Title: The Coming King of Zion - Jesus Christ our Lord!
Text: Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The Coming King of Zion - Jesus Christ our Lord!
A story is told of a pastor at the close of the service, how a stranger came up to him and said, "I don't like the way you spoke about the cross. I think that instead of emphasizing the death of Christ, it would be far better to preach Jesus, the teacher and example." The pastor replied, "If I presented Christ in that way, would you be willing to follow Him?" "I certainly would," said the stranger without hesitation. "All right then," said the pastor, "let's take the first step. He did no sin. Can you claim that for yourself?" The man looked confused and somewhat surprised. "Why, no," he said. "I acknowledge that I do sin." The pastor replied, "Then your greatest need is to have a Savior, not an example!"
The Coming King of Zion - Jesus Christ our Lord!
On this Psalm Sunday weekend we rejoice in the truth that we have a savior and not just an example. The very Son of God prophesied in the book of Zechariah, Being just and possessing righteousness as would be the first requirement of a true ruler, and bearing or carrying the salvation with Him which the Lord had planned.
This humble servant who came down from heaven was not in the form of your everyday earthly King. This King and Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord, would rise through lowliness and suffering to the strength and glory which was hidden in Him in the state of His humiliation, and which now is leading in one short week to His trial and crucifixion at the cross.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
The ways of the world and its Kingdoms are built by the power of the sword. The reach of man’s conquests is stretched into territories of his choosing. The chariot, the war horse and the battle bow come down on the unsuspecting to the glory of the one wielding power. Power in might brought to bear over people places and things by the gods, Kings and rulers of earthly Kingdoms.
The Coming King of Zion - Jesus Christ our Lord!
In our day and age we too see the power of the sword wielded upon others. Those with much prey upon those who have little. Power is displayed in the battle for land or in the battle for influence. Religious differences call for tolerance in our land. Real persecution comes to the Christian church daily around the world but with many of us its inactivity, non-involvement and quietly keeping our Christian worldview to ourselves. To profess and publicly acknowledge God -is fine - as long as He doesn't have a name and as long as that name is not Jesus! Once His name is mentioned you are politically incorrect because you proclaim with all Christians from all time:
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:10)
And now this Jesus, coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Is:
The Coming King of Zion - Jesus Christ our Lord!
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
… Or in another translation (and He shall speak peace unto the heathen - which are those apart from the Gospel), this being the very meaning of His Gospel-message,
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
This humble King, Jesus Christ, by his very death and resurrection will bring peace, the peace that passes all human understanding to the very ends on the Earth.
The reaction to this message of peace for many is the catalyst for anger.
Egypt’s Christian Coptic Church has been hit very hard by those opposed to Christ, torching the structure of churches and then looting and burning nearby Christian-owned homes and businesses.
The Mar Gerges burning is the third church in Egypt in seven months, to be burned down by a mob. Additionally, numerous other churches have been looted or otherwise attacked, including a New Year’s Eve bombing at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria that left 23 dead and scores critically wounded.
Peace only comes by the way of truth and Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life. C.S. Lewis has said:
If you look for truth, you may find comfort; if you look for comfort you will find neither, and in the end you will only find despair.
C. S. Lewis
The Coming King of Zion - Jesus Christ our Lord brings peace, comfort and truth, for you!
Kirk Cameron, Who was on the TV show “Growing Pains” back in the 80’s as a teen actor has been an out spoken advocate of traditional Christian values.
Cameron was asked his views on gay marriage during an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan.
"Marriage is almost as old as dirt, and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve. One man, one woman for life till death do you part," says Cameron. "So do I support the idea of gay marriage? No, I don't."
Morgan then asked the born-again Christian if he thought homosexuality was a sin. To that, Cameron replied, "I think that it's unnatural. I think that it's - it's detrimental, and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization."
Kirk Cameron sat for an interview with Ann Curry of the Today show. Curry asked him to comment on the firestorm that followed his recent comments about homosexuality during an interview with Piers Morgan.
"I was surprised, frankly, that people were surprised by the things that I’ve said. I have been consistent for 15 years as a Christian. I’m a Bible-believing Christian. What I would have thought was more newsworthy is if I had said something that contradicted the word of God, if I had contradicted my faith."
Cameron is on to something here. Our culture is not threatened by those who abandon the Christian faith, but by those who uphold it. It is not newsworthy that liberal mainline churches have abandoned Christianity’s 2,000-year-old sexual ethic or that Roman Catholic politicians routinely take stands that contradict their church’s teaching. What is newsworthy is that there are still some Christians who will not change their beliefs in order to accommodate the ever-shifting sexual views of the prevailing culture
.
It’s not Christianity that has changed. Our culture’s tolerance of it certainly has.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
God has set you free from the power of sin, the flesh and the devil. As our triumphant King Jesus Christ rides today into Jerusalem. His path to the cross from His baptism, where He was marked as the chief of sinners for you, also points to His ride today as a triumphant ride that in a short while will accomplish the freedom for all sinners of all time - for you.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.
You are set free from your sin because Jesus came for sinners! He came to set you free. He came for you! He gave His life at the cross to pay the price God demands to satisfy His justice and you are free. You are truly free!
He (Jesus) did no sin and we all acknowledge that we sin and are sinners. Our greatest need has been fulfilled because we have a Savior:
The Coming King of Zion - Jesus Christ our Lord!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
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