Sermon on Zechariah 9:9-12 for Palm Sunday, "Prisoners of Hope!"
Sermon Outline:
1.
Palm Sunday, Holy Week, looking down the
path that Jesus journeyed to the cross. We watch our king enter Jerusalem, Last
Supper, Good Friday. Do we turn our eyes from that shameful death on the cross,
or do we look to Him and breathe out our humble prayer of repentance and
thanksgiving, that He suffered that for us?
2.
“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.” How should the heart rejoice at the sign of Jesus’
coming? “Our hearts should jump for joy. Our spirits should hop with rejoicing.
Our tongues should be speaking praises. For this King does not bring just any
ordinary benefit. That’s why also this joy should not just be any ordinary joy,
but rather a special joy. It is written in Neh. 8:10: For the joy in the Lord
is your strength. However, he is not referring here to some worldly joy.
Instead, it refers to a spiritual joy of the inward man when our soul and
spirit—with heartfelt contemplation of the great benefits which we have in
Christ” (Gerhard).
3.
Our joy that Jesus comes to us
continually in His Word and Sacraments. Jesus comes in the humble, rejectable
forms of His Word, of lowly water, of simple bread and wine. Yet here He offers
Himself to us, that we would receive Him into our hearts with glad shouts of
praise and thanksgiving.
4.
Prophecy and palm procession is a royal
scene, like a king riding into the capital to His coronation, rise to His
throne. Solomon’s crowning, Jehu’s ascent to the throne. Jesus’ mount. The
people’s acclaim “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
5.
But Jesus’ path to coronation, to His
throne went directly through the cross. No golden crown, but a crown of thorns.
No jeweled scepter, but a reed given in mocking. The loyalty quickly vanished,
the crowds cries quickly turned, from the king they hoped for to the king they
despised and rejected.
6.
Reign unlike any other. Sacrificial
love, humility, peace that comes by speaking.
His Word brings peace…disarms the hatred, the enmity of the heart. Prepares a
way for God within.
7.
What did they miss about Jesus’
kingship, that so many rejected Him? His suffering, humility, the extent of His
kingdom “from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” All
nations, those who call on Him as Lord and King, are His citizens and subjects.
Heirs to His kingdom. Missed that His kingdom would come through “the blood of
my covenant with you.” His contract, His promise with them of freedom,
restoration of the kingdom, of peace and salvation. Shedding His blood, the
price of the covenant, the sealing of God’s contract of forgiveness, the
guarantee of prisoners set free.
8.
Disciples and the crowds laid down their
cloaks. Sign of obedience, love, rendered service, humility. Recognition of kingship.
How do we lay down our cloaks before Him? Give of our material goods for His
kingdom, lay down our lives, humility, service to His kingship. “Nothing in our
hearts actually fights more fiercely against Christ’s kingdom of grace than the
rule of the sinful flesh. So if you then allow the sinful flesh to rule in you,
then Christ’s kingdom of grace can no longer make an entrance into you. One
ruler must be given a leave of absence; it’s not possible for a person to
simultaneously allow two opposing lords to have the upper hand--one has to be
disregarded (Matt. 6:24).” Gerhard. Give our sinful flesh a leave of absence.
Acknowledge Christ as Lord.
9.
Amazing words: “prisoners of hope.”
Would expect no hope for prisoners. But people under sin, death, loneliness,
fear, longing for freedom—called to hope. Called to look to the One who
shattered the prison chains. Jesus, our King who goes before us, who Himself
became a prisoner, so that we might be prisoners of hope. Many OT examples—NT Paul
and Silas singing. God would deliver—this was their hope. God was their
stronghold or refuge. Jesus bore the chains, the mockery, the beating, the
death, for us. He rose from the grave showing victory, triumph. The “triumphal
entry” into Jerusalem would be followed by an even more triumphant exit, when
He ascended from the hill in Bethany, the same place where He began His journey
into Jerusalem on the donkey, now He ascends to His rightful throne, right hand
of the Father. Crown of thorns, suffering, shame exchanged for a crown of
glory, power, eternal life. We’re prisoners of hope—captive to the joy of the
Lord, which is our strength—captive to the love of God that has set us free by
His blood of the covenant! Rejoice greatly! Shout aloud! Christ is your King!
Amen.
Sermon
Talking Points
Read
past sermons at:
http://thejoshuavictortheory.blogspot.com
Listen
to audio at:
http://thejoshuavictortheory.podbean.com
- Read Mark 11:1-11 about Jesus’ triumphal entry
into Jerusalem. How was this an intentional fulfillment of the words of
the prophet Zechariah (520-518 BC), in Zech. 9:9-12? What were the
characteristics of the King and His coming reign?
- What were the “kingly” actions that surrounded
this event? 1 Kings 1:33-40; 2 Ki. 9:13; Ps. 118:25-26. The scene looks
like a king riding to His coronation. What crown would Jesus wear? Why did
many then abandon Him? How did the path to His coronation intersect with
suffering and imprisonment?
- What does it mean for us to “lay down our
cloaks” for Jesus? Read Eph. 4:22; Jude 23; Gal. 5:24; Col. 3:5. How is
repentance a humbling of ourselves, and a laying aside of our pride? How
is laying down our material possessions for the Lord a sign of obedience
and service to Him?
- Jerusalem received Jesus with palms and
praises. How does Christ come to us today, and how do we properly receive
Him? Look at the hymn verse: “Then
cleansed be ev’ry life from sin; make straight the way for God within, and
let us all our hearts prepare, for Christ to come and enter there.”
(LSB 344:2)
- Zech. 9:11-12 describes “prisoners of hope.”
What does this mean? How are we “prisoners of hope”? What other examples
of “prisoners of hope” can you find in the Bible? Read their stories:
Joseph, Samson, Jeremiah, the 12 disciples, Peter, Paul and Silas, etc.
How does Scripture speak comfort to the prisoners? Ps. 69:33; 102:18-22;
107:10-16; Is. 42:6-7. How did
Christ become one with us, as a “prisoner of hope?”
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