April 2, 2023 - Sunday Service

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood iconAscension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the corporate worship of our
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God. Please stand. Give the king your judgments,
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O God, and your righteousness to the king's son. He will judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice.
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The mountains will bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness.
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He will bring justice to the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy and will break in pieces the oppressor.
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They shall fear you as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations.
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He shall come down like a rain upon the grass before mowing, like showers that water the earth.
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In his days the righteous shall flourish and abundance of peace until the moon is no more.
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He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.
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Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust.
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The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents. The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts.
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Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
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For he will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper.
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He will surely spare the poor and the needy. He will redeem their life from oppression and violence.
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And oppression, excuse me, and precious shall be their blood in his sight.
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His name shall endure forever. His name shall continue as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him.
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All the nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things.
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And blessed be his glorious name forever. And let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
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Amen. And amen. Come now, let us worship the one of whom this song speaks.
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Please pray with me. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We ask for the gracious gift of your presence, which you have promised.
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We ask also, Lord, that you would turn our hearts away from our carnal and fleshy desires.
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That we might have hearts dedicated and consecrated to you. We ask that this worship service would be pleasing in your sight.
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Through the perfect mediation of your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.
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Amen. Please kneel, if you will, for the corporate confession of sin.
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And let us join together with one voice. O my
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Savior, help me, for I am slow to learn and prone to forget.
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I am pained by my graceless heart, my prayerless days, my poverty and the love, my sloth in the heavenly race, my soulless conscience, my wasted hours, and my unspent opportunities.
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I am blind while the light shines around me. Take the scales from my eyes and grind to dust my heart of unbelief.
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Amen. Please stand. Seek the
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Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
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Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the
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Lord. And he will have mercy on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
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The Lord says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways.
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For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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The higher ways and the higher thoughts include the pardon of sinners like you and me.
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And in this we rejoice in Christ. Amen. Amen. Please take up the hymnal and turn to number 277.
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We are singing some resurrection hymns today on Palm Sunday.
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277. Therefore, we must give heed to the things we have heard, lest, for if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the
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Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the
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Holy Spirit, according to his own will. For he has not put the world to come of which we speak in subjection to angels, but one testified in a certain place, saying,
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What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him?
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You have made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of your hands.
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You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him.
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He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him, but we see
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Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he may, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
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For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
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For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one.
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For which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren.
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In the midst of assembly I will sing praise to you. And again, I will put my trust in him.
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And again, here am I and the children whom God has given me. And as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise share in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death.
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That is, the devil. And release those who, through fear of death, were all through lifetime subject to bondage.
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For indeed he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
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Therefore, in all things he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
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For in that he himself has suffered. Being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted.
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This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us confess the historic, orthodox, and unchanging
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Christian faith in the singing of the Apostle's Creed. We the
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Catholic Church. Pick up the hymnal and turn to number 248.
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Jesus, house that hast thou offended. Number 248.
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Alyssa is going to play through one time for us. And be pleased to dispose and kept in it.
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And the kingdom of glory hasten. To our great future city, that city of glory, that new
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Jerusalem, and may you usher it in. Thank you for the proclamation of the gospels of all nations.
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May it continue to be my honor and glorify you, giving thanks to the king and his brethren for all these things in Christ's name.
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Amen. Pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins.
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And we are encouraged to ask this because by his grace, we are able from the heart to forgive others.
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The Lord hear our prayers. Heavenly Father, week to week this remains that we are sinners.
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We thank you, Lord, for the work of Christ in forgiving us of our sins.
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The eternal debt which we ourselves could not work hard enough to pay off. It would be impossible,
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God. You have forgiven us of our sins. Lord, may your spirit lead us in forgiving others.
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Far be it that we would hold grace and hold forgiveness to others when you've forgiven us of so much.
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Pray, God, that if we have wronged our brother or our sister, that we would go to them.
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That your spirit would lead us in humility to ask forgiveness of them. And that if it be that they ask of us, that we would forgive them.
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That we would freely offer this loving work, this loving act of forgiveness, representing
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Christ as we forgive others. Christ, in the name of Christ, amen. Pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin or support and deliver us when we are tempted.
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The Lord hear our prayers. Our Father and our God, we know that you have given us your
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Holy Spirit. And we far too often walk through our days trying to live this life on our own strength through our flesh.
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And we ask, God, that you would cause us to be continually prayerful throughout our days, throughout this week.
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That we would have it burned into our hearts that you are watching us, that you are with us, that you've given us your
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Holy Spirit. May we be in constant prayer so that when temptation comes, Lord, we are ready to withhold and withstand from that temptation.
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We ask, God, that you would prevent us from trying to resist temptation in our own strength and that rather by constant prayer, meditation upon your presence, that we would fight temptation and that we would put sin to death.
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Holy Spirit of God, please help us. In Jesus' name, amen. Our Father, taking encouragement and prayer from you alone, in our prayers we praise you, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to you.
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To testify of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say together, amen.
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Amen. Please stand. I'm going to take up the bulletin.
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The second side, the other side of 15, is Psalm 22. We have actually had this as our song of the month before.
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Is that correct, DJ? Correct. When we first started about three years ago. Right. And I'm going to ask you, is there any –
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Alyssa's going to play through this – any helpful hints for us as we get started? Thank you for sending out all the music and everything.
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Anything to help us? No, not really. I think those who are here, when we went through it the first time, we'll pick it up again, and it's another one of those ones that you start yourself into.
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We have much reason to rejoice, and our text today commands us to rejoice, so let's begin that now, and let's – to the top of our lungs, let's sing praises to our
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God. Psalm 22, Alyssa's going to play through. For the eyes also against Tyre built herself a tower, heaped up silver like the streets.
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Behold, the Lord will, Ashkelon shall see it in fear,
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Gaza also shall be very sorrowful, and Ekron, for he dried up her expectation.
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The king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. A mixed race shall settle in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the
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Philistines. I will take away the blood from his mouth, and the abominations from between his teeth.
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But he who remains, even he shall be for our God, and shall be like a leader in Judah, and Ekron like a
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Jebusite. I will camp around my house because of the army, because of him who passes by, and by him who returns.
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No more shall an oppressor pass through them, for now I have seen with my eyes.
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And now our text for today. Rejoice greatly,
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O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you.
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He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt the foal of a donkey.
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I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow shall be cut off.
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He shall speak peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.
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As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
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Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.
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For I have bent Judah my bow, fitted the bow with Ephraim, and raised up your sons,
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O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like the sword of a mighty man.
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Then the Lord will be seen over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord God will blow the trumpet and go with whirlwinds from the south.
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The Lord of hosts will defend them. They shall devour and subdue with sling stones. They shall drink and roar as if with wine.
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They shall be filled with blood like basins, like the corners of the altar.
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The Lord their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people. For they shall be like the jewels of a crown, lifted like a banner over his land.
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For how great is its goodness, and how great is its beauty. Grains shall make the young men thrive, and new wine the young women.
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May the Lord be pleased with our consideration of his word. Holy Spirit, we ask that you would provide clarity, illumine our minds, and supply power.
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We ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Please be seated. It is good to be back in Zechariah after a three -week departure, a little mini -series in Romans.
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Today we are considering really primarily two verses in Zechariah 9, and we're going to connect it to its fulfillment in John chapter 12.
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So this will not be a perfect exegesis of Zechariah 9 or John 12, but it will be very much a
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Palm Sunday message derived from our context in our book in Zechariah.
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The title of the message today, I've even shortened it a little bit, is Behold Your King, or Behold Your King is
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Coming to You. In Zechariah we have had many prophecies that I have interpreted to be
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Christological. But now with great certainty from this point forward,
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Zechariah's thrust is very Christological. Whatever you were saying about interpretation of things like the branch and the crowning of Joshua the high priest, now in earnest the
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Gospel writers will be quoting Zechariah in the Gospels.
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Now in earnest we have a vision of the future, and the future is glorious because the future belongs to Christ, and it belongs to His people.
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I'd like us to look again at verse 9 of chapter 9, Zechariah.
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Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
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Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt the foal of a donkey.
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For those of you who are taking notes today, I only have two points to consider, and they're very broad.
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You should be able to organize your thoughts under these two headings. First, the prophecy as given in Zechariah 9.
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Number one is the prophecy. And second is its fulfillment in John chapter 12.
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The prophecy and its fulfillment.
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The people after exile have been receiving words of challenge and comfort from the prophet
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Zechariah. They have been called to re -inhabit Judea and to rebuild
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Jerusalem, and most notably they have been called to rebuild the temple that God's presence might be with them.
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This is a noble task that they have been assigned. But now there is a promise of a king.
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It should be noted, and this is very powerful when you think about its messianic import.
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There has, since the time of Zechariah to Christ, there hasn't been a king in Israel.
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And since Christ has come, there hasn't been a king in Israel.
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The last king is coming, according to Zechariah. For us, the last king has come in Christ.
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He calls the people to rejoice and to shout for something that's going to happen 500 years later with the arrival of Christ.
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This idea of a king coming doesn't have its origin in Zechariah 9, but it starts back in Genesis 3, if you want to go that far.
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But more explicitly, it happens in Genesis 49. There's going to be a lot of page turning today.
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I'm going to ask you to turn to Genesis 49, and we'll go to John in a minute. Let's go to Genesis 49 now.
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The prophecy in Zechariah doesn't appear out of thin air. There's something that's set in motion.
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Jacob's communication to his children about the future and about his son
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Judah and the tribe that would bear his name. Genesis 49.
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Begin reading in verse 8. These are Jacob's dying words, really, to his sons.
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He's pronouncing blessing on them. He's foretelling the future. There's a prophetic element also here in Jacob and his words.
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He's called his sons together, and he's going to tell them what will befall them, verse 1 says.
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This is what he says to Judah. Verse 8. Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise.
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Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's children shall bow down before you.
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Judah is a lion's wealth. From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
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He bows down. He lies down as a lion, and as a lion who shall rouse him.
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There is a lion who's coming from Judah, and the lion of Judah is none other than the incarnate word of God, the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Judah is a lion because of Christ.
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Verse 10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes.
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And to him shall be the obedience of the people, binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey's coat to the choice vine.
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He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.
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His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
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There's going to be a king. There's going to be a leader in Israel.
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He's going to come from the tribe of Judah, and he is going to be the ideal king and the ideal leader covenantally.
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The arrival of the righteous, just king is the realization of God's covenant ideal.
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Just like we've learned that Adam failed to bear this responsibility and to keep covenant and to honor
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God in obedience, so too have the kings of Israel failed to uphold their high calling.
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And as Adam has fallen and failed, the kings of Israel have failed.
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And so they are in desperate need of a king coming from the house of David who will be superior and eclipse
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David and Solomon in their glory. And that scepter is going to be upon and remain upon the
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Lion of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's interesting here that the donkey language is here in Genesis.
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I'm not going to preach a message on the donkey. A lot of sermons are given on that on Palm Sunday. But if you begin to study that language about the donkey, you'll begin to remember other prominent occurrences.
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And there are many others in the two I'm going to mention here, but the first being the occasion of Abraham called to offer his son
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Isaac in Genesis 22. He's going to load up the donkey with his son and with the wood, and he's going to take him to offer him, at least the beginning, unbeknownst to Isaac in the beginning to offer him as a sacrifice until God steps in and provides another.
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There's another prominent example of this found in Exodus 4 when Moses is called to go back to lead his people out of Egypt.
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He would load up his wife and his sons on a donkey, and he is confronted with the terror of the wrath of God.
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And in both cases, an atonement needs to be made. In Genesis 22, a ram is provided, and that would be the place where our
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God would provide a sacrifice in place of Isaac.
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You remember in Exodus 4 that Zipporah in her covenantal wisdom will take out the
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Flintstone and circumcise her son so that God would not strike down Moses for being a covenant breaker and failing to keep covenant with him.
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The donkey is an instrument of prophecy. He's a picture of royalty.
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There are many other things, but here in Genesis 49, we have the introduction to this idea and notion that there's going to be a king who's going to come up out of Judah.
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Let's turn back to our text in Zechariah.
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The arrival, the promise of the righteous king, the just king, the
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Lion of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, he's going to be the king who reigns in righteousness.
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He's going to fulfill his duties flawlessly, perfectly, in ways that all others had failed.
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It's also important to see that it seems that the people of God are always waiting until at last he comes.
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Let's look again at verse 9. The call of the people of God is to rejoice and to rejoice greatly and to shout at the prospect, not knowing the timeline, that hundreds of years from now a king would come.
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The language is very beautiful and poetic, this feminine language of the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusalem.
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I have a picture in my mind of the bride waiting for her husband to be delivered and rescued from all of her trouble.
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The greatest stories have this element in them, don't they? She's in desperate need of help.
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She's in trouble. There's an enemy that has surrounded her and attacked her and she herself is under duress and she's in pain and she's weeping and she needs her help and she needs her husband and she cries out to him and he comes and he rescues her and delivers her from bondage, from certain death.
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Zechariah says, rejoice, O people of God. Rejoice greatly.
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Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you.
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It's interesting and we know things about who this is and we get a greater revelation.
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If we were to take Zechariah and go back through it, there's this promise that God is going to be present with them.
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This is a very rich promise. And now there's this promise of a king.
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And what's glorious about this is this king is not Zerubbabel. It's not
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Joshua the high priest. There is the merger of this idea of the presence of God coming in their midst and the arrival of a king.
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And we know that can only be satisfied in one person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
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God in the flesh. He's going to be the one who comes to deliver his people.
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He's the one who's going to bring in salvation. Behold, your king is coming to you.
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Learn something about the character of the king. He is just, righteous, and he has salvation.
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What's interesting, in the very real understanding of the grammar of this,
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Jesus, the king, himself has the salvation. And because he has the salvation, the people of God, by virtue of their union with him, they get the salvation.
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The salvation, the one who's going to be delivered is the king. You say, well, he doesn't really need deliverance.
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He does need deliverance because he's the one who carries the guilt and the pain and the wounds of his people.
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His salvation, his raising from the dead and ascending on high is also the salvation of his people, of you and of me.
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He's just. That language is made up of two
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Hebrew concepts and words related to righteousness and purity and the idea of taking care of the poor, the widow, the fatherless, not allowing the wicked to prosper, not allowing the just ones to suffer.
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All of this perfect notion, this covenantal ideal, is found and resides in the
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Lord Jesus Christ. He comes and he brings salvation. He comes in a way that's very different than the ways of the world.
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He comes lowly and riding on a donkey. And what often happens when you study this is you'll get some really smart guys who will say, well, it wasn't that lowly to ride on a donkey.
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Because other kings rode on donkeys. And they tried to explain away the significance of his arrival.
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He doesn't come on a war horse. He doesn't come with a clanging of swords.
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He doesn't have chariots. He's not shooting arrows. I can imagine the picture of Julius Caesar coming back to Rome from his conquest in Gaul and all of the pomp and all of the circumstance.
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You know what they would do? They would come and they would bring all the captives. And they'd bring all the booty, all the spoils.
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And they would parade them and march them in the streets and say, look what Caesar has done.
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Look at all the slaves he has captured. Look at all the wealth he has brought. I see
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Jesus' entrance as much more humble than that.
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But when we think about it, it becomes grander.
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He parades tens of millions of captives through the streets.
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And they've been set free. And he's turned the wicked ways of the world on its head.
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And these saints, they inherit the wealth of the pagans.
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So the grandeur of Christ's coming is not found in pomp and circumstance but in the reality of the transformed man who comes and woman and child who comes to Christ.
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They become swept up in the train of his glory. They are the captives who have been set free.
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And him. A little bit about the prophecy.
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Time demands now that we go to John Chapter 12. Please turn there with me. John 12.
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There's a context in Zechariah 9. The divine warrior king, and in a couple weeks we'll take this up again.
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There's some very exciting things that will happen in Chapter 9 that we'll consider.
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But there's also a context to John's account of Palm Sunday.
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The immediate preceding context is the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
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Cyrus was a king and he made a decree that the Jews could go home. It's a big declaration.
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It serves as a foundation for what happens in places like Zechariah.
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Their bondage, their captivity had been released.
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The context of John Chapter 12 is first the raising of Lazarus.
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I want you to see how close in proximity in time this is. We forget this. Jesus raises
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Lazarus. He goes and has an important meal where Mary would break open a very costly perfume of spikenard and prepare his body for burial.
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And then he has the triumphal entry and we are in the last week of Jesus' life.
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And I've always wondered, why is the crowd gathered awaiting Jesus on Palm Sunday?
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I think it's going to help us understand. John Chapter 12, verse 1.
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In six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus, who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead.
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And there they made him a supper and Martha served.
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But Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. Now I want you to get this picture.
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This family is a prominent family in the faith. Not only they're a prominent Jewish family, but now they're a prominent followers of Jesus family.
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Remember the story of Lazarus. People are coming from all over Judea to mourn the loss of Lazarus.
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And they are present for the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. And now the man who should have been rotting, coming out in the stench of his grave clothes, is now sitting at the dinner table.
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This is astounding. The crowds have heard about this and the word has gone out.
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Verse 3. Mary takes a pound of very costly oil of spikenard and anoints the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.
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And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. I should point out as a small application, there is a lot of life.
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There is a great call to be frugal, but there are times when we are called to extravagance.
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This is one of those times. Mary is going to not waste a lot of money.
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She's going to spend it well. Extravagantly lavishing honor upon the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the picture. A meal has been prepared.
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This man, Jesus, they knew he was a prophet, but now this man has power over death.
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He can say to Lazarus, come forth, come out of the grave, and he's alive. I have a great hopefulness and anticipation about what
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Jesus might do. You can almost imagine wiping his feet with her hair and the fragrance permeating the whole of the dwelling.
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In Judas Iscariot, verse 4, one who betrayed him said, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?
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As he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the money box. He used to take what was put in it.
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Jesus says, let her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial.
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For the poor you have with you always, but me you do not have always.
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Verse 9, now a great many of the Jews knew that he was there. And I believe this is part of the explanation how the crowd knows about Jesus coming.
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The whole of Israel, remember, there's about 60 ,000 people that live in Jerusalem during the average day, week.
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On the feast days, the population swells to the hundreds of thousands, four to five hundred thousand people come into Jerusalem for these important feast days, like Passover, which
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Jesus and his disciples are about to make pilgrimage. Verse 10, but the chief priest plotted to put
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Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the
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Jews went away and believed in Jesus. And here it is.
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Well, we remember today the start of the holy week of Christianity.
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This is the very short narrative. The next day, a great multitude that had come to the feast, they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
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They're going to await his arrival, shouting Hosanna and waving palm fronds because they heard of what he's been preaching.
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And now maybe most prominently, he's raising people from the dead. I've often thought that the people were just so misguided.
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They were waiting for a Messiah who would conquer Rome, throw Rome out. And there's, of course, truth to that.
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I'm amending my position a little bit. I think a great number of people come with this unexplained curiosity and hopefulness about Jesus and what
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Jesus might do now that he's raising people from the dead. That's what's going on here,
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I think. And so they shout Hosanna.
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They shout praises. They scream and cry out, save us.
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Oh, God, save us now. It's a combination of appreciation, adoration, joy, praise.
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It's in the Jewish world. It was a cry for divine help. And for the
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Christian, it's an exclamation of praise because the help has come. Behold your king,
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Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
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Lord, the king of Israel. Then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it as it is written.
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Is Zechariah a book about archaic Jewish history or is it about Jesus Christ?
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Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming.
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Sitting on a donkey's colt, the full circle of prophecy and revelation now are brought to bear.
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How long was it? How many thousands of years was it from Genesis 49 to Zechariah 9?
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It's been over 500 years or around that amount of time from Zechariah 9 to its fulfillment in John chapter 12.
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But the victory doesn't look like it's been won. The victory most assuredly has been won.
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The certainty of Zechariah's prophecy in chapter 9 coming true.
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And the certainty of Genesis 49 coming to pass and being prophesied again in Zechariah 9 and realized in John 12.
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That was certainly true. But his disciples did not understand these things.
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Verse 16. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done these things to him.
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Therefore, the people who were with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness.
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For this reason, the people also met him because they had heard he had done this sign.
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The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.
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There were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. And they came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and asked him saying,
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Sir, we wish to see Jesus. We get a pulpit someday of our very own.
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We'll get DJ to hand carve us that statement. If you're preaching the gospel here in this church, we want to see
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Jesus. Philip came and told
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Andrew and Andrew and Philip told Jesus. I want you to listen to this next section because I think it very helpfully explains all that's happened in Zechariah, Genesis 49.
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And what's really happening at the so -called triumphal entry. Jesus answered them, saying,
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The hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Most assuredly,
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I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.
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But if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it.
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And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me.
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And where I am there, my servant will be also. If anyone serves me him, my father will honor.
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Now, children, this is something for you to think about. How are you going to spend your life?
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Are you going to spend it pursuing vainglories?
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Or are you going to spend it that the father might honor you? It's a much better use of life.
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And it's an admonition to all of us, isn't it? To live our lives, to pour out our lives in service, however sacrificial it might be to Christ.
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Now, my soul is troubled, he says in verse 27. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
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But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.
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Now, this part is really spectacular as well. Then a voice comes from heaven saying,
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I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Therefore, the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.
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And others said an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice did not come because of me, but for your sake.
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Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And if I am lifted up from the earth,
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I will draw all peoples to myself. This he said, signifying by what death he would die.
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People answered him. We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. And how can you say the son of man must be lifted up?
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Who is this son of man? Jesus said a little while longer.
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The light is with you. Walk while you have the light. Lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
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While you have the light, believe in the light that you might become sons of light.
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These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them.
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Now, the context of Zechariah 9 is really, we're going to find out in a couple weeks about a divine warrior king who subdues all
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Israel's enemies. You've already studied it. You don't remember it because it's four or five weeks ago. The beginning part of chapter 9.
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But now we have the same theme taken up in the gospels. A week before Jesus has died.
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There is a divine warrior king destroying the enemies of God and his people.
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Satan's work is being destroyed. The power of sin is being broken.
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The grip of death is being released. Rejoice, O daughter of Zion.
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Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. The bride of Christ, the people of God, has been rescued by her king.
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Hosanna. Loud hosannas should ring. John Gill said, let songs of praise be sung to God who is in the highest heavens.
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For all his grace and goodness vouchsafed to the sins, sons of men, through Christ his beloved son.
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Or let not only all salvation, happiness, and prosperity attend the
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Messiah, David's son, here on earth. But all glory and felicity in the highest heavens, above which he will be exalted.
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See, the crowds are going to die down.
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There's going to be a little smattering of applause. Hosannas are going to be sung.
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Jesus is going to retreat back to Bethany. He's going to come back a few days later. He's going to find himself under trial for blasphemy for the
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Sanhedrin. They're going to find him guilty, and they're going to pass him on to Pontius Pilate.
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And he's going to find him guilty. With all of this prophecy and all of this, all of these happenings,
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Jesus will be crucified at the end of this week if we're following the calendar on Friday.
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And at the crucifixion, the great victory is won. But nobody sees it.
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This is very instructive for us. Christ, the king of glory, comes in humility.
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The cross is the crushing of a serpent's head. The cross is the setting of the captives free.
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God's kingdom covenantal doings are not always readily apparent to our eyes.
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We don't always see the big things that are happening. And the people in Zechariah's day don't know this, no matter how discouraged they would be, that their less than Solomon's temple, that temple would be destroyed.
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But they had to persevere in the work to set the stage and the occasion of the arrival of our great king.
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The arrival of the king, the righteous one, is the realization of God's covenant ideal.
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He always intended to be the king of his people. And the presence of God in the flesh is on the back of a donkey.
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And he's coming into Israel. And there's a little fanfare, but oh, what glorious things are afoot when
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Jesus would arrive in Jerusalem. Today, I'm going to ask you, with all that you know, to behold your king.
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I want you to open our liturgy. Pick up the bulletin.
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We sing what's called the Sanctus, or the hymn of victory, every week.
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We anticipate the arrival of our king as we enter into the time of the
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Lord's Supper. We sing Hosanna every week. Do you know that? Do you remember that? I heard a story this week about, and you guys need to ask
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Mark about this because of his historical knowledge. I don't remember things that well.
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When the Allied forces arrived and landed in World War II on the beaches of Normandy, they suffered heavy losses.
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But the moment they cracked the line in Normandy, the war was over.
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But more men died in Europe, I believe, after that than before.
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You see, when the people were called to rejoice for the arrival of the king, they don't know that there's 500 hard years to wait.
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We are living in a time of, there could be hardship coming from the church, and there could be persecution falling upon the people of God.
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But do you believe that the victory has been won? The answer is yes, certainly the victory has been won.
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Whatever befalls us between here and there, we will be on the side of victory.
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The people of God are continually called to wait. So what should we do in the meantime?
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This will be our application, and we'll close here. Today, and thankfully the
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Episcopalians left us little poem segments. Kids grabbed them on the way out and shake them and shout them and rejoice and say,
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Hosanna! Brethren, your king has come. He is righteous and just, and he has brought in salvation.
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Second, the victory is won. The work of your redemption has been accomplished.
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Many battles are yet to be fought against the world, against the flesh, and against the devil.
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But Christ has conquered all of his and our enemies. Let us march in triumphal, victorious obedience and allegiance to Christ.
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Our victory is assured. Third, God's triumph in Christ is not always evident to our eyes, but it most certainly will come to pass.
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Walk in faith, believing that Christ has finished the work.
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And finally, this is a hope shattering to our pride.
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The king of glory came in humility. And it seemed that he was, if we read that account, it seems that he was seeking that glory that only comes through obedience and sacrificial service.
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You and I have wasted far too much time in our lives pursuing our own glory. Let us repent of our panting after vain glory.
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Instead, pursue God's glory, the proclamation of Christ and him crucified, and the obedient living of the
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Christian life. Brethren of Ascension, I present to you your king,
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Jesus. Please pray with me. Lord, we thank you for these wonderful prophecies and their fulfillment.
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We thank you for the glory of Christ, which is veiled in humility and obedience.
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Lord, help us to see that there's a greater glory that awaits us that's found in service and obedience.
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Lord, I pray that you would rip from us, every one of us, this desire to grab our own glory.
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Instead, to be like the great saints of old, like John the Baptist, who sought your glory.
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No, Lord, I pray that that this week would be a special week for us, that we would we would ride the wave of highs and lows this week as we consider what
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Christ has done. In the end, oh Lord, I pray for Sunday, a week from today, when we will celebrate the triumphant resurrection of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, conquering sin and death and crushing the serpent's head.
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We ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Let us continue our worship through the presentation of our tithes and offerings.
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Please stand and let us pray. Our gracious God and Father, we thank you for so much that you have given us and all the things which are given us in Christ Jesus, most especially for our salvation.
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We know that every good and perfect gift comes from you, oh Lord, including our material blessings.
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We pray, Father, as we've been freely given, that we would freely give, that you would bless these tithes and offerings to your service.
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In the name of Christ we pray, amen. As we have just heard preached to us and as our pastor has just prayed, we should now with great gusto give glory to our great
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God in the singing of the Gloria Patri. In your hearts, let us give thanks to the
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Lord. It is good and right so to do. It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you, oh
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Holy Lord, Father Almighty, everlasting God, because you sent your beloved
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Son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life, that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may, without shame or fear, rejoice to behold his appearing.
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Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we praise and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising you and singing.
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Almighty God, your tender mercy gave your only
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Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who made there by his one oblation of himself once offered a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.
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And at institute and in his holy gospel, command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again.
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Hear us, oh merciful Father, we beseech you and grant that we, receiving these creatures of bread and wine, according to your
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Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood.
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We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. On the night in which our Lord was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,
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Likewise, after supper he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying,
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As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until your coming.
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We proclaim the faith. Christ is died, Christ is risen,
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Christ will come again. Let us approach the table by praying together. We do not presume to come to this your table, oh merciful
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Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.
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We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same
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Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your fearsome
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Jesus Christ, and to drink of his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed with his most precious blood, and that we may have no more trouble in him, and he in us.
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Amen. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast.
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The gifts of God for the people of God. Thanks be to the Lord. The spiritual food.
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For assuring us of these holy mysteries, that we are living members of the body of your
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Son, and heirs of your eternal kingdom. This other benefit, that you will never allow us to forget these things, but having them imprinted on our hearts, may we grow and increase daily in the faith which is at work with every living being.
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And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our
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Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever.
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Amen. Please stand, of our
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Lord Jesus Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the