The prophet gives several visions,
then he comes to prophecy. And in chapter 9 of Zechariah,
and verse 9 and 10 and 11. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee. He is just, and having salvation
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an
ass. And I will cut off the chariot
from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow
shall be cut off. And he shall speak peace unto
the heathen, and his dominion shall be from sea, even to sea,
and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee
also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners
out of the pit wherein is no water. Verse nine again said,
thy king cometh just slowly riding upon the coat, the foal of an
ass. Now Zachariah gives us the fact
and the prophecy. Matthew chapter 21 gives us the
details and how it came to pass. So in Matthew chapter 21, one
through 11, when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem and were come
to Bethpage under the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus to disciples
saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and
straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Loose them, and bring them unto
me. If any man say, Ought unto thee,
ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will
send them. And this was done, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell
the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek
and sitting upon an ass, and a coat, the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did
as Jesus commanded them. And he brought the ass and the
coat, and put on them their clothes, and they set him their own. And a very great multitude spread
their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from
the trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitude that
went before and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the
Son of God. Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. When he was come into Jerusalem,
all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude
said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. Now I'd like to handle this in
two ways this morning. Number one, look at the gift
of prophecy of old and number two, the fulfillment of the prophecy
that we have read in the New Testament. We began these studies
with a very sure premise that shall not be dismissed. And this
is set forth with great regularity in the New Testament scripture,
which is this. That is that the Messiah is very
frequently mentioned in the Old Testament scripture and the concurrence
of events in regard to Jesus of Nazareth during his life confirmed
him to be the subject and the object of those prophecies and
that he is indeed the Messiah spoken about of old. A couple
of examples, David in the 16th Psalm spoke not just of himself
and of his own death and resurrection But he spoke of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we learned that in Acts chapter
2 and verse 31. That Messiah was the object of
the prophecy of David. And that Jesus of Nazareth is
that great Messiah promised of old. So that the prophecy in
Psalm 16 8 through 11 were fulfilled in the Lord. He arose without
seeing any corruption. Here are other examples proving
that the Christ was indeed foretold by the Old Testament prophet
and that Jesus perfectly matched and fulfilled those prophecies. First, the Lord himself said
so. In John chapter 5, 45 through
verse 47, the Jews highly esteemed Moses and they trusted in him. In verse 45, in his words, they
had hope. what Moses had written. And in
verse 46 of John chapter 5, the Lord tells them, if you really
believe Moses, you would believe me because he wrote of me. Moses wrote of me. There's that
great one in Luke chapter 24. and verse 27, with those two
despondent men on the road out to Damath. And in Luke 24 and
verse 44, to the eleven and their company, the Lord stresses to
them that he was the subject of the Old Testament scripture. And the Jews confessed And they
confess that they believed in the authority and the canon of
the Old Testament scripture. That they believed what Moses
read and wrote in the law, what the psalmist wrote, and what
the prophets themselves had written. In John chapter 1 and verse 45,
we see another example of that. When one came and said, we have
found him that Moses wrote about in the law. And there were plenty
more examples we'll not take time to refer to today. But many things that Christ said,
many things that Christ did, many things that were done unto
the Lord Jesus Christ, Of them it was said that it fulfilled
the Scripture. This was done in order that the
Scripture might be fulfilled. So, let's make a point. It was not that the Jews denied
that the Scripture told of a coming Messiah. They did not deny that,
but they confessed it and believed it. They did believe that a Messiah
would come, but they did not accept Jesus as being that Messiah. He did not meet their expectation
of a Messiah. He did not meet their outward
glory and such like. of a Messiah, because, as you
know, they wanted a mighty king on a throne, on earth, ruling
and exalting them as the head of the nation. To deliver them
from the Roman yoke, they desired that one might come. And so,
they did not accept Him as the Messiah, and they crucified Him
up on the cross. Concerning Zechariah, there are
two things about the book of the prophet Zechariah that I
want to call to our attention this morning. Number one, for
its authenticity, it is referred to in the New Testament. There are several passages mentioned
or quoted by the New Testament speakers or writers. For example, Zechariah chapter
8 and verse 16 is referred to in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse
25. The one we have read this morning
chapter 9 and verse 9 has been called the triumphal entry of
our Lord into the city of Jerusalem and all of the Gospels make a
reference under that. Zechariah, we'll have a sermon
on this, chapter 11, verse 12 and verse 13, tales of the 30
pieces of silver, quoted in Matthew 27 and verse 9. Zechariah 12
and verse 10, The piercing of God's beloved
occurred when our Lord was on the cross. John 19 and verse
37. Zechariah 13 and verse 7. The smiting sword. The smitten
one. And Matthew 26, 31 refers to
that referring to the Lord as the
smitten shepherd. So the conclusion to be made,
this puts the seal of authenticity upon the book as belonging to
the passages or the canon of the scripture. The second thing
about Zechariah, and closely related to that, the prophetic
tone and element of the book of Zechariah, and particularly
in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some expositors
who divide the book of Zechariah into four different parts or
sections. Chapter 1 and verses 1 through
6, is the introduction to the book, and where God said, I'm
displeased with your father. Secondly, there's that symbolical
part of the book, chapter 1 and verse 7, down to chapter 6 and
verse 15. And in that section, there are
some say eight, some say nine visions that were given under
the prophet Zechariah. complicated for us to unravel
and understand. Then chapter 7 and chapter 8
are considered teaching chapters in the book. And then chapter
9, until the end of the book, are the prophecies that pertain
to the Lord and His great work. Now Zechariah, the prophet Zechariah,
was one of what has been called the prophets of restoration because
they prophesied in the time of the return from the Babylonian
captivity. Malachi, Haggai, and Zechariah
being loved as the prophet of restoration. Several expositors
agree that the name Zechariah means the Lord remembered. Zechariah, the Lord remembered. He prophesied, as I said, after
the return from the Babylonian captivity and is directed to
the Jews in their particular land at that time. And I think
we can see that a main subject of this book is the restoration
from the restoration prophet was the exhortation to those
returning out of the Babylonian captivity to rebuild the temple
where they might worship and restore the pure worship of God
in that place, city, and temple. However, Before we consider our
first prophecy from Zachariah concerning the Christ, I would
that you bear with me a little bit for a digression as we look
at the prophet and the prophetical gift as it pertains to those
of the Old Testament. a matter of great importance
when studying the history of the Old Testament. The history
of God revealing himself unto his people. The history of God
making himself known unto humanity and particularly to the people
of God. And the different manner of God's
revelation to people again, especially unto the people of God, of the
ways that God conveyed to the people the revelation and the
knowledge of himself, as well as the times in which those things
were to come to pass and were employed by the prophets whom
God had called. You remember something that we
read in the book of Hebrews? It opens this way, chapter 1,
verse 1 and 2. God, who at times passed in diverse
manner, in different ways, spoke unto our fathers by the prophets. hath in these last days spoken
unto us in his Son, whom he hath made heir, and whom hath sit
down at the right hand of God." So consider, revelation in some
form must exist. that God's will may be known,
and that he might be obeyed, and that he might be worshipped,
and of those that God will reveal himself. There must be some medium
of revelation. Now, we can see, I believe, as
we study through the scripture, three distinct forms of God's
revelation over the history of God and Himself making Him known
to the human family in human history. Here are the three things. Then we will look at them individually
a bit. Number one, God's revelation
of Himself to the human family was what we might call for lack
of a better term, the patriarchal era. The fathers, as they are
so often spoken of in the New Testament. And that would be
Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and such like. And
then secondly, there is the Mosaic era. of God's revelation of himself
from Moses and down through Malachi. And then thirdly, there is the
Christian era of revelation, when the lamp is trimmed brighter
than ever before with the appearance of the Son of God and the apostolical
college to reveal the things of the Lord. Now, with that in
our mind, let's look at them individually before we move along. For there's something unique
and peculiar about each one of these eras eras and revelation,
E-R-A, and the revelation therein. First of all, the patriarchal
era again. It could be called theophany
because God revealed himself directly and personally unto
men in this era, either by personal appearance or by dreams or vision,
And God communed with them, not through prophets, but directly. And he made his will known unto
them directly, the men that we have mentioned. Unlike the later
prophets and apostles, the first or the early patriarch, as we
read the scripture, we find they were not miracle workers like
Moses and the prophets that followed after him. For example, God spoke
directly to Noah in Genesis chapter 6 and 7. The glory of God appeared
unto Abraham. Acts chapter 7 and verse 2. The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham. In Genesis chapter 12 and 1,
Hebrews 11 and verse 8 gives us a record that God sent not
a prophet, but appeared Himself unto them. He appeared unto Isaac
in Genesis chapter 26. He appeared again unto Jacob
in Genesis 28. and 10 through 15. Now, the point
that I'm making is this. During the era of the patriarchs
just mentioned, the Lord would speak directly unto them and
not use the medium of human prophet to speak His will unto the people
chosen by Him. God revealed Himself and His
will directly unto them, and that is beyond our comprehension
or my explanation, whether by oral voice in their particular
language or the impression we're not told how it was done. But
secondly, then came the Mosaic era, and God took a little bit
of a different way. when God lessened his direct
appearance and communication unto the people and inspired
prophets more and more to go and to communicate and to say
his will unto the people of his holy name. And many of these,
he enabled the work by confirming miracles to convince the people
that it was indeed a man of God. And during this time, A theocracy
was established in Israel. And the administration of that
theocracy was put into the hands of men. Moses, of course, being
the first one. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and on we might go. By the way, When we
go back to Sinai in Exodus chapter 20, 18 through 21, and Deuteronomy
chapter 5, and verse 22 through 28, we remember, we're reminded
that the people were so frightened by the majestic display of the
glory of God at Sinai and the giving of the law. They were
so frightened by the voice of God and the thunder and the lightning
that they retreated from the mount and they came to Moses
and they said unto him, You speak unto us the things of God. Don't
let God speak unto us anymore lest we die. And even Moses said,
so fearful was the sight that he trembled. And in Deuteronomy
chapter 5, verse 15 through 18, God thought that well in verse
17. God agreed with that. It was
good. It would be the way. Verse 18,
God would raise up brethren prophets. God would raise up men out from
their midst that would speak unto them the things of God. He would put His words in their
mouth and they would go and speak unto the people. Samuel being
a very prominent one of that, 1 Samuel chapter 3. and verse
20. Acts 13 and verse 20. Now at first, most of their communication
to the people was oral. It was not written letters delivered.
It was oral. And then began to put their prophecies
in writing. To write them on the scroll. And this was therefore a several
or a dual process. A, to preserve the prophecy for
posterity, and B, in writing, as a preparation for the coming
of Messiah, where the word of God was in a common language
when he came. But now, the Christian dispensation
was guided. as Thomas More has written and
could be called theology, by which the man meant that the
revelation to this age was through inspired divine writings. When God committed the word of
God to the page or to writing, the written word, the scripture,
the Bible, we're not to expect personal appearances of our God,
like was unto Noah and Abraham and such. Nor are we to expect
that inspired men or apostles will appear among us again in
our age. But we are to learn and be guided
by the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of our God. This is God's
revelation unto us. For it is to this form of revelation
and instruction that the former Theophany, an inspired prophet,
conducted the people of God, bringing them to the settled
and written scripture. And 2 Peter 1 and verse 19 may
surprise you, but it calls them a more sure word of prophecy
than what they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration. Now, I'd
like to quote from Thomas More's article on the Restoration Prophet. And that would be Zechariah,
Haggai, and Malachi, about the gift and the offering of prophecy. He said, I quote, the will of
God is made known in the Christian dispensation, not by direct appearances,
such as Theophany, nor inspired prophets. but by divine writings,
the inspired word that lives and abides forever." So we have
these three ways or means of God's revelation now coming and
living under the written word. And yet there are those who charge
us for that with bibliolatry, bibliidolatry, that we worship
the Bible, they say. But how can you have a better
book? Making too much of the scripture
or making an idol out of the Bible, some have charged us with
that. And yet our motto is scripture
only. Scripture above everything else. Some want to give way to their
feelings and to their desire and their biases and interpret
to suit their belief or their biases instead of being content
with the Word of God. So came the age of the prophets
and they spoke of the coming Great One, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Messiah. Now, with all that behind us,
let's take up our first prophecy out of the book of Zechariah,
and we had it in chapter 9 and verse 9. the prophet being there,
and concerns the king, Messiah. Or should I say, Messiah, the
king. It concerns him as a king, the
king of peace, and what is most generally called the triumphal
entry into Jerusalem on that particular day, and remember
that it was the season of the Passover. I told you that we
found all four of the Gospel writers make an account of this
event. Mark's, rather Matthew's, is
in chapter 21 of his Gospel. Mark's is in chapter 11. Luke's
is in chapter 19. And John's is in chapter 12 of
his gospel. And this gives authenticity to
the prophet. And Matthew 21 and 4 again, if
you would, connected directly to the prophecy. All this was
done that might be fulfilled was spoken by the prophet. Now,
I think it bears repeating that all was written of him in the
law, in the psalm, and in the prophet must be fulfilled. So says Luke 24. And verse 44,
these are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in
the law of Moses in the psalm and in the prophet concerning
me. Once an inspired prophecy was
written or was spoken It was then fixed and sure to come to
pass. Once it passed God's lips, once
it passed God's mouth, it was sure to come unto pass. Or that occasion, he justified
his death by showing it to be the subject of prophecy. That is Luke 24. That his death
and suffering was a subject of the prophecy, and thus it must
come to pass. And therefore, Luke 24, 46, it
must be, because it is prophesied. Thus it is written, and thus
it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead. It behooved Him. He had to do
it. It was necessary. He must, because it is according
under the Scripture. Now this point before we proceed
with the triumphal entry into the city, and that is this time
some people claim that they love prophecy. You know people in
our day, maybe not so much now, but Early in the 60s, 70s, and
80s, boy, people were going after prophecy gung-ho. If they could
hear that there was a prophecy conference or a prophecy was
going to be preached to them, they would come, notebooks and
pen in hand, and take all of their notes. But many of those
very same prophecy lovers reject and deny the sovereignty of God
in all things. They who love prophecy deny that
God foreordains what he has predicted will come to pass. And they have
not made the connection between the prophecy and predestination. That prophecy is actually predestination. It involves a fixed will on the
part of God that he has declared and that it will surely come
to pass. Well anyway, Zechariah makes
his prophecy short. while the Gospels fill out the
facts of it and how it came to be. The prophet calls upon the
people of the Lord's name to rejoice and to shout, O daughter
of Jerusalem, O daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh unto
thee. That's the word of the prophecy. Then we ask ourselves, What king? Not Caesar, in mine certainly. Not Herod or any of those. Not the kings of the earth, but
the king of all kings, the great potentate, the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse
17. So let's first consider how Zechariah
described this king who is to appear, the great one who is
their king. And see that the exhortation
is addressed to the daughters of Zion and the daughters of
Jerusalem. Thy king cometh. Daughters of
Zion, daughters of Jerusalem, thy king comes. I find agreement
with those expositors who think these things address to the believing
portion of Israel, to the children of God, the sons of Abraham indeed. Not the whole national body,
but the believing ones of Israel. The remnant according to the
election of grace. Those with ears to hear and hearts
to understand. Hinstingberg called them the
true members of the theocracy, quote unquote. For when Pilate
sent the apostle, when Pilate had sent, or said rather, to
the apostate priest and Pharisees gathered before him Pilate said
to them concerning Jesus, Behold your King, in John chapter 19
and verse 14. And in verse 15, their reply
was, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Pilate answered
them, What? Crucify your King? And what did they answer? But
we have no king but Caesar. John 19 and verse 15. But their blindness as it was,
Zechariah calls their king of Zion. just righteous, having
a proper conduct and character as a king. And the margin has
it, endowed with salvation. In him is the salvation of sinners,
able to save to the uttermost. And then Zechariah said, lowly. He is lowly. And let's look at
that a minute. Let's go to Matthew chapter 21.
for that account of it. And see in verse 4 and verse
5, all this was done that the scripture might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophet. The Lord displays his great omniscience
here in this account of fetching the colts unto him for his entrant. And he says to two of his disciples,
look, you go yonder into the village. And when you come into
the village, you're going to find two bees tied at the front
of a dwelling. And you unloose them and you
bring them. And if anybody says, hey, Leave
them horses alone. What are you doing? Say, the
Lord has need of them and He will agree. His heart will be
touched and He will agree to let His beasts be taken away
out of His sight. Just as in Mark 14, 13 through
16, Luke 22, 10 through 13. It was the season of the Passover. And many were in the city for
the celebration of it. And they brought those beasts
to the Lord just outside. And the disciples took their
tunics and their jackets and whatever, and they threw them
across the beasts that had been brought. And then they set their
blessed Lord upon them. And there became a spontaneous
outburst of praise and glory heaped upon the Lord as He sat
upon that beast. They strew garments, they cut
branches off of trees and strew them before the Lord as He made
His way into the city. And they cried out, Hosanna,
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna to the Son of David. Now, I ask the question at this
point, what is the purpose of this? What is intended by this? What is going to come of this
action of our Lord? Well, the reason that I ask is
because the Lord did not go in and lead a coup to overthrow
the kingdom of Caesar and take away his throne. Instead, in
a while, it all died back down, the Jewish leaders continued
their campaign to be rid of Jesus of Nazareth and in the end were
successful in crucifying him upon the cross. Now, if the Lord
had intended to establish an earthly kingdom as the Jews had
hoped for, this would have seemed like the best time to do it.
This would have seemed the proper time for that to be done. When
fervor ran higher than it ever had before, in favor of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And the crowds heaped praise
upon Him and hallelujahs and hosanna. Many wanted Him upon
a throne, not upon a cross dying, but upon a throne and ruling. Looking again at Matthew 21 and
4, this was done in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled
which did exactly fulfill scripture, but it also confirmed that Jesus
of Nazareth was that king, was that Messiah written about in
the Old Testament. Zechariah used the word lowly. He is lowly. Your king comes
lowly and so he is king. He is just. He is a Savior. Yet, was He lowly? Matthew uses the word meek in
Matthew 21 and 5. The Lord referred to Himself
as both meek and lowly in heart. Matthew 11 and verse 29, Come
to me, I'm meek and lowly, and you shall find rest under your
soul. Now, He did not look outwardly
like a great, mighty, and majestic, powerful, all-ruling king. Consider his circumstances. Born in a stable, raised, or
grew up in a lowly a family in an obscure town. He owned no
property, none whatsoever. He had nowhere to lay his head,
he once said. He was a man of sorrow. He was
a man of suffering. He was rejected by his own nation. and hated by them, made in the
likeness of man, despised by the religious leaders of that
day. Oh, how they hated him, his crown
with the crown of thorns provided by the soldier who mocked him
as they crucified him upon the cross of Calvary. But let's refocus
our mind on his mount now that Zachariah writes, riding upon
an ad, what's called a donkey today or in our day. A beast,
a burden, a lowly one, a foal of a colt. There were two animals
there, have you noticed, in the scripture. There was a female
donkey and her colt, which had never been ridden." Mark 11 and
verse 2. What's the significance of that?
So as the Lord lay in a grave never used, so he rode on a colt
that had never been ridden. And this is the only time, I
think, that we read in the scripture of the Lord so riding. And notice, the beast willingly
submitted without pitching or bucking, never having been ridden
or trained for riding. So as even the wind and the waves
obey him, so do the beasts that are created in the world. Bezachariah,
does intend us to understand that his lowliness, or meekness,
or humility, however you might see it translated, is reflected
in his riding upon that donkey. Is this what makes him lowly?
That here he comes riding a donkey, a young donkey, perhaps his feet
almost touching the ground for the young coat, instead of a
chariot? He does not come in a chariot
like Joseph went out a fourth and among the people in Genesis,
like Pharaoh had, like in Exodus chapter 14, Solomon had, Ahab,
the Ethiopian unit all rode in their chariots in the scripture.
And we see the donkey early. And often in the scripture, we
see it first in Abraham in the scripture. We see it in Balaam's,
and remember, God made Balaam's donkey to speak with the voice
of a man. Jesse, Shimei, Ahithophel, riding
upon a donkey, just to name a few. And sometime in the scripture,
the donkey is a symbol of a wicked, wild man, like in Job 11 and
12, Genesis 49 and 14, and 1st Kings. chapter 10 and verse 28. It was here that Solomon imported
horses from the land of Egypt and brought them into his kingdom. Now, riding that donkey did not
make the Lord the King of Israel. He was this by God's own appointment. But it was one of many confirmation
of his kinship and kingship and the connection and the fulfillment
of the prophecy, your king comes riding upon a colt and the foal
of an ass. A borrowed donkey, our Lord made
his entrance into Jerusalem. The common garments of his disciples
were a saddle blanket and a saddle. Not a real saddle, but garments
strewed over him. His followers and his subjects
were considered little more than rabble-rousers by the enemies
of our Lord. His kingship, therefore, is spiritual. As he told Pilate, my kingdom
is not of this world. In John 18 and verse 36, the
fulfillment of the prophecy proves him to be the object of Zechariah's
prophecy. was a manifestation of his kingship
under the people, which was broader than the ride into town upon
the donkey, and of his kingship lowly, meek. He became poor for
our sake, Paul writes, 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9. Lowly as to outward
circumstances was this one. One said he was to be externally
in poverty," unquote. And E.W. Hinkstenberg wrote,
in this is seen the Lord to represent his kingdom as destitute of all
worldly splendor, but at the same time to disappoint and overthrow
the expectation of the Jew that he would take an earthly throne
and rule for their good. The action of the people praising
Christ made the Pharisees sore displeased, we read in the script. It incensed them with great indignation. Matthew 21, Luke 19, they said,
tell them to shut up. Shut your disciples up. Tell
them to keep quiet. Master, quiet them. Silence them
down. He said, if these hold their
peace, the rocks will cry out in praise. I think perhaps Gill
and others are right. They insinuate it was blasphemous
on the people's part and it was arrogance on the Lord's part
to claim this kingship in the way that was being done. And
yet did these Jews fear this populist movement of the common
people in that day, this grassroots movement, raising up to praise
the Lord and cry hallelujah and such like? Possibly this was
the strongest public support our Lord had had during all of
His earthly ministry. The city is filled with visitors
for the Passover season. But it all died down, as I said. And the next thing we read, He
went in and He cleansed the temple. The great emotion dies down.
The Lord gives Himself up to the death of the cross. For He
came to Jerusalem not to ascend the throne, but to die, as he
had told the disciples on the way. And yet he reigns in the
hearts of his people. He is king over us. He reigns
in our heart so that we are obedient unto him as our great and wonderful
king. But here is our first prophecy. Confirming Him to be the One,
the Great King, Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed, the Sent
One of God, God's only Beloved Son. And this is just one evidence
of it, and there are many more.