Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Zechariah 9:9-13
In addition to being righteous and just, Zechariah’s prophecy tells us that the Messiah would be victorious. The NIV translates the Hebrew word yāšaʽ as “victorious” but interestingly the NASB1995 and other more traditional translations say “endowed with salvation” or “having salvation”.
Yāšaʽ appears over 200 times in the Old Testament and generally refers to God saving His people. God rescues, delivers and ultimately brings salvation to His people time after time. In the context of our verse today, Jesus will be a Savior bringing salvation to us.
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, he told him about the son that Mary was going to conceive:
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21).
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, also prophesied the salvation that Jesus would bring:
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77).
Jesus brought salvation with him when he became a man. As the King, he would save us from our sins. Because Jesus was righteous and just, he was able to bring salvation to us. He submitted himself to God’s will that he might endure the cross and provide us with salvation:
“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed’” (1 Pet 2:23-24).
“For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Rom 5:8).
We know now that this salvation was a spiritual salvation that made us right with God. However, the Jews anticipated a king who would bring them salvation or “victory” from their oppressors. Zechariah 9:9 is sandwiched between the first eight verses speaking of all the destruction that God was going to bring to Israel’s neighboring enemies and verse 10 speaking of the peace that this king would bring to Jerusalem and even the rest of the world.
Zechariah 9:10 says:
“I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses 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.”
This certainly sounds like the Messiah would come as a mighty king who would establish his throne as the most powerful king in the world. His power would be so great that Israel would no longer need chariots, warhorses or the battle bow. There would be peace in all the land from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth.
But this victory wasn’t to be a victory over Israel’s enemies – yet. Jesus will return to accomplish that at the end of the age. But Jesus would first come to establish victory over sin. And this victory would bring us peace with God as the angels announced to the shepherds the night Jesus was born:
“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“’Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:13-14).
Peace is the bi-product of salvation because we have been made right (or just) with God:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Rom 5:1-2).
And because we have peace with God, we should also have peace with everyone around us. As believers, we have the most important thing of all – peace with God. He was gracious to give us His peace. Peace with others should follow:
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Rom 12:18).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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