Zechariah's prophesy

I'd like to share with you another Bible reading about the real peace God brings to us, as we talked about in last Sunday's sermon.

In the Old Testament reading for this coming Sunday (July 5th), God speaks to us through an Old Testament prophet, Zechariah.  The verses below were most likely written while God's people were held captive in Babylon during the 6th century B.C.  In these verses, God was telling His children all about the real peace He will bring to the entire world. 

Zechariah 9:9–12

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.

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.

As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you,

     I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

     today I declare that I will restore to you double.    

In the first verse,  He proclaims "your king is coming to you"!  And how?  He comes bringing salvation and in humility, riding a donkey.  Some of the folks in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday must have really gotten it; the long-promised Messiah had arrived!   But the Messiah would not bring the "false peace" of nations and men.  No chariots, no war horses, no battle bows.  The Messiah, Jesus Christ came to speak real peace "to the ends of the earth", which lasts forever.  And what gives this real peace?  God's "salvation", "the blood of [His] covenant with you".  His real peace "will set...prisoners free" from satan and hell.  This promise, this real peace is for you and for me, "O prisoners of hope"!

As we live surrounded by this world's false peace, remember these words of God through Zechariah.  Jesus Christ has set you free from sin, by shedding His blood on Calvary's cross!  This is real peace, which is for ALL people and will last through ALL time!  Thanks be to God!

A prisoner of hope with you, 

Vicar Mark