Sermon preached at R.B.C Jinja town in 2019 by Mbowa Joseph.

The Promised King

Text: Zechariah 9:9
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.

The daughters of Zion were the inhabitants of Jerusalem or the children of Israel. There is a
command given in verse 9. We are to rejoice, shout in triumph, and we are also commanded to
look. We are to rejoice because of the message. Luke 2:10–11: “I bring you good tidings of
great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a
savior.” We rejoice because of the presence of the King in our midst. He is coming to save us;
therefore, we should rejoice.

Why are we given these commands?

Because the coming King was to come to the world. This promise was given by God to the
Israelites. We are to rejoice because the cause of sorrow had been removed—because sin was
removed, death trampled underfoot—we are now called to freedom, crowned with the grace of
adoption, and given heavenly gifts.

This promised King was not Joshua, the high priest of that time. Neither was it Zerubbabel, who
was the governor of Judah during the time when the prophecy was given to Prophet Zechariah,
the son of a priest.

Who is this King? This is Jesus Christ.

(i) He has all the honors, titles, and qualifications of a king. He was descended from a stock of
heavenly royalty; He was the firstborn of every creature.
(ii) Christ gave laws and principles of government as a king. Some of these principles He gave
during the Sermon on the Mount.
(iii) Christ protects, defends, and counsels His subjects as a king.
(iv) Christ gives gifts, pardons, and crowns.

Jesus Christ is the King of glory, the king of creation, the king of kings and the king of the
universe. Everything belong to him.

Zechariah 2:10, the Lord says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to
live among you.” This is predicting the birth of Jesus Christ. But we can look in the view, Spirit
of God dwelling in the life of believers. But also when looking at the future of the millennial
kingdom.

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS OF THE PROMISED KING?

1. HE IS HUMBLE.

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He is lowly and riding upon an ass, where there is not genuine humility, there is no true
greatness; it is essential to true majesty.

How was he humble?

(i) Birth

When the Son of God accepted to come and put on flesh, that was great humiliation. For sure, He
was humble. Christ came to earth through a virgin birth. Mary had never sinned with any man.
His birth was to be unique because He was unique.

(ii) Death

Because how can the giver of life accept to die? He died a shameful death on the cross. The
crucifixion was for criminals. He was scorned at His death.
Matt. 27:40, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
That is humility.
Matt. 11:29, He said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
in heart and you will find rest for your souls.”

Persuasion:

Humility is the first duty and the highest virtue of the creature, and the root of every virtue. The
lack of humility is the sufficient explanation for every defect and failure. Humility is a rare
Christian grace of great price in the courts of heaven. It gives access to God when other qualities
fail. Humility is a character quality we should all seek after. Learning humility is a life lesson,
but the following are some things we can do to cultivate greater humility in our lives:

I. Let us continually recognize our need to depend upon God. The humble man will continually
know his need of God. Possibly one reason why God allows us to have difficulties from which
He doesn’t immediately deliver us is to remind us of our great need for Him.

II. Live for the honor of God, not the honor of men. A humble person lives his life to please
God, not men. He is more concerned with what God thinks than men. His motivation is not self-
exaltation or self-recognition, but rather God’s glorification. A humble person lives for the glory
of God.

III. Speak little about ourselves (Prov. 27:2). Christian ministries that spend a large portion of
time talking about their projects and accomplishments may raise a lot of money and have an
outward appearance of success, but unless Christ is truly the focus, they have missed the mark.

IV. Quit comparing ourselves with others. When we compare ourselves with others, we become
proud because we think we are better. We also become depressed because we feel we don’t
measure up. Pride is not just thinking we are smart, capable, or good-looking; pride is thinking
we are smarter than others, more capable than others, or better-looking than others.
Lord, have mercy on us sinners. Amen.

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2. HE IS RIGHTEOUS.

He is the fountain of righteousness and holiness. He is righteous because of His mercy and
justice. He is merciful because He forgives sin. He is just because He rewards the good and
punishes the evil. His actions were pleasing to the Father.
McClintock and Strong define righteousness as the quality of being right morally.
The righteousness of God is the essential perfection of His nature, and it frequently is used to
mean His holiness, justice, and faithfulness. The righteousness of Christ refers to His obedience
unto death on the cross. The cross of Jesus Christ was a public display of God’s righteousness.
God credits righteousness to those...

...who believe in Him (Philippians 3:9), “And be found in Him, not having a righteousness of
my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness
that comes from God and is by faith.”

Illustration

All our righteousness is filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). According to Hebrew culture, the rags were
pieces of cloth used during menstruation. In modern usage, they would be used pads. We don’t
become righteous because we have been good or done good works but because we have believed
God (Galatians 3:6), “The source of all righteousness is the righteousness of Christ.”

What should we do then? We are to have faith in the Son of God so that He can impute His
righteousness to us.

3. HE IS VICTORIOUS (Savior).

The expression "having salvation" implies that He alone will come as a deliverer or as one
who gives salvation to others.

He alone can save from sin, Satan, death, and hell.

The two conditions for salvation are repentance and faith. Faith does not mean believing
something blindly without any evidence. The Bible gives abundant evidence on which to base
our faith.
Which evidence do you need other than the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ?

Illustration

There is a story of a man who went to the doctor for an examination and was told that the cause
of his illness was drinking alcohol (shared by David Gooding). The man told the doctor how he
realized it and said, "I repent of it. Give me something to help me give it up." The doctor said,
"You are wise to give up drinking, but your lungs are destroyed, and you need a heart-lung
transplant operation."

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Will the man be willing to repent at this more basic level? Will he agree with the doctor that his
condition is so bad that merely giving up drinking cannot save him? Only a new heart and new
lungs can save him!
Suppose the man rejects the doctor’s verdict: he will surely die!

On the other hand, if he repents at this basic level, agrees with the doctor’s diagnosis, submits to
the operation, and receives the heart and lungs of another person, it will still be important that he
repents of the sin of drinking.

Conclusion

Jesus Christ is the promised King, who is humble, righteous, and our salvation. He is the one
who was promised to come. For sure, He is at the door of your heart now. Open your heart to
Him so that He can come in and reign in your life. In doing this, you will become His subject.

In this season, as we remember His coming to earth by putting on flesh through a virgin birth, we
should be willing to allow Him to work in our lives. Let His love flow through our lives and
families. It is a joy, as His children, to celebrate together in our families. Amen.

References

1. Clay Sterrett, Safeguards for the Saints, CFC Literature, Staunton, 1989, pp. 13–22.
2. David Gooding and John Lennox, Key Bible Concepts, Myrtlefield Trust, 1997 (Youth
Work Toolkit, Kenya), pp. 8–9.