Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Amen. Why don't we stand this morning as we go to the Lord in prayer?
[00:00:04] And I'm going to preach, really focusing in on our theme of Palm Sunday. And I think the message that we're going to hear this morning is hope.
[00:00:14] And a lot of people need to have a word of hope. How many say that's true? If you're going through a very challenging moment in your life, what you need above everything else is for Christ to come to you and. And bring hope into your life. And I'm going to pray this morning. As we were praying already, we've been spending time early this morning praying, interceding that God would speak right into your inner being and that you would not feel alone, that you'd feel that God is hearing your cry. You don't have to live in despair. He's with you. He wants to bring hope into your situation. So, Lord, I thank you this morning.
[00:00:48] You're amazing. And you're ever the same.
[00:00:52] That's one thing I like about you. You know, there's a lot of change that happens in all of our lives. There's change happening around us, and there's change happening within us and to us. But, Lord, you're the unchanging God.
[00:01:04] You're perfect, and you're able to do things that we as human beings are incapable of doing. And so we look to you this morning that you would speak into the very deepest recesses of our soul, that you would fill us with hope, that you would strengthen our hearts, that you would fill us with your grace. You'd fill us with joy. You'd fill us with love, Lord, that we would leave this place knowing that you are with us and we're not alone. And that you're going to help us walk through whatever season of life we're experiencing. Because this season will go by, but you will remain forever. And, Lord, in the process, that you're going to bring about a transforming work of grace in our lives. And we thank you for that.
[00:01:49] In Jesus name and God's people said, amen. You may be seated.
[00:01:55] I'm going to have you turn in our Bibles to the book of Zechariah.
[00:02:00] So if you know, you wonder where that book is. It's the second to last Old Testament book. How's that? So just find where the New Testament starts. Go back a couple of books, Malachi, then Zechariah.
[00:02:14] I want to speak this morning on how finding hope in life's greatest struggles actually sustains us in those moments. And I think we need to hear that. Dan Schmidt writes in Unexpected Wisdom. He says, tragically, hope is a weak word these days, meaning little more than how we feel or what we feel.
[00:02:34] What of the one who has just learned of cancer in their child? Or those whose parents have developed a wasting disease, whose job has abruptly and callously been terminated? And when physical troubles and spiritual attacks stack up like cords of wood, what does hope mean then?
[00:02:53] You know hope sustains you in the welter of struggles that scurry through the heart and mind like tadpoles in a pond. It draws you into the new day and carries you through many days that follow. We think of the prophets as writing about the future, and they do.
[00:03:09] But their interest rests less with helping us chart events in a nice neat way than with assisting us through the minefields of life to live for God. And how many know when you're a follower of Christ? We're in a spiritual battle and there are minefields that we're walking through.
[00:03:28] They assure us that God is sufficient for what we are going through now and what is likely to smack us later. They persist in saying that the one we cling to is deserving of our trust, that hope in God is legitimate and it's beneficial.
[00:03:46] With their wonderful dreams and tales of better times, they offer a vision of life far different than our current experience. How many would like to have a vision of life that's better than your current experience?
[00:03:57] Wouldn't that be great? We're going to see that today. Prophets see what is not as though it actually were and invite others to adopt their perspective despite current evidence to the contrary. What does that really mean? That means that the prophet are seeing something that God's about to do, even though we're currently not experiencing it. And we can live with that anticipation that God is going to do something different than what we're experiencing. That's pretty exciting, I think. They offer hope, but they do so by way of a challenge.
[00:04:27] Believe that a power as awesome and far reaching as Assyria will one day soon be little more than rubble and you're likely to believe anything. What does he mean? When you're in the middle of terror, when you're in the middle of war, when you're in the middle of distress, when you don't see anything but darkness, to believe that that could disappear, of course we could say that takes faith.
[00:04:52] But we know that God is going to change things and we can live with that kind of hope. That's it. I think things that are will one day no longer be. Be whatever your Challenge whatever seems beyond your ability. And worse is still not big enough or bad enough to overcome what God ultimately intends for each of us.
[00:05:12] I don't know what you're walking through today, but God has something better in store for you.
[00:05:18] I'm going to say that again. I don't know what you're walking through today, but God has something better in store for you.
[00:05:25] We need to hang on to that, folks. It's true.
[00:05:28] Our problem is that our expectations are often shattered.
[00:05:33] Listen. By something better and greater than what we anticipate.
[00:05:38] And that's the story of Easter Week.
[00:05:41] The Jewish people were hoping that the Roman rule would come to an end as they worshiped their king. But the reality was his throne was a cross that would deliver them and us from something far greater than earthly oppression.
[00:05:55] Sin and death were about to be delivered a crushing blow. Jesus was about to provide for us eternal life.
[00:06:03] So sometimes, in the darkest moments, God's about ready to set things up for an anticipation of greater blessing and joy than you and I could ever imagine.
[00:06:13] But sometimes we're so locked into our pain, our sorrow, our darkness, our despair, our. Our hopelessness that we can't see that God is for us and he is. And that we need to know, as we celebrate these days, the significance of Easter week, I want to look at the prophetic picture or the background for this triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Today is the day we know as Palm Sunday.
[00:06:39] And we could say, well, what was really transpiring at that moment in time? Well, there was an anticipation that Jesus was the coming Messiah, that he was the coming king, that he was going to overthrow the political oppression that the people were experiencing. But Jesus had a whole different game plan.
[00:06:54] And while they were looking for a throne, Jesus was anticipating a cross. How many know that's totally different? But how many know if he had just taken a throne, that would have been a temporary situation for people in the past. But Jesus, by embracing a cross, transformed life for all of humanity, not only at that moment, but for all, all eternity, and even people prior to that. Because it's through the cross of Christ that all of humanity can experience eternal life.
[00:07:23] It's so beautiful.
[00:07:25] To really gain insight into this moment, into the life of Jesus, we have to go back in time to a prophet by the name of Zachariah who prophesied about this coming king. And it's in that context that I want us to look at the psalm, sorry, Palm Sunday in Zechariah. 9, 9, 17. You want to go there? Zechariah 9, 9, 17. We're going to look at the fulfillment of prophecy as quoted by Matthew and Luke when Jesus came into Jerusalem that day 2000 years ago to establish his kingdom through his conquest over sin and death. But what was happening when Zechariah first communicated this message of hope to God's people?
[00:08:07] And how did that message somehow get lost in translation so that so many people missed the message?
[00:08:13] Jesus was there. God the king was among them, and they didn't know it.
[00:08:18] Sometimes we have to be very careful. We're not missing what God wants to say to us. We need to have ears to hear.
[00:08:24] You know, how can we, you know, still miss that significance of that message today? Zechariah was preaching after the exile, and many had returned from exile, but many had remained in the land of exile.
[00:08:39] And I think that's a picture. There's a lot of people that embrace God's messages, and there's a lot of people that don't respond to what God is saying. In the Easter story, we see lives move from joy, then despair and sorrow, and ultimately to an even greater joy. I mean, talk about the gamut of emotion. You know, you got them praising God and singing hallelujahs and joyously, save God. They're saying, save now I on Palm Sunday. Then you get to Good Friday, and everybody is crushed and broken, and, you know, all of their dreams are shattered. And then you have Resurrection Sunday, where everything turns around and there's a joy, a greater joy than they had ever known before they saw Jesus conquer death.
[00:09:24] You know, sometimes in our lives, you know, we can go from joy to deep sorrow, difficulty, bleakness, despair, no future, you know, no sense of hope.
[00:09:35] But Jesus is saying, yeah, but Sunday's coming.
[00:09:39] Easter Sunday's coming. Resurrection is coming. God is about to do a new thing. And I think we need to be living with that hope in our hearts, that anticipation. In the context of Zachariah, we discover the hope is found in a person and also in the promises that God brings to us. And so there's three things I think we need to hold on to in life when it's a dark moment and we'll all experience them. There's not one person in the room that could say, yeah, I'm just vetoing all the dark moments of my life.
[00:10:10] I haven't met that person yet. I think we all experience times of deep, deep, deep disappointment. There's times when we live in a time where we think, where is God in this mess? Or, you know, I don't understand what God's doing. So let's take a look at these things. The first thing we need to hold on to is the coming of the King.
[00:10:26] And I'm going to say this to all of us. When Jesus comes to you, everything changes.
[00:10:33] How many have had those moments when you're praying and maybe you were in despair and you're crying out to God and all of a sudden Jesus comes along and speaks into your spirit. There's a reassurance. His presence comes, Scripture comes alive. There's hope. You know, you leave there and nothing has changed. But everything has changed. You have changed and hope has now filled your hopeless heart and you're able to be sustained, to move forward in life. And eventually that season of life goes by and you can look back and say, thank God, Jesus came. Jesus came at that moment. You know, I want to encourage you. If you don't have a daily devotional life, I would encourage you to have one. I'll tell you why. I don't know how many mornings that I have gotten down and prayed, sought God and my whole demeanor, thinking, attitude, focus has shifted because of my time with Jesus. It's amazing how that happens in our lives.
[00:11:32] We know that Jesus has come, is currently present with us through the Holy Spirit, and will come again to completely fulfill all that he has promised to us. God's promises are what sustain us and the people that are in the past. So many of them had.
[00:11:48] So many of his promises have been fulfilled. But there are others that are still yet to be fulfilled. We can live with anticipation.
[00:11:55] Can I tell you good things are coming our way. There may be a few bumps in the road before we get there. There may be some great challenges that lie before us. But I know ultimately, I've read the book. I've read the last book of the Bible. I've read the last chapter. I know what's going to happen and it's pretty good stuff. So hang on, folks. You may be at a low point right now, but good things are coming and we need to hang on to that because that sustains us in those challenging moments.
[00:12:25] Listen, during the post exelic period, Zacharias stated God's intention to come and live among his people.
[00:12:33] Did God promise?
[00:12:35] He did. Listen, shout and be glad. This is chapter two, verse ten. We'll come back to chapter nine. Shout and be glad, daughter of Zion, for I'm coming and I'm going to live among you. Isn't that what Jesus did? He came. God came and lived among his people.
[00:12:49] God promised and God delivered exactly what he said he would do.
[00:12:54] Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. What did God say? I'm going to do something that's universal in nature, you know? Yes, I focus primarily through my covenant people, but he expanded that. And now since the Gospel of Jesus Christ has come, people from every background are pouring into God's kingdom. I love that many nations have come to faith in Christ because of his death and resurrection. So God has already fulfilled this amazing prophecy in Zechariah. However, not all that lived in the land of Israel at that time embraced this reality, nor had they accepted Jesus as their Messiah. And some of them were about ready to crucify him in a few short days.
[00:13:45] Up ahead now, as we come to the familiar text of Palm Sunday that Jesus fulfilled the promised king. Now come has fulfilled the first part of this prophecy and then the latter prophecy. We'll find out the nature of this king. It says, rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter of Jerusalem. See your king comes to you righteous and victorious, lowly riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
[00:14:11] Joyce Baldwin writes that there should be rejoicing in what his character. We need to learn how to rejoice in the character of God. The focus now switches to the character of the king.
[00:14:25] He is righteous, as Isaiah descriptions have insisted. But this is no static quality. In each passage, righteousness is seen in the activity of the king, governing, administrating justice and encouraging right.
[00:14:40] You know, when rogues continually succeed in getting their way with their crimes, while innocent people suffer and find no redress to be promised. That right will triumph and that the righteous will be vindicated is a cause for deep joy. How many think that's true? You know, when the good prevails over evil, don't you think it says the righteous rise up and shout. It says in the Book of Proverbs, we rejoice when good comes, and we take note when evil is reigning.
[00:15:12] He goes on to say the use of this word tzedek, in the sense of vindication in Isaiah 40:55 underlines the word triumphant. He's triumphant in the reverse stand version.
[00:15:26] Now notice the character of the king and the kind of salvation he's bringing. He's described as just or righteous.
[00:15:34] See, your king comes to you in righteousness. There's no peace apart from righteousness. You know, a lot of people go, I have trouble. I'm tormented. Listen, you'll never have peace until you have righteousness. You have to Have a right relationship to God to have peace in your life.
[00:15:52] In other words, sin always brings about strife. How many know that's true? You know, every situation where there's strife, you'll find sin in it.
[00:16:00] That's what sin produces. Sin always produces strife. It's only as we walk rightly before God then that peace can rule our hearts.
[00:16:10] And not only our hearts, but peace between people.
[00:16:13] It takes embracing God's way of doing things to bring joy and blessing. Charles Feinberg states, regarding the relationship between peace and righteousness, this with him, there is no unrighteousness whatsoever, if such be the basic requirement for peace. And it is.
[00:16:32] Is it not immediately evident why man made plans are and have ever been a failure?
[00:16:40] I'm going to just pop everybody's bubble here for a moment. If you're putting hope in people and their plans, you're going to be disappointed somewhere down the road, okay? Peace has to be grounded and founded in justice and righteousness. And when we move away from that, it's problematic. Jesus is described as bringing salvation.
[00:17:01] This salvation of bringing peace does not come cheaply. Again, Charles Feinberg says it's not peace at any price. Rather, it's peace at an infinite price.
[00:17:11] The life of the Messiah, the life of Jesus, it's through his death that we have this peace with God, and we have the peace of God at that moment. Coming into Jerusalem, the people didn't grasp the significance of what Jesus was about to do. Some believe that Jesus was the Messiah come to save them. However, they did not comprehend how he was going to go about doing it. That's the part they didn't get.
[00:17:36] E.B. pusey writes, the thought is not so much meekness as it is suffering.
[00:17:41] Not so much lowly of outward appearance, but lowly of soul. So Jesus wasn't, you know, it wasn't his appearance that looked lowly. No, it was the nature of his inner being. The Hebrew word expresses the condition of one bowed down, brought low through oppression, affliction, desolation, poverty, persecution, bereavement, but only if at the same time he had in him the fruit of these.
[00:18:04] We see this whole submission that he had towards God.
[00:18:10] In other words, they could not foresee that this king would save them through his own humiliation and death.
[00:18:21] And how many know? We often don't grasp how God uses suffering to bring about his purposes and fill us with hope.
[00:18:28] I think that's really a difficult lesson for human beings. We just don't get that stuff. But listen to how Paul frames it here in the Book of Romans. He says it this way, not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings. How many here say, yeah, Pastor, I'm really glorying in my sufferings?
[00:18:43] We don't see what I mean. It's not natural the way we think, right? Because we know that suffering produces something. What does it produce?
[00:18:52] Perseverance.
[00:18:54] You know, we're going to do prayer and fasting here, April 13 through 15. And our theme during this time of prayer and fasting is running the race with perseverance. My deepest concern as a pastor is that we all need to persevere. We need to run the Christian race with perseverance, it says. But suffering teaches us that perseverance, character, character, hope. And hope does not put to shame because God's love has poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom He has been given us.
[00:19:27] So Jesus was coming to set things right. How many are happy that Jesus is one day going to come, ultimately to set everything right?
[00:19:34] He was coming to address God's justice and manifest his love through his death and then through his resurrection. The cross addresses all injustices as Jesus bore the sin of all humanity.
[00:19:47] And then he gives each of us an opportunity to come to him to seek forgiveness and experience transformation.
[00:19:55] However, those who reject the Gospel message will experience eternal separation from God.
[00:20:02] And I think that we don't understand how profound that really is to believers who were willing to suffer intense persecution in the city of Thessalonica. Paul wrote these words speaking of future redress of wrongs. He says, and I don't have it on the PowerPoint second Thessalonians, chapter 1, verses 4 to 10. You may want to turn there, but I'm going to read it. It says, therefore, among God's churches, we boast about your perseverance. There's that word again.
[00:20:30] And faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
[00:20:35] Let me ask you a question.
[00:20:37] As we see the nation of Canada drifting further and further away from God, what we're going to sense in the days to come is greater persecution towards the church. It's going to happen.
[00:20:48] Are we really arming our mind and prepared for that? I want you to think about that for a minute. Listen to what he says to this church.
[00:20:56] We boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
[00:21:03] All of this is evidence that God's judgment is right. And as a result, you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering.
[00:21:13] God is just.
[00:21:14] He will pay back trouble to Those who trouble you. In other words, you and I don't have to, you know, vindicate ourselves. God's going to take care of this and give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven. When is God going to take care of all this? When he comes back in blazing fire with powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:21:43] That's very powerful statement.
[00:21:46] You know, a lot of people think, well, you know, what's this thing about Jesus? What's this thing about the gospel? This is the only way that you and I can be right with God. And so people who are not responding to God here, it says they don't know God and they're not obeying the gospel, they're in trouble. And that's why we need to bring the gospel to people. We need to proclaim the gospel to our society today like never before.
[00:22:09] And you and I can't control outcomes. We can't control responses. That's not our responsibility. Ours is just to communicate the message.
[00:22:16] It says they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled among all those who have believed. This includes you because you believe our testimony to you. How powerful is that? What am I telling you? Hang on, guys.
[00:22:39] Persevere. Walk through this difficult time. There's an end coming. Jesus is coming back. And when he comes back, that's when we have hope.
[00:22:49] It'll move past hope to reality. So right now we have hope. One day we don't need hope. You know, I was sharing with someone on staff. We have a nice big plaque on our staff wall. It says, and the greatest of it says, faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love. And I said, you know what? Do you know why love is the greatest? Because faith one day will become sight and hope one day will become reality. They won't be needed.
[00:23:17] Love we'll always have. Because God is love. And love is eternal and everlasting.
[00:23:23] That's why it's the greatest.
[00:23:25] But you know what? Right now we need hope.
[00:23:28] Hope is such an important commodity in our souls.
[00:23:31] We need it. Let me move on to the second thing. We need to hold onto the promise of restoration. Jesus doesn't just forgive us and spare us from the penalty of sin. He frees us from the shackles that bind us to sin. This is done through Christ's work of redemption in which we are now in covenant relationship because of his death and resurrection. Let's go. Verse 11 and 12 of Zechariah 9. It says, as for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
[00:24:03] Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope. Even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. So here we see the promise that our covenant with God first of all, is sealed with blood.
[00:24:15] Well, the blood we know is the blood of Christ, right? This obviously speaks of a sacrifice on our behalf. God frees those who. Who are imprisoned in a waterless pit.
[00:24:27] James Smith writes, the figure of the pit in which there is no water reflects desperate circumstances. Think of Joseph or Jeremiah lowered into those pits, right? In such a pit, a person would inevitably perish if he were not taken out of it. Drawn out.
[00:24:44] Since the context here is Messianic, the bondage here must be spiritual rather than physical. It is the bondage of sin and the snare of the evil one which is being metaphorically described by the prophet Zechariah. See, Zechariah sees God calling his people back to the land of promise from exile. God was promising to free them from their waterless pit. And as you know, as Charles Feinberg says, dry cisterns are often employed as places of imprisonment. So we remember back to the story of Joseph, how his brothers threw him in the pit. It was actually a waterless hole that during the rainy seasons contained water. Now, its only use was to curb the freedom of a person.
[00:25:29] Those who had refused to return to the promised land, in essence were still prisoners in exile now, even though they were now flourishing. You know, if you do a little of the studying, the Babylonians, the. The Jews that stayed in Babylonia did flourish economically.
[00:25:47] And you know what that can be. Our present condition being in material blessing, but far from God's promises for our lives.
[00:25:58] How many people live like that? God calls us to himself and promises restoration and blessing. You know, God does enrich our lives. When we think of salvation, we may see it only deliverance from sin and death. But it's more than that, actually.
[00:26:11] It's a broader term. Salvation is the umbrella on which everything in our lives is under. I want you to think about it. It's deliverance, it's victory.
[00:26:21] You know, God meets our needs. You know, God's prospered us. You know, I was at a wedding last night. I was, you know, as we were Just banqueting there, you know, it was a weird thought. My mind went to other parts of the world where people were starving and we were banqueting, and I was just thinking, man, are we ever blessed.
[00:26:40] We are a blessed people in North America. We are very rich folks. You know, if you travel the world a little bit, you'll see how impoverished so many people are. And, you know, there are people today literally dying because they don't have enough to eat, they don't have adequate water. I mean, you know, we're living in an inequitable world. I don't know if you realize that. And we're the ones that are the beneficiaries. We have so much here. We need to be so full of gratitude and be willing to share, share with those that are less fortunate than ourselves.
[00:27:11] Zechariah speaks of the coming king bringing salvation, but not in a military fashion.
[00:27:19] Notice he doesn't come on a horse in great power.
[00:27:23] He's riding on the colt, the foal of a donkey. He's described as gentle rather than fierce. He's coming in righteousness, bringing deliverance through peace. Now, there was an earlier time in Israel's history. This is a very fascinating story. I don't know if you're aware of it, but under Alexander the Great, Josephus, the Jewish historian, writes of this time, and he talked about when Alexander was attacking Tyre, he sent a letter to the high priest in Jerusalem requesting him to send assistance and to supply his army with provisions. And the priest declined to do this because, as he had said, he had sworn an oath of loyalty to King Darius, which he would not break so long as Darius was alive. And this really infuriated Alexander, and he determined to destroy Jerusalem as soon as the coastal conquests were behind him. And how many know, Alexander the Great actually conquered those cities. And then he turned his attention to Jerusalem. He's going to destroy it. But when Judas, the high priest, heard that Alexander was marching towards Jerusalem, he was terrified. He ordered the Jews to make sacrifices to God and ask for deliverance from the advancing danger. That night, after the sacrifices, God spoke to Judas in his sleep, telling him to take courage. He was to adorn the city with wreaths and then open the gates and go out to meet the invaders. The people were to be addressed in white garments and the priests in the robes prescribed by law.
[00:28:46] When Alexander saw from afar off the multitudes in their white garments and the priests wearing their robes and the high priest wearing the mitered turban with the name of God written over his forehead, Alexander approached alone and bowed before the priest Parmenion. Alexander, second in command, asked why he had bowed down to the Jewish high priest to which Alexander answered, it was not before him that I prostrated myself but the God for whom he has the honor to be the high priest. For it was he who I saw in my sleep dressed as he is now. When I was at Dior in Macedonia, as I was considering with myself how I might become master of Asia, he urged me not to hesitate but to cross over confidently for he himself would lead me and my army and give over to us or to me the empire of the Persians. Since therefore, I have beheld no one else in such robes. And on seeing him now, I am reminded of the vision and exhortation. I believe that I have made this expedition under divine guidance and that I shall ultimately defeat Darius and destroy the power of the Persians. Now, how many think this is an incredible story?
[00:29:58] Listen to what's happening here. Well, it was through trusting God they opened their gates and brought their wreaths dressed in clothing not designed for war, but for peace and allowed the Jewish people to be spared destruction. And so they were saved. What am I saying? Jesus didn't come to make war on the Romans. He came to bring peace.
[00:30:18] Isn't that a beautiful thought? And actually, in a sense, he overcame what was actually meant to destroy.
[00:30:26] This is the moment which we're now celebrating 2000 years ago when Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on that colt, the foal of a donkey.
[00:30:39] He's coming in gentleness to bring the gift of salvation to the people. What is fascinating is that the early disciples did not understand, really, the full significance of what was happening at that moment. See, it's easy in hindsight. We can look back and go, we're told what's going on. But notice how John describes it for us. The next day, the crowd had come for the festival. Heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, hosanna. Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel. Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it. And as it is written, do not be afraid. I'm jumping here. Do not be afraid, O daughter of Zion. See, your king is coming. Seated on the donkey's colt.
[00:31:22] At first, his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified, which means he was crucified and resurrected, did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things have been done to him. So the People that are writing the book for us, John, Matthew, these disciples, they're telling the story after the fact. They're writing years after the fact. And then they go, yeah, Jesus did this. This is. See, they're beginning to put two and two together. They're beginning to see how what Jesus was doing was actually fulfilling Scripture. Matthew says it this way. As they approached Jerusalem and they came to Beth Edge on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go to the village ahead of you, and at once you'll find a donkey tied there with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.
[00:32:14] If anyone says anything to you, tell them that the Lord needs them and he will send them right away.
[00:32:19] So you say, well, why did Jesus do this?
[00:32:22] Because he knew he was fulfilling the prophet Zachariah's words. He was making a declaration that day in Jerusalem that he was their king coming to deliver them by bringing them salvation.
[00:32:37] That this peace would not come about through military action was the part that the people did not fully grasp.
[00:32:44] He was gentle and humble in nature. He was bringing about peace through his own death and resurrection. And Matthew goes on to say, this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets. Say to the daughter of Zion, see, your king comes to you gentle and riding on the colt, the foal of a donkey.
[00:33:01] You know how many know when you're reading scripture, sometimes you just don't fully understand what's really being said.
[00:33:07] And I'm going to just say this. A lot of people today reading the Bible, unless you are looking and interpreting it through a certain lens, you won't see the story.
[00:33:16] So people are reading it all the time. But listen, you have to have a christological lens. What does that mean, Pastor? You have to understand that Jesus is the Savior. And then when you look back and see the story unfolding, you can look in the Old Testament and you can begin to see Christ in the Old Testament. Isn't that what Jesus did with his disciples when he was walking on the road to Emmaus? You know, they didn't understand what was going on. And so he's beginning to unpack the meaning and showing all these scriptures through a lens. How much he would have to suffer. He's unpacking Isaiah, he's unpacking Zechariah, he's unpacking Scripture for them. And the Bible says, did not our hearts burn as we listened to him? And there was just an illuminating moment when he was explaining how this is what God's ultimate plan all along but let me move on to the third thing we need to hold on to, and this is important, that God is sovereign.
[00:34:06] He's over us. He's in control.
[00:34:09] The extent of his dominion is the entire world. Now the prophets propel us forward into time once again. The one verse is a picture of that event 2000 years ago. But now we see a foreshadowing of coming future events. This is the part I get excited about. Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 10. I skipped over this verse on purpose. Now we're going to look at it. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war horses 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. What's really happening here that Jesus rule? You know, I don't know if you realize this, but Jesus is the king of this world, and there's a whole bunch of people in rebellion to this king. But this kingdom is extending. It's growing all the time. You know, sometimes in North America, we think, oh, you know, it's just really bad. You know, church seems to be struggling. Can I tell you right now, the church has never been stronger in all of human history. The church is growing at a rapid rate. People are giving their lives to Christ at an incredible pace. Today, God's kingdom is prevailing over this world. And that's why there's such an intensity between evil and righteousness today like never before. Because he knows the enemy, knows his time is short. He's unleashing everything he can to stop this kingdom from overcoming this planet.
[00:35:28] That's a different way of looking at life, folks, and that's in a very exciting way. And actually that's the truth. And the enemy keeps lying to us, like, you know, we're on the defense and we can hardly hang it together. You know, like, we're all going to fall apart here.
[00:35:41] Everything's going downhill. You know, everything is. You know, every. Listen to a lot of Christians, everything is negative, everything is bad. Everything is this, everything is that. Why don't we have a hope that God is king, he's sovereign, He's Lord. Listen, read Psalm 2 if you're ever discouraged. You know, God is going to have the nations in derision. He's going to bring them down.
[00:35:59] He's bringing people to a place where every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And that day is moving forward towards that day.
[00:36:14] This is the nature of the good news. It's God's word to his people, Israel.
[00:36:20] As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. In other words, I'm going to deliver you from your pits.
[00:36:28] Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope. Even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. I will bend Judah as I bend my bow. Fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior sword. Now, what's going on here? Well, God actually is going to use his people that he's in covenant with to overcome the power of the enemy. In this text, the immediate context is the sons of Zion, the Jewish people are going to overcome the sons of Greece.
[00:37:00] And I want to just tell you, that actually happened in history. Now, if you look at the Maccabean Revolt, that's exactly what that's about. This is fulfilling this text. During the Maccabean Revolt, where Israel gained their independence from the Seleucid Empire, which was a Greek empire. Remember, Alexander died, his empire was broken into four parts, and Jerusalem became independent during the Maccabean revolt. Really a powerful thing.
[00:37:27] Let me go on here.
[00:37:30] They gained their independence, but again, Israel came under Gentile domain, dominion, domination, Rome.
[00:37:40] Ultimately, though, it is God that will save his people. Look at verse 14.
[00:37:45] Then the Lord will appear over them. Israel will flash like lightning.
[00:37:50] The sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet.
[00:37:52] You know, when you read the Bible, how many times you notice the trumpet? You read the Old Testament, you know, they had the trumpet in the wilderness, Remember? They'd blow the trumpet. You know, they would assemble, they'd blow the trumpet, they'd move out, they'd blow the trumpet. It was a warning. The enemy was attacking, they'd blow the trumpet. See, so the trumpet is actually an instrument that's used to communicate God's about to do something. That's what we need to hear. Here it says, and the sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet. Sometimes it's a warning. He will march in the storms of the south, and the Lord Almighty will what? Shield them. They will destroy and overcome with slingstones. They will drink and roars with wine. They will be full like a bowl used for sprinkling the corners of the altar. The Lord, their God, will save them on that day, as the flock of his people, they will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. How attractive and beautiful they will be. Grain will make the young men thrive and new wine, the young women.
[00:38:52] These are all expressions of blessings. The day is coming when God will intervene. That's what we need to hear.
[00:39:00] So here's what you and I need to know. The answer to despair and hopelessness is to focus on the idea that God is sovereign. He's in control, he's coming back, and he will conquer the world. We need to have that in our system. And if you don't think this is the actual message, think about what happened.
[00:39:17] Jesus is talking to his disciples. They're at the temple area, and they're marveling at one of the great wonders of the ancient world. Did you know the Temple of Jerusalem was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world? It was amazing. If you've ever been to Jerusalem and you're standing on the Mount of Olives and you're looking at the Temple Mount and you see that little gold dome that's only one third of the size of what the Temple was. And the temple was covered in pure gold. It was a spectacle for the world.
[00:39:43] But you know what Jesus said? All of this is going to be destroyed.
[00:39:47] And the disciples were just when's this going to happen? And when will the end of the age come? These were questions they asked. And we see that Jesus speaks to these issues. And In Luke chapter 21 and verse 25, it says this. And he goes on and describes all kinds of things. And some of it played out in the first century A.D. the Romans were, you know, destroyed the temple and all the rest of it. But then he goes on and says, there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars on the earth. Nations will be in anguish and in perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehension of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. What's God saying? There's going to come a time when the whole world's going to be in a state of apprehension.
[00:40:29] But you and I don't have to be.
[00:40:31] You and I can live in hope.
[00:40:33] Listen what the next verse says. At that time, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and with glory. And when these things begin to take place, he says, stand up, lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
[00:40:48] So when you say, oh, it's getting worse, Pastor, I'm saying, well, there's a clash, all right, but in the end, it'll be this.
[00:40:56] There'll come a crisis point, a crisis moment, and Jesus will come, and you and I are going to be Caught up with him.
[00:41:06] How exciting is that?
[00:41:08] That's what we're living for.
[00:41:11] Michael Stead, writing regarding God's message to those who are in covenant relationship to him, says likewise for us, our salvation is now and not yet.
[00:41:20] That's hard for us to grasp, isn't it? The promises are God has made so many things for now. But then there is the not yet part. We're not fully experiencing God's ultimate kingdom.
[00:41:31] The victory that our suffering king has won has been brought us a real release from the prisons of our idolatry through the blood of the covenant.
[00:41:41] But the opening picture of nine, chapter nine is Zechariah 1:8 of a promised land restored to its maximum dimensions and secured from all of its foes is a sight that we will not see until the new Jerusalem descends from heaven.
[00:41:55] Zechariah 9 reminds us that the divine warrior is fighting for us and will not allow us to be conquered by our enemies. But this is played out in the midst of suffering and hardship.
[00:42:06] See, this is the part we struggle with. If God is winning, why are we suffering?
[00:42:11] Isn't that a great question?
[00:42:13] Isn't that kind of goes through our mind? You know, if God is in charge, why am I going through this? Why this difficulty, Pastor? But Paul writes, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger of sort. Paul's mentioning all these negative things. As long as it is written for your sake, we face death all day long. We're considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all of these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
[00:42:40] It's in the midst of this, God's people can and will suffer. And when we suffer, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and remind ourselves that he has gone there before us.
[00:42:51] He endured the cross, he scorned the shame, suffering and hardship does not mean that God has broken his promises. Nor does it mean that God must be correcting us from some act of disobedience.
[00:43:07] Suffering was a necessary part of Jesus mission, and it will be a necessary part of what God is calling us to while we wait for for the dawning day of our salvation.
[00:43:20] So we can ask ourselves, where do we find hope in the dark moments?
[00:43:27] Well, not Only does Zechariah 9 establish for us the pattern for Jesus suffering, but it also tells us a pattern of life for those who follow the crucified Savior. Martin Luther described it well by contrasting what he called the theology of glory with the theology of the cross.
[00:43:44] You say, what is this, the theology of glory expects to see God at work in clear demonstrations of power, might, victory and triumph.
[00:43:52] And we do see that at times.
[00:43:54] But the theology of the cross, on the other hand, sees God's strength in the weakness and the defeat of the cross. In other words, in the suffering.
[00:44:04] You know, too many Christians expect to see God at work in a theology of glory. Life is an unbroken sequence of sin, success, victory, comfort, health and security. In short, we want the triumphant Christian life.
[00:44:16] God, however, does not promise us a triumphal entry, but a triumphal procession.
[00:44:23] And remember, I'm preaching through second Corinthians. I talked about this. That's why I think this is important. We're just going to be reminded. The triumphal procession was a form of tribute to a victorious general. A general paraded his vanquished foes and captured slaves through the streets to proclaim public acclaim. The apostle Paul picks up this image in his letter to the Corinthians. In his triumphal procession, God's people are not the victors at the head of the parade, but the defeated foes and captured slaves. Paul says that God has put him and all the other apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. A spectacle to the whole universe. And this is how the theology of the cross works out in practice.
[00:45:06] God's power is made perfect in weakness.
[00:45:11] We don't like that.
[00:45:13] That's how it worked for Jesus. That's how it works for us. There's the now and the not yet. And yet. I'm going to close with this thought. There's a great reversal coming.
[00:45:24] Remember the parable of the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus.
[00:45:28] Jesus reminds us, in this life, righteous people often suffer while the wicked flourish. But later, God will elevate and vindicate the people in forever bliss and blessing, while the wicked and the ungodly will suffer for all of eternity.
[00:45:43] Don't lose hope.
[00:45:48] Don't faint.
[00:45:50] You may be in a time of struggle right now. I just want you to know, don't give up.
[00:45:54] Hang in there.
[00:45:56] We're going to see this come to the end.
[00:45:59] That's why perseverance is such an important thing thing in our lives. Let's stand.
[00:46:05] You know, as a pastor, I deal with people every week. And you know what? Every week there's a crisis. In a church our size, there's always a crisis going on. I don't know if you know that.
[00:46:16] I feel like I live with people in perpetual crisis, but it just seems to be different people.
[00:46:21] If that makes sense. And that's okay. That's part of our role as pastors. We're called to walk alongside of those that are suffering and sorrowing, and so are us as Christians.
[00:46:34] You know, we're to rejoice with those who are rejoicing, and we're to weep with those who are weeping. Isn't that true? We have both things happening at the same time. Sometimes you feel like, you know, one minute we're celebrating, you know, we're at a wedding, we're celebrating. That's great. The next minute we're crying with someone who's brokenhearted and going through a difficulty.
[00:46:55] So what am I trying to tell us this morning?
[00:46:58] When Jesus comes, everything changes.
[00:47:02] When Jesus came the first time, it was unexpected. And what he did was unexpected, but it changed everything.
[00:47:09] When you and I are in the middle of a crisis and we have Jesus come to us in that hour when we feel broken and defeated and discouraged, and we've all been there. I've been there more than once, and I'm praying and I'm crying out to God. I'm in scripture, and all of a sudden, the spirit of God comes and Jesus presence is there.
[00:47:28] I'm changed. My attitude has changed, my perspective has changed, because Jesus comes.
[00:47:35] But I want to tell you right now, as this world, you know, is in this great conflict. Great conflict, folks, Jesus is going to come.
[00:47:45] And when he comes that time, at the very end of the age, it's going to be all over.
[00:47:51] And at that moment, you're going to have such joy that you've never known, such bliss, such gratitude, such thanksgiving. You're going to be so happy that you have obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ. You'll be so happy that you were a follower of Jesus at that moment. You're going to say it was worth it.
[00:48:10] You really will.
[00:48:12] You're going to say it's been worth it all.
[00:48:16] You know, for some of us, maybe we won't get to that moment. Maybe we're going to be slipping into eternity. But at that moment, when we step through those gates of heaven, we're going to say, it's worth.
[00:48:28] Really is worth it.
[00:48:30] There is a hell to shun and a heaven to gain. There really is.
[00:48:35] And there is a God in heaven that you and I are created by and accountable to. And we. We need to surrender our rebellious nature to him and to begin to live in obedience to him.
[00:48:46] Just with every heart. Heart. Well, every head. It's kind of hard to bow your hearts, but you can bow your heads But I want to encourage you this morning. Maybe you're walking through crisis right now and you need God to come and give you hope.
[00:49:02] Just lift your hand and say, lord, would you come to me right now? Would you come in your beautiful place presence and lift my brokenness right now and the struggle that I'm experiencing and just lift me up. I need your presence. Would you come to me now?
[00:49:19] And maybe for some of you, you're just saying, wow.
[00:49:22] You know, Pastor, you covered a lot of ground today.
[00:49:26] We even talked about the final judgment.
[00:49:29] Are you ready to meet your maker?
[00:49:32] You know, you can be a young person. You think I got all the time in the world? No, you don't. You don't know the day or the hour. God's going to call you home.
[00:49:39] You need to get right with God.
[00:49:42] You and I were created by him and we were created for Him. And all sin is, is not bringing glory to God. And if you're living a life that's directed by yourself, you're in rebellion against God.
[00:49:54] You need to surrender your life to him and say, father, forgive me, I want to serve you.
[00:50:00] It'll be the greatest choice you've ever made. It's the greatest decision to get human being can make. It's transformational. It'll change you. It'll move you in a whole new direction. You'll begin to live out the design that God created for you. From the very beginning of time, when he created you, he had a plan. You're going to step into God's plan. It's so beautiful.
[00:50:21] So I pray today, Lord, that you would open our hearts to you.
[00:50:25] I don't know where each of us are camped, but I know we're camped somewhere.
[00:50:29] And I know that you want to invade that space.
[00:50:32] I pray that your presence would invade our hearts this morning, that we would hear your voice and respond to you. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name, amen. God bless you as you leave this morning.
