the lost son, one on one! God! In all of His Excellency, in all of His Supremacy, in all of His Majesty – Never had need of anything but He came for you and He will come for you again! 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

B. A Powerful King – “He is just and having salvation” - Zechariah writes to tell the people that the most anticipated event in human history is going to come to pass in Jerusalem. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in Eden, Genesis 3, hopeful men had been looking by faith to a day when a Redeemer would come and pay man’s sin debt, Genesis 3:15. For thousands of years men had been approaching altars, bringing with them the blood of animals to cover their sins, looking ahead to a day when a Redeemer would come to take away sin forever. Zechariah tells them that there One Who is coming, Who will do more than cover sin, He will save people from their sins!

That was the promise of the angel who announced the birth of Jesus to Joseph, Matthew 1:21 (HE WILL SAVE). That was the message made by John the Baptist, John 1:29 (HE WILL SAVE – Take Sin Away). And, that was just what Jesus did when He came to this world. He went to the cross and did what millions of sacrificed animals had not been able to do. He paid the entire debt of sin owed by mankind, Hebrews 10:11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God!

C. A Precise King – Zechariah told his readers exactly how they would be able to recognize this King when He came to them. He would come to them riding “upon a colt of an ass.” The Triumphal Entry of Jesus riding Jerusalem (Matthew 21) is predicted here is 500 years before it happened. Why is this important? Jesus, the King came exactly as the Old Testament had said He would. He fulfilled the prophecy to the letter! So if the prophecies of Christ’s First Advent were true then the prophecies of Christ’s Second Advent are just as certain to come true. Paul said in Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law... In today’s text verse 9 the prophet is speaking of the first advent but in verse 10 he prophesied about the second advent! He said of the Messiah, “He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

Not ONLY does Zechariah 9 tell us that the King will come to Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Matthew 21:6)…

Zechariah 11 teaches that the King will be Despised by His own people and Rejected in favor of another king (John 19:15 “We have no king but Caesar!”)