Palm Sunday
Zechariah 9:9-10
March 29, 2015
Pastor Troy Dobbs
Grace Church of Eden Prairie
I want you to know today that God is seriously
committed to JOY!
As a matter of fact – no one is more joyful
than God. God is the most joyous being
EVER!
And the Bible teaches that true JOY comes
from hoping in Christ and Christ does not
disappoint.
You see, Christ’s JOY transcends
circumstances!
The world’s JOY is tied to the:
 Next warm day
1
 Next great vacation
 Next big purchase
 Next high paying job
 Next “significant other”
But when the bottom falls out – joy is gone.
So there has got to be a better way –
fortunately there is…
As such – on this joy-filled Palm Sunday I
want us to look at Zechariah 9:9-10.
In this text, Christ’s triumphal entry into
Jerusalem was predicted more than 500
years (5 centuries) before it actually
happened…
By way of background: Zechariah was a
minor prophet who wrote as one of 3 postexilic prophets – along with Haggai and
Malachi.
2
Zechariah ministered to a small remnant of
Jews who had returned to Judah to rebuild the
temple and nation.
They were also a group of struggling with their
identity!
For a century they had been knocked around
by the world powers – kicked / mocked / used
& abused.
They had been treated with contempt for so
long that they had become HOPELESS and
JOYLESS.
So with spectacular clarity and detail,
Zechariah gave them reason for HOPE & JOY
(again) via a prophecy about a coming King!
King’s entrance into Jerusalem!
3
◄ READ ►
Zechariah 9:9-10
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.
10 I
will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.i
So if you are struggling with hoplessness /
joylessness our text gives 7 reasons for God’s
people to have a superabundance of joy
regardless of circumstances!
4
◄ OUTLINES ►
Our FIRST reason to rejoice greatly as God’s
people is because:
1.
Our King has come… (v. 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.
Now remember this is a prophecy– so
Zechariah “looks forward” to the coming of
King Jesus when He says to the Israelites;
“You can rejoice because your King will
come to you.”
Now notice how Zechariah tethers
hopefulness to joyfulness.
5
He in essence is says:
Because your future is HOPEFUL your
lives can be JOYFUL.
Which by the way is a great thought and a
powerful biblical principle.
You see:
Strong HOPE precedes great JOY.
So if your sense of hope / future is bleak your
joy will be, too.
Your JOY will never RISE ABOVE your
HOPE. Hope sets the table for JOY.
Let me say it another way:
 No hope = no joy
 Tons of hope = tons of joy
Subsequently (as Christ followers) living on
this side of the cross, (we can say) not that
6
Our King will come but that Our King has
come!
So – don’t miss the distinction here: The
Israelites were looking forward to the One to
come / while we look backwards to the
Messiah who has already come!
Thus, knowing that our King has already come
to us – should unleash incredible JOY in us.
Our hope has given way to reality – and that
reality should be our #1 source of JOY.
In a word:
 They hoped in Christ via prophecy.
 We hope in Christ via history.
Right – we know Jesus Christ entered into
world history and:
 Lived a sin free life
 Died a sacrificial death on the cross
7
 And was resurrected from the dead.
Therefore – OUR JOY is SECURE because it
is connected to the historical Jesus.
As well, God sent His Spirit into our hearts,
adopting us as sons or daughters in Christ
(Galatians 4:6).
6 And
because you are sons, God has sent the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba!
Father!”ii
We are God’s adopted children! God has not
left us as spiritual orphans!
So our adoption into His family should
give us cause for unspeakable JOY!
We have an incredible Savior who’s given us
an awesome future – so rejoice like you mean
it…
8
Our King has come…
◄ OUTLINES ►
The SECOND reason to rejoice greatly as
God’s people is because…
2.
Our King is righteous…… (v. 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.
“Our king is righteous!”
Our king is the champion of justice rewarding
good and punishing evil.
9
Which is fabulous news in a world where there
is so much chaos – evil, abuse and injustice
& terror.
Personally, we all know what it feels like to be:
 Lied to
 Taken advantage of
 Cheated on
 Deceived
So everyone wants order and justice and
fairness.
Consequently, knowing your King is HERE
and righteous will keep your joy from being
threatened by all of the injustices in the
world.
A number of years ago, Tim Keller, a pastor in
New York, preached a sermon called “Why
You need a God of Wrath in Your Life.”
10
His point was simple.
If you know that your King is just and
righteous, and He always does what
is right, then you can leave what has
been done against you in His hands
and get on with your life.
The alternative (to leaving it with God) is to
lose your joy in endless (pointless) attempts
to get even with someone who has hurt you.
And there’s no joy there.
So know this, our King will bring
 all secrets,
 all deceptions, and
 all lies into His marvelous light.
 Good will be rewarded.
 Evil will be punished.
Rejoice! Your King is righteous and He
rules justly.
11
◄ OUTLINES ►
The THIRD reason to rejoice greatly as God’s
people is because…
3.
Our King is gentle…… (v. 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.
(Zechariah 9:9)
For the record:
The Israelites had been exposed to some of
the world’s most arrogant / ruthless / cruel
Kings in history.
So to hear that Jesus would be a gently /
humble King was a foreign concept to them.
12
Yet Jesus even said of himself:
29 Take
my yoke upon you, and learn from me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls.
iii
Hebrews 4:15 goes on to say:
15 For
we do not have a high priest who is
unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who in every respect has been
tempted as we are, yet without sin.iv
And His compassion (for us) comes from His
own pain / suffering.
10 For
it was fitting that he, for whom and by
whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to
glory, should make the founder of their
salvation perfect through suffering.v
(Hebrews 2:10).
In Isaiah says in Isaiah 42:3 it says:
13
“A bruised reed he will not break” vi
Listen Jesus is gentle towards those who are
bruised and beaten up by life.
And there is no comfort like the comfort of
someone who’s been there – of someone
who really understands what you are going
through!
So know that, Christ is gentle and comforting.
 Our King has wept.
 Our King has been homeless.
 Our King knows about pain and torture.
 Our King knows what it is to be
betrayed, misrepresented, abandoned,
despised, lied about and hated and
murdered.
 Jesus is a man of sorrows acquainted
with grief.
14
SO DON’T EVER
 Let the enemy tell you that our King is
aloof or harsh or too busy for you!
OH NO!
 Our King is gentle and attentive – so
rejoice!
◄ OUTLINES ►
The FOURTH reason to rejoice greatly as
God’s people is because…
4.
Our King is peace…… (v. 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.
15
The phrase “mounted on a donkey” indicates
peace!
The Israelites knew that:
 Kings intent on war rode horses.
 But kings intent on peace came on
donkeys.
 Our King comes as the Prince of Peace.
Palm Sunday inaugurates the meek where
Jesus went to the cross to make peace with
God for us!
Moreover, Jesus adds this promise;
27 Peace
I leave with you; my peace I give to
you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let
not your hearts be troubled, neither let them
be afraid.vii (John 14:27)
Only Jesus gives us peace with God and
peace amidst our troubles –which ought to
generate unbridled JOY in our lives!
16
◄ OUTLINES ►
The FIFTH reason to rejoice greatly as God’s
people because…
5.
Our King is salvation…… (v. 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.
What does having salvation mean?
The word Zechariah uses here is passive, not
active.
He literally says “Rejoice greatly! Our King
was saved!”
17
That seems like a strange thing to say
about a king.
 How could our King need saving?
 In what sense was Christ saved?
 And why would that be our source of
Joy?
Think about this: Jesus was nailed to a
cross, where He suffered and died.
So what would ‘saving’ look like… after that?
Once you died, there’s only one way to be
saved from death – the Resurrection!
Peter spoke to this on the day of Pentecost:
Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue
rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27 For
you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.viii
18
ACTS 2:26-27
(Quoting from Psalm 16:9-10)
Now what does that mean?
It means God saved Jesus (not from sin) but
(from death) by raising Jesus from the dead.
Thus we should:
 Rejoice because our King has been
delivered from death and knows how
to deliver us from death, too!
 Therefore this prophecy embraces
not only Christ’s triumphal entry into
Jerusalem but also His death and His
resurrection! As sources for our joy
In that way the gospel creates deep joy in our
lives!
19
So to summarize:
 Jesus has come and
 He is Righteous
 He is Gentle
 He has given us a future
 He has given us peace
 He has given us a way to beat death.
Knowing all that, how could our lives NOT be
marked by JOY…
◄ OUTLINES ►
The SIXTH reason to rejoice greatly as God’s
people is because…
6.
Our King will reconcile the
nations…… (v. 10)
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
20
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.ix
Notice that Zechariah goes beyond our joy in
what Christ has done, to our joy in what
Christ will do when he returns in power
and glory!
So here’s the thing: we are living between
Zechariah 9:9 and Zechariah 9:10.
To contemporize Zechariah’s message we
could say:
 One day Christ will take away
nuclear weapons programs.
 All tanks and missiles will be
obsolete,
 and terror will be no more.
21
You see, Zechariah envisions a day when
there will be no defense budgets because
there will be no enemies to defend against.
And this is not some kind of secular (pipe)
dream held by naïve people.
We’re talking about King Jesus bringing:
 National reconciliation between
Jew and Gentile and between
every nation.
 Economic reconciliation between the
Poor and Rich
 And political reconciliation between
 Republicans and Democrats.
 The East/West/Middle East.
Don’t you long for that day?
Don’t you long for the day when the
VIKINGS / PACKERS / BEARS fans will
be ONE?
22
Notice (too) that Christ speaks peace to the
nations: “and he shall speak peace to the
nations” (v10).
Now some people have the idea that religion
is simply about ethics (how we live life).
But our faith is not simply about ethics,
 it is about Jesus,
 what He has done in the past and
 what He will do in the future.
Our King will reconcile the nations and bring
unending peace!
So we should have deep-seated, long-lasting
joy over knowing TRUE/LASTING PEACE is
coming!
ONE DAY – BIG PICTURE:
 Racism will be over…
 Classism will be over
23
 Elitism will be over
 Partisan politics will be no more…
 Nations will be at peace…
◄ OUTLINES ►
The SEVENTH reason to rejoice greatly as
God’s people is because…
7.
Our King will rule forever…… (v. 10)
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
HIS RULE SHALL BE FROM SEA TO SEA,
AND FROM THE RIVER TO THE ENDS OF THE
EARTH.x
Listen carefully; true Kings are always Kings.
24
 So Christ is not going to lose His job as
King.
 Christ is not going to get voted out of
office.
 Christ is not going to lose His
position/authority/power as King.
He will reign forever – so REJOICE
GREATLY…
So what do we do with all of this?
Well today – Palm Sunday:
 People need to know the King has come
 People need to know what the King is
like;
righteous – gentle – peaceful –
having salvation.
25
 People need to know the breadth of His
reign/rule forever and ever.
They need to know and we need to tell them!
 Moreover, we need to assess not only
whether (or not) we have JOY – but is it
COMING from the right source!
So, let me walk you through –
7 Questions for reflection during Holy Week
(based from our text for the day)
◄ OUTLINES ►
1.
Is your JOY situation-specific or Jesuscentered?
 Are you tying your joy to a job or to Jesus.
 Are you tying your joy to a relationship or
your redeemer?
26
Listen, if our joy isn’t JESUS CENTERED it
will be inconsistent and unsustainable!
2.
Does knowing Jesus bring you JOY?
If all you owned was stripped away, would you
be joyful?
Our JOY should be found in the
presence/person of Jesus Christ.
So, when is the last time you found great joy
just from knowing Jesus Christ?
3.
What “robs” you of JOY?
Is there anything stealing your “God-intended”
joy?
If so, write them down!
27
And let me say this:
If your sense of future is weak – your chances
for joy will be diminished!
4.
Have you ever confessed the sin of
JOYLESSNESS?
Joy is a command to obey.
Paul said:
Rejoice in the LORD always!
Thus joylessness is a sin…
5.
How have you found JOY amidst your
suffering?
The reality is JESUS understands your
suffering and can comfort you like no one
else!
For the sake of clarity:
28
There is not joy in the suffering but in the ONE
who joins you in it…
6.
How has Christ’s life, death and
resurrection brought you JOY?
This is the greatest week in the history of the
world…
Christ has come.
And lived.
And died.
And rose again.
Thus my JOY is tethered to who He is – and
what He has done.
Which makes my JOY fixed and secure!
7.
When was the last time you stood
JOYFULLY amazed in the presence of
Jesus?
29
Rejoice Greatly Church –
Our King has come and He is gentle
and bringing salvation.
And He will reign forever and ever!
i
Zechariah 9:9-10
Galatians 4:6
iii
Matthew 11:29
ii
30
iv
Hebrews 4:15
Hebrews 2:10
vi
Isaiah 42:3
vii
John 14:27
viii
Acts 2:26-27
ix
Zechariah 9:10
x
Zechariah 9:10
v
31