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
We conclude our study of Zechariah 9:9 today by looking at the last aspect the coming king – his lowliness. Zechariah is told by God that the king will come to Jerusalem “lowly and riding on a donkey”. The Hebrew word for “lowly” is ʽānî which depicts someone who is poor, afflicted, oppressed or even emotionally depressed.
Lowly is different from the other language in this verse. It stands in sharp contrast to righteous, just, victorious and the salvation that this king would bring to Israel. This king would be all those things but he would also be ʽānî. This doesn’t seem to fit.
We read throughout Scripture that God has a heart for the lowly. He hears the cry of the lowly and He has compassion on them:
“You save the humble (ʽānî),
but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low” (2 Sam 22:28).
“Shout for joy, you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted (ʽānî) ones” (Isa 49:13).
“I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor (ʽānî)
and upholds the cause of the needy” (Ps 140:12).
“He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed” (Prov 3:34).
But the Savior king who is coming to save Israel from their enemies shouldn’t be lowly. How can he be lowly and a conquerer at the same time? He came to earth as a poor humble man:
“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” (Matt 11:29).
“Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head’” (Matt 8:20).
“By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you” (2 Cor 10:1).
But it was his lowliness that allowed him to become a conqueror. In order to conquer sin, he had to humble himself to become a servant of God and be obedient to the point of his own death on a cross:
“Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:6-8).
He now calls us to the same lowliness. Humility is the character trait that God desires most for us. Jesus demonstrated it for us so that we could become like him in his humility:
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (Rom 12:3).
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph 4:2).
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).
“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble’” (1 Pet 5:5).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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