Zechariah 9:9-12 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. 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. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

Zechariah was a Prophet and Priest who lived and ministered 500 years before the birth of Christ. His name alone is significant, it means "the Lord remembers". Although he was born in captivity he had come back to Jerusalem, and as a young man, Zechariah was used of the Lord to bring encouragement to the people who by the time of the writing of these prophesies, had given up on the project of rebuilding the temple. The "Exodus" from Babylon, the end if the captivity, had taken place in the year 536, and now, 16 years later, an opportunity is given during the reign of the Persian king Darius for the wok to begin again.

Just two months earlier, another prophet, Haggai, had begun to challenge the people to resume this rebuilding process. Through the prophet, the Lord speaks to the people, "'Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?' Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.' This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,' says the LORD." (Haggai 1:4-8)

Zechariah also promotes this message - "restore the house of the Lord, there is hope for a glorious future." Six years later, after the temple was completed, the passage in chapter 9 announcing the coming of the King was written. This represents the third section of this book - the first consisted of 8 visions the Lord gave Zechariah in one night, and the second (ch. 7+8) was in response to the question brought concerning the keeping of a fast. The answer to this question can be summed up in 7:9, 10 - "This is what the LORD Almighty says: `Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'"

The chapter begins with the words (KJV), "The burden of the word of the LORD". In bringing encouragement to His people, the Lord begins by assuring them that her enemies will be punished. Yes, they have been trampled on by neighbors and foreign armies, but God promises that there will come a time when no longer with they be under oppression. Yes, the line of David has been seemingly obliterated as though drawn in the sand before the incoming tide, but there will be once again a King from David's house to sit on the throne. Renewed prosperity is on the way, the people must take heart and be renewed in their hope.

This message of encouragement turns out to be one of the great prophecies in the Old Testament predicting the coming of the Messiah. Almost 550 years before the event too place which is celebrated on what we call Palm Sunday, this prophet told what would happen.

Notice that it is a time for rejoicing - your King is coming! The children sang and danced. Palm branches were waved and coats laid down in the street. There was electricity in the air. Your King is coming!

However, some may think that's bad news, we want to be in charge, we want to be independent, self determining - we don't want to be ruled by anyone.

I. But this is a King of a different kind.

He is meek, humble - this is demonstrated by his riding on a donkey, a young untrained donkey. Ever since Solomon, the kings would ride on horses with great pomp - prior to that time, men of distinction would ride on a donkey. Remember when Abraham took his son to the mountain to worship? He rode a donkey (Genesis 22:3). Of one of the Judges it was said that he had 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys - they were the rulers of 30 towns during the time prior to the kingdom. When Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, He sent a very clear signal - He is King, but not of the worldly sort. He would not rule through domination, but only when invited by godly people. And still He want to be King in my life and yours.