Devotions this week based on The Prophets Week 11- Zechariah (WATCH HERE)
Zechariah 9:9–10 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
If you were living in a war-torn country, deep inside your heart you would probably desire a leader of some kind to come in and wipe out the enemy and bring peace and stability to your land.
Safety is a key need of humanity. We are wired to be safe and feel safe. Next to need of food and shelter, we yearn for safety.
At the time of Zechariah, the people in the land of Israel had returned from a time of captivity in Babylon. Their leader Zerubbabel was a vassal of the Persian empire and the peace in their country was tenuous. Surrounding nations were nervous that Israel was going to rebuild and did their best to frustrate the effort. A change in the reign of Persia could turn everything upside down.
So the prophecy of Zechariah must have resonated with the people.
A KING would come!
One who was righteous and would bring victory!
Peace would extend around the world.
This would be great!
Fast forward 500 years or so and Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem. Here he is! He’s on the donkey. He has developed a reputation that fits the role of the Messiah. This was it! Out with the Romans! Up with Israel.
Except it didn’t happen. No battles. No swords flashing. No armies retreating.
Just Jesus nailed to a Roman cross in what seemed to be a humiliating defeat.
The political and social view would put this as a crushing defeat to Zechariah’s prophecy. However, Zechariah was not pointing his hearer to a political king, but rather a righteous king, a humble king, a king who would gain victory, not over nations and principalities of earth, but rather the dark forces of sin, Satan and all his minions. The real battle wasn’t an earthly empire, but rather the influence and consequence of sin.
This is why Jesus came. This is why Jesus fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy on Palm Sunday. It wasn’t about liberating Jerusalem, it was about restoring peace between God and man.
And this he did.
For you and for me.
This peace extends to your heart. This peace is for all people of all nations to the ends of the earth. Whether those souls are in war torn countries, or ones at peace, they have the greatest victory a king could ever win…the victory over sin.
This is the reason to rejoice!
Apply: Sometimes we look for God to solve all the earthly problems around us. We too can latch on to an earthly Messiah to vanquish all the ills of life and society. Why is it more important to have Jesus as our Savior from sin than a political force in the world?
Prayer: Lord, teach me the strength of humility. Let Your reign of peace begin in my heart and extend through my life to others. Amen.