Zechariah 9:9,10
Sixth Sunday in Lent: Palm Sunday - 9 April 2017
Rev. John Derme
This past Thursday was the 100th anniversary of the United States officially declaring war on the Central Powers, and joining what we now call World War I. Of course, they couldn't call it World War I 100 years ago, because people at that time did not know that there would later be a World War II. Just the opposite, many people, including United States President Woodrow Wilson, called it "the war to end war." They optimistically thought that there wouldn't be any more wars after that war was over.
Unfortunately, those people were wrong. In fact, the United States' entry into the First World War led to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, at the end of the war, and that treaty all but made the Second World War inevitable. So, rather than being the "war to end all wars," World War I was actually the war that led to more war. And wars still haven't ended. The United States has currently been at war for more than 15 straight years.
The people of Old Testament Israel knew what it was like to experience war. They had been on the losing end of war, the captives of war, forced to leave their own nation and live in another kingdom. Last week we heard the Lord's promise through the prophet Ezekiel that he would bring his people back to their own land. And he did. In today's First Lesson, the prophet Zechariah speaks to the people who had returned to Israel. They were rebuilding their cities and their lives. Yet the wars didn’t end. The Samaritans attacked. Soon the Greeks would rule them. Later the Romans would rule them. There was still a rivalry between the southern tribe of Judah and the northern tribes of Israel, who had fought armed wars in the past.
The nation of Israel didn't have a king anymore. When Zechariah was prophet, they were still part of the Persian Empire. The Israelites may have thought that what they needed was a strong king to come in and make Israel great again and use his mighty power to defeat their enemies so that they could rule over the other nations.
The Lord spoke to the people through Zechariah to encourage them. "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Though they were discouraged, the people of God had a reason to rejoice! The Lord promised them that their king would come to them!
I wonder whether this was the kind of king that the people of Israel were looking for. He is righteous. That's good. Everybody wants a king who rules justly. He has salvation. That's good. He would bring them victory. He is gentle. But did they really want him to be gentle to their enemies? He rides on a donkey. Kings rode on donkeys in times of peace. Wouldn't they prefer for him to ride on a war horse, so that he could lead them into battle against their enemies?
The Lord didn't promise a king who would come to make war. He would come to bring peace. "I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth." Coming to make peace didn't mean that the promised king would be a wimp. He would have to be very powerful to disarm Israel and their enemy nations. He would have to be very powerful to rule over such a large territory. The Lord said he wouldn't just rule over a small strip of land called Israel. This king would rule all the earth. The Israelites had seen kings who ruled over large territories. But in order to do it, their armies constantly had to make war to suppress their subjects. Not the Lord's promised king. He would be the King to end all wars.
Is that the kind of king we are looking for? As much as we could wish that we had evolved past the desire to kill off our fellow human beings, our world is filled with war. The 20th century was the bloodiest century in history, and war has been a constant so far in the 21st century. The wars aren't only going on outside our borders. We've got plenty of wars within our borders, too. Each day we hear about more acts of violence. All of these terrible things start with the hatred that is within the human heart.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could have a president who would protect us from all of the violence that threatens us from inside and outside our country? Like the Israelites of the Old Testament, that is what a lot of Americans want. But how would a president do that? How would anybody in government do that? He would have to use armies and weapons to defeat the enemies. It would have to be a war to end all wars, right? If only we had a ruler strong enough. Then we could be at peace.
If you think a president or a king can make you safe by making war, then you are not looking for the king that the Lord promised to send. If you think the solution to stopping violence is crushing your enemies, then the King whom the Lord sends can't help you. We need to understand that the reason people are at war with each other is that human beings are at war with God. We aren't going to defeat God. If we try, we will be crushed.
The King whom the Lord promised came to bring peace between God and human beings. This King is far more powerful than any human president or king. He is the Lord himself, the Lord Jesus. Rejoice, because Jesus has made peace between God and you! Rejoice, because he brings peace for you and your fellow human beings to enjoy now and forever!
The Lord Jesus came to Israel to bring peace to that nation, too. He is the only king who fulfilled the Lord's Old Testament promise in every way. Jesus was perfectly righteous, never once committing even one unrighteous act, but always living and acting in justice toward God and man. He came bringing salvation, because he was victorious over his enemies, including the devil and every human being who tried to stop him from taking his throne. He was gentle, not ruling with an iron fist, but ruling through his promise of forgiveness and life. Jesus even came to Jerusalem literally riding on a donkey, just as the Lord promised.
Unfortunately, the rulers in Jerusalem weren't looking for the king the Lord had promised. So they decided to make war on him instead. Of course, Jesus is the all-powerful Lord, so he could have defeated them with no problem. But he didn’t fight back against them at all, and instead humbly allowed them to arrest and crucify him. They didn't realize, though, that this was the whole reason he rode into Jerusalem. The King had to suffer and die. The cross was his throne.
Our hateful hearts and actions made us God's enemies. But Jesus died for our rebellion against God, and made peace between him and us. Jesus ascended his throne to protect us from the destruction that we deserve. Now that we are at peace with God, we can also extend true peace to our fellow human beings.
Jesus no longer sits so humbly on a donkey. He no longer rules so humbly from the cross. Now he is exalted on his throne in heaven. Now he rules over the entire earth. As King, he brings peace to the world. Through his promise of forgiveness and life, he rules in our hearts. And as the Word of his life and death is proclaimed throughout the world, more people in every nation of the world are coming into his kingdom. Jesus does not conquer with chariots, war-horses, or weapons, but with his peace!
This is a different kind of king than we have seen in any human government. He is not a king who fights war, but who brings peace. He is not a king who hurts and kills people, but who gives them life and salvation. One hundred years ago, some people thought that a war could do these things, a war to end all wars. There, of course, is no such thing. But there is such a one who is the King to end all wars. That King is Jesus.