The coming of Zion’s King

 

(Sermon preached on Palm Sunday 2016 at the Brecon Presbyterian Church)

Zechariah 9:9-10, Matthew 21:1-11

Introduction

Text:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
( Zechariah 9: 9)

These words are quoted by Matthew when he describes the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Normally on this day we look at the accounts in the Gospels, but today we’re going to look at this passage from the Prophet Zechariah.

Zechariah was writing after the Exile, at a time when the Jews were under Persian rule. They had been permitted to return to their homeland and to the city of Jerusalem, but things were far from what they had been in earlier times. Some people wanted to look back nostalgically to the glories of King David and King Solomon. Others yearned for the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One. They believed God was going to send a Deliverer who would restore the glory of Jerusalem. This Messiah would extend his rule over the earth. He would defeat all his enemies and bring peace to the whole world. Most Jews saw him as a conquering hero, a military commander who would arrive seated on a mighty war horse with sword in hand.

It is true that Isaiah spoke of a Suffering Servant – a Messiah who would give his life for the nation – but most people took no notice of what he said. It was the conquering hero they looked for.

Now let us look at Zechariah’s words and see what kind of Messiah he is describing here.

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Daughter of Zion

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter of Jerusalem. See your king comes to you.

Zion was the name of the hill in Jerusalem which David captured from the Jebusites. He made it his capital, and later his son Solomon built the Temple there. “Zion” then, generally means the same as “Jerusalem”. It’s a more poetic way of saying “Jerusalem”.

But who is this “Daughter of Zion”, or “Daughter of Jerusalem”? Does it refer to a specific woman – for example: a queen in Jerusalem? No. What we have here is a poetic idiom often used in the Hebrew scriptures. The “Daughter of Zion” is a personification of the City of Jerusalem. The city and its inhabitants are represented as a woman. (We have the same thing. For example: “Britannia” on our coins – the personification of Great Britain as a woman.) So “Daughter of Jerusalem” simply means the city or the people of Jerusalem. The whole people – not just a female part of the population.

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The coming King

Rejoice O Jerusalem because “your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation.” He is the true King – “David’s greater Son”. He will rule with complete righteousness. Everything he will do will be right, and he will bring people into a right relationship with God. He will bring salvation or deliverance.

Most of the Jews at that time would have interpreted that in military terms. “He is going to save us from our enemies. He is going to deliver us. “ And they would probably imagine him riding on a mighty war horse with sword in hand. Or perhaps riding in a war chariot, surrounded by his men of arms. “He’s going to be a mighty conqueror”.

But hang on a minute – that’s not what Zechariah says! He doesn’t say “nobly riding upon a war horse”. No. What he actually says is, “gentle and riding on a donkey. On a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Not even a grown up donkey, but a young and untrained one!

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The Kingdom of Peace

The war horse is the symbol of military might and power. But the humble donkey is the symbol of peace. The one who rides such a beast will be a man of peace and his Kingdom will not be extended at the point of a sword.

And indeed Zechariah goes on to say – “I will take away the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.”
(“Ephraim” is the name of one of the northern tribes of Israel. It is used here as a poetic synonym for Israel.)
“I will take away the chariots, and the war horse, and the battle bow”. Or to put it in modern terms: “I’m not coming with the big battalions. I won’t have tanks or armoured vehicles. I won’t have guns, bombs or ground to air missiles. I’m coming in peace.”

“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.”

The Israelites did not know that the world is shaped like a globe. They thought of it as a flat disc. The land was in the centre, taking up most of the space, with the Mediterranean Sea at the very centre of the land. Far off in the west was an ocean (which we know as the Atlantic ocean) and somewhere off to the east another ocean (which we call the Indian Ocean). So from “sea to sea” means “across the whole earth” And “from the River (that is the river Euphrates) to the ends of the earth” means the same. His kingdom of peace will be everywhere.

As we sing in the hymn:

Jesus shall reign where e’er the sun
doth his successive journeys run;
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.

(Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 72)

The Messiah is going to bring peace not just to the Jews but to all mankind. On Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a young, untrained donkey. The crowds rejoiced at his entry, waving palm branches and casting their garments before his path. This was how you welcomed a conquering hero in those days. (Today we would wave flags and banners and roll out the red carpet.)

The crowd welcomes Jesus as a conquering hero. But he himself is deliberately making sure that he fulfills the words Of Zechariah to the letter. He makes arrangements for the disciples to bring him a young donkey, and his followers are unarmed.

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Conclusion

Yes Jesus is the Messiah prophesied by Zechariah.

He comes in righteousness – to do the right thing and put people right in their hearts with God.

He comes with salvation – to triumph over our enemies. Those enemies are not the Babylonians, or the Persians, or the Greeks, or the Romans, or any other earthly enemies. The enemy he comes to defeat is the power of evil, and the Evil One himself. He triumphs over sin, over death and the grave. He comes to bring eternal life to all who trust in him.

He comes in humility and in peace – prepared to die on a cross of shame for our salvation.

He comes for all mankind, not just for the Jews – to spread the Good News of his Kingdom to the very ends of the earth.

The Gospel of Christ is a gospel of peace and when we truly believe that Gospel we become peace-makers ourselves. If only people would truly welcome Christ into their hearts. If they did peace would reign everywhere.

Stones can speak

 

Matthew19:40 : “if they keep quite, the stones will cry out”

 (Sermon for Palm Sunday)

Introduction

Shakespeare speaks of “sermons in stones” and our text speaks of the very stones crying out. There are quite a few references to stones in the Bible. Let’s think about some of the things that stones can do.

1) Stones can cry out in praise to Jesus

On Palm Sunday Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. He was proclaiming to all the people that he was indeed the Messiah who was coming in peace, to bring salvation to all who would receive him.The crowd was full of enthusiasm. They laid their cloaks on the ground to act as a carpet for him to ride over. They also cut branches of palms and of other trees and strewed them before him. And they waved palm branches in jubilation to welcome the Messiah.

The whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”

we are also told that children were active in praising him.

But the Pharisees in the crowd were not happy. They said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!” (Luke 19:37-40)

 

Now there is a time for all things and this was definitely a time for praising God. Specifically it was a time to acknowledge that Jesus was the coming Messiah. If the people don’t do that, then even the stones lining the road will cry out!

This tells us that there is a time to be outgoing and evangelistic about our faith. There is a time to praise God with a loud voice. There is a time to boldly proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. It is our task now to do what that crowd was doing then.

2) Stones can build an edifice

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

(1 Peter 2:5)

 

Peter is telling us that we are like stones being used in he construction of a great building – a temple for the Lord. That temple is the church of Jesus Christ, and we are being built into it. Like building stones we are meant to fit together to make a secure wall. The stones have to fit in alongside one another. They are carefully cut and finished off so that they will all form a strong structure. But as someone has once said: building up the Church is rather like building with bananas! You can’t get them to fit together. They slide over one another. Let us allow the Lord to work in our lives – to finish us off so that we fit together in the wall of his holy Temple.

Peter, who wrote these words was himself called a stone or rock – for that is what the name Peter means. Jesus said his church would be based on the foundation of the same kind of faith Peter had when he announced that Jesus was indeed the Son of the Living God.

Later in this passage Peter also speaks of another stone:

3) A stone can become a cornerstone

For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,

a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who trusts in him

will never be put to shame.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”

and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble

and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. (1Peter 2:6-8)

These are words quoted by Peter from the Psalms. The cornerstone is the keystone of the building. Everything depends on that stone. Without the cornerstone being in place the whole building falls apart. In the same way Christ is central to his Church – without Christ there is no Church. Now this may seem to be obvious but it is surprising how often people forget this truth. They try to build the Church without Christ – just turning it into a social club or voluntary organization where people go to do good works. Without the preaching of Christ as Saviour of the world the Church is nothing. He is the Keystone.

But that stone is often rejected, Peter says. Jesus was rejected by the Pharisees and other religious leaders of his day. And yet now he is risen – triumphant as Lord of all. “And the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Peter also says that for some people Jesus is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. He was a stone of stumbling to the Pharisees who would not accept this teaching. They could not accept he fact that he welcomed sinners into God’s Kingdom. They rejected Christ and trusted instead in their own self-righteousness. He was a stumbling block to them.

Let us make sure that he will never be a stumbling-block to us.

4) Stones can be used as weapons to execute justice

The Law of Moses prescribed stoning for a number of offences, including adultery. On one occasion the scribes and Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman caught in the very act of adultery and asked what should be done. ( Interesting that they caught the man and woman together but only brought the woman to be punished!) Jesus said, Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone. And when they all retired, shamefaced, he said “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”(John 7:53-8:11)

 

According to the Law, stones were to be used to execute justice on those deemed worthy of death. But Jesus came with forgiveness and grace for the repentant sinner. He did not condemn the woman but neither did he condone – he told her her to sin no more. How precious is this truth to us. The Law condemns but the grace of Jesus saves us from the curse of the Law. Without this grace there would be no hope for any of us – not just the obvious sinners.

It was because Jesus died on the cross that he is able to offer us this grace. On the Cross of Calvary he took upon himself our sins and suffered the punishment we deserved. Through his death we are freed from our sins and their consequences. We shall not face the judgement of the Law.

5) A stone can be rolled away to reveal the ultimate victory.

On the day Jesus rose from the dead the women went down to his tomb to anoint his body with spices. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb and the body of Jesus gone. Angels proclaimed to them that Christ was risen. And so the victory was revealed. A removed stone testified to the Risen Christ! As we go through Holy Week we quite rightly concentrate on the suffering and death of Jesus. This is especially true on Good Friday. We think about how Jesus died as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. But all throughout this week we must not forget the final victory. Good Friday is “good” because of Easter Day.His raising from the dead sets the seal on all that he did for us on the cross.

Conclusion

· stones can praise God, and we should praise God.

· Stones can build a temple to the Lord, and we are called as living stones to be built into that temple, which is the Church of God.

· A stone can be the corner- or key-stone. And Jesus is that cornerstone. May he never be a stumbling-block to us. May we wholeheartedly trust in him.

· Stones can be the means of executing the sentence of the Law upon the sinner. But Jesus died so that we might not be under Law, but under grace.

· A stone was rolled away when Jesus rose from the dead, triumphant over sin and death.May we all share in his victory.

In the name of the Lord

Text: Psalm 118:26a. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Introduction

These words are found in Psalm 118 which was one of the Hallel Psalms used by the Jews in connection with the Passover festival. It was at this time of the year that Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And in this psalm we can pick up many resonances with that event:

v 25 –“O Lord, save us”  – this is “Hosanna” in Hebrew. It was the very cry of the people who were welcoming Jesus as their Messiah. He was their King, who was going to save them.

v27 —  “With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession” – this makes us think of the people waving palm branches (as well as branches from other trees) as they welcomed Jesus at his Triumphal Entry.

v26 — “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  On Palm Sunday this was what the people cried to welcome Jesus. In shouting these words they were deliberately quoting Psalm 118. It was a messianic greeting,  as  was the title Son of David, which they used.

For Jesus this day was in one sense a great triumph – that there should be so many people waiting to welcome him as the Messiah. But in another sense it was a day of misunderstanding, because so many of the people in that crowd had expectations that he had no intention to fulfill.

Well, he wasn’t going to raise an armed rebellion and drive the Romans out of the Holy Land, was he?.  Yes, he was the King of the Jews, but not in the earthly sense they were thinking of.

Within five days the cries would change from “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” to “Crucify him!”  And Jesus knew this was going to happen.

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“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord – let’s think about these words for a while. To whom can these words be applied? Well, of course they apply to Jesus – he was the Messiah, he was God’s Son who came in the name  of the Father. But we can apply these words to other people as well as to Jesus.  They can apply to those who follow him, who come in his name.

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Preachers

These words surely can apply to preachers and evangelists, and to all who stand up to address people in public with the Christian message. When I stand in the pulpit to preach, I am coming to you in the name of the Lord. But woe  betide me if my words are contrary to the Lord’s message! Indeed every preacher has to ask him or herself the question: “Is what I am about to say an expression of the Word of God, or am I just putting forward my own ideas?”

The pulpit should not be platform to express political views, or pet theories, or outlandish doctrines. Nor should it be a showcase for oratory or academic prowess. First and foremost it must be a place from which the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed. Secondly it must be a place from which Christian teaching proceeds.  So, as a preacher, I have to take care that what I am saying accords with God’s truth as revealed in the Bible. This is because I come in the name of the Lord.

And for you in the pews it’s important that you receive the Word and respond to it. I don’t mean that you have to agree with everything I say in the pulpit! I mean you must be open to God’s truth when it comes to you.

And it doesn’t only come from the pulpit. No, the Christian message can come to us in many different  and unexpected ways throughout  the day. Sometimes we are consciously looking for it – as when we read the Bible or tune in to a Christian radio programme. Other times it hits us serendipitously. We might hear someone preaching in the street. We might overhear a conversation. We might stumble upon a radio or TV programme, or read something in a book or even a newspaper which brings God’s truth to us. We might be surfing the Internet and stumble upon God’s Word – there are plenty of Christian websites out there.

So then, when you hear the Word of God –  whether in church or out of church, whether in the Bible or elsewhere –  you should respond to it in this way : “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Ask God’s blessing on that person, who has brought his word to you.

But there are other ways people can come to us in the name of the Lord  – not just preaching the Word.

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Worship and church life

Ordained ministers, in addition to bringing the Word of God, also come in the Lord’s name with prayers, with sacraments, with the worship of the church.  And all who lead worship do so in the name of the Lord.

Organists and other musicians, readers, those who lead prayers, stewards who welcome you at the door and hand you a hymnbook – they all do it in the name of the Lord.

And those who arrange the flowers, and those who wash the Communion cups, and those who sweep the floor, and those who unlock the church, and those who move the chairs, and those  who cut the grass – they all do it in the name of the Lord. The list of things is endless.

And the blessing of God is on those who do these things for his glory, sincerely and to the best of their ability. Jesus said “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).  And there definitely is a blessing in serving the Lord.

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Service to others

This coming in the name of the Lord is not limited to things we do in church. We also go out into the world in his name. We are called to be his witnesses and to show his love in word and action.

If you care for others, help those in need, give to the poor, act as a good neighbour  – then you are serving the Lord.  Jesus said:

‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ ( Matthew 25:40)

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Blessed is the one who lives an unselfish life and thinks about the needs of others. He or she does it in the name of the Lord.

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Other everyday tasks

But we still have not exhausted our theme. It’s not just the things we do for other people which we can do in the name of he Lord . Even the everyday things we do for ourselves can be done in his name

 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

“Whatever you do” – that includes the most mundane things – washing the dishes, tidying the house, washing your hair, walking the dog, eating your food.  If we do these things with a thankful heart then we do them for the glory of God.

And and if there are any activities we feel we can not do in the name of the Lord, then those are activities we should not be doing anyway. But any activity with is not sinful in itself may be done in the name of the Lord – not just the “religious” things, or the “spiritual” things, or the things we do for other people. Even our enjoyments and leisure activities, our hobbies and sports, can be done for God’s glory.

As the hymn-writer says:

So shall no part of day or night
From sacredness be free;
But all my life, in every step
Be fellowship with thee.

(Horatius Bonar)

I think the key is in having an attitude of mindfulness towards God – what the 17th century monk Brother Lawrence called “practicing the presence of God”. It means reminding ourselves that we are in God’s presence throughout the day, even as we go about our everyday tasks. Brother Lawrence found that he was just as close to God when he was washing the dishes in the monastery kitchen as when he was on his knees receiving the Sacrament.

Jesus

Finally, and most important of all, it’s Jesus who comes to us in the name of the Lord as he did on that first Palm Sunday. He comes to us, in the name of the Father, to bring us salvation. He offers his own blood as a sacrifice for our sins and he waits for us to respond to him. Do we say,

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”? Do we know him as our Lord and our Saviour. You see, there is no way we can go out in the name of the Lord unless we know the Lord, unless we have first received him into our lives.

There were many who cried “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday but later were content to let him go to his death. We shall not be like those people. Let us instead say “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”“ and welcome him.

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Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

Just five days before he died, Jesus came riding on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem. Crowds came out to meet him and his followers from the country came behind him in procession. The crowd was ecstatic: they waved palm fronds, they carpeted the ground beneath his donkey’s feet with branches and with robes, they shouted his praise.

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

The little children also joined in the praises. Later that day they were seen running around in the Temple courts, shouting excitedly “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

All this happened to fulfil the words of the prophet Zechariah: “Fear not, O daughter of Zion. Behold your King comes, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

The disciples at the time didn’t understand the significance. But later, after Jesus had returned to the Father, then they remembered how they had done all those things the prophet had spoken of.

 

Now, what does Hosanna mean? Isn’t it just a shout of praise – a bit like hallelujah? True, there is that aspect of it – the word Hosanna by the time of Jesus had come to be used as a general acclamation or praise to a conquering hero. But originally the word had a very specific meaning: Hosha-na – “save us, we pray”. It was a cry for help, a plea to be rescued from their enemies.

I’m sure many of the people in the crowd on Palm Sunday were thinking that Jesus had come to rid them of their enemies, the Romans. So they were very pleased to welcome him. But they didn’t seem to notice he wasn’t riding a war horse with armed men marching behind. He was on a humble donkey, the symbol of peace! Yes, Jesus was coming to save his people, but it wasn’t to save them from the Romans. It was to save them from their sins and from their spiritual enemy, the Devil. Jesus wasn’t going to bring in the Kingdom by force. No, he was going to die on a cross for the sins of the whole world. And even as the crowd was crying Hosanna there were some in Jerusalem plotting to destroy him. Already they were planning to bribe one of his disciples to betray him.

 And so Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. On Monday he cast the money changers out of the Temple. Then he spent time in the Temple courts, teaching about God and his Kingdom. In fact, many of the parables and teachings of Jesus we are most familiar with were given at this time – during the last week of his life. On Thursday he shared his last supper with his disciples and washed their feet. Then Judas went out into the darkness to betray him. And so, on to Good Friday:

 

Good Friday

 

 When Jesus was nailed to the cross the sun was darkened for three hours – even the world of nature was affected by the great events that were happening.

 

Criminals

Alongside him were crucified two other men – criminals who had committed violent offences against the state. Jesus had done no harm in his life but was punished and died the death of a criminal. One of these men reviled Jesus and mocked him: “Are you not the Messiah, save yourself – and us!” But the other said: “Don’t talk like that. Aren’t you afraid of God? We are being punished because we deserve it, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

 

Enemies

Now there were other people by the cross that day – the enemies of Jesus were there. Many of the passers-by mocked him. “Save yourself and come down from the cross!” they said. And the Chief Priests were also there mocking him. “He saved others but he can’t save himself! Let the Messiah, the King of Israel come down now from the cross that we might see and believe!” Such cruel mockery. But it was not weakness that kept Jesus there on the cross. It was his love for these very men, and for all the world, that kept him there.

 

Friends

But it was not just the enemies of Jesus who were present. Thankfully some of his friends were there too – particularly the women among his disciples. There at the foot of the cross were Mary, his mother, and John, his beloved disciple. Jesus looked down at Mary and said to her, “Behold your son!” You might think he was referring to himself and to the terrible plight he was in upon the cross. But he then looked toward John and said, “Behold your mother!” Thus he indicated that, after his departure, John should be like a son to Mary, and Mary like a mother to John. And we are told that from that time John took Mary into his house as a member of his family. Even in his deepest pain and sorrow Jesus found time to think of his mother and to make provision for her after his death. It must also have been a comfort to him to see some of his friends watching at the foot of the cross.

 

Believing

And even some of those who were supposed to be his enemies were drawn to him at the foot of the cross. They found themselves believing in him. The Roman Centurion, for example, and some of the other people there. There were awe-inspiring occurances when Jesus breathed his last. There was a mighty earthquake and, in the Temple the veil separating between the Holy of Holies and the rest of the Temple was torn from top to bottom. When the Centurion and some others with him felt the earthquake and saw the way Jesus died they were filled with awe. “Truly this man was the Son of God!” So even the Centurion and the other Roman Soldiers began to see who Jesus was. After he died his body was taken from the cross and placed in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. There he rested until the third day, the day of Resurrection. And we shall celebrate that next Sunday. Amazing love Meanwhile, in the coming week we shall reflect on the amazing love of God that brought his Son into the world to be our Saviour.

“How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That he should give his only Son

To make a wretch his treasure. “

 

[ Address given on Palm Sunday 2009 at a service of all-age worship at the Brecon Presbyterian Church. The talk was illustrated with felt board figures.]