The King is coming

Nikolle Bauder • March 2, 2022

Notes from Pastor Lance Shumake's message on Zechariah 9:


The book of Zechariah has long been divided into two parts: the first half of the book (chapters 1-8) that focuses on visions and a specific answer to a question; in the second half of the book (chapters 9-14), Zechariah answers another question that hasn't been directly stated... now that the temple is being rebuilt, what is God going to do?


To note: when reading prophecy in the Bible, the timeline of events presented is unimportant. Instead, one must look for overarching themes in order to not get lost in the when and how.


In chapter 9, a major theme is God’s sovereignty over all the earth.


God being sovereign means that He is always in control. Everything that has happened, is happening, or will happen is all according to God’s plan and purpose.


Part of Zechariah’s prophecy in chapter 9 foretells a path of destruction on Israel’s enemies. What’s remarkable is that nearly two centuries later, the conqueror Alexander the Great fulfilled this prophecy exactly. Alexander and his army went down the same path written and wiped out the cities mentioned.


A couple points in chapter 9 that reiterate the theme of God’s sovereignty…


(1) God will judge and punish the wicked.


(2) God will defend his people.


Another remarkable thing about Alexander the Great was that he never attacked Jerusalem. He went past it once, turned around, and went past it again.


Why didn’t he attack? God was guarding His people.


Another theme is chapter 9 is that God will send His King to His people.


There’s a transition in the text between verses 1-8 and the rest of the chapter where God goes from saying, “I will do this…” to “He will do this”. He goes from saying what He’s going to do (send a King); to what the King is going to do. 


The King mentioned here is clearly a person (riding on a donkey, coming into the city) who is closely associated with God. He’s fortelling a God-man coming as King; the long-awaited Messiah coming to rescue His people.


(Spoiler alert: the coming King is Jesus)


This passage tells us several things about the coming King in verse 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 coming King is righteous


The King IS righteousness; the very personification of it.


Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life in complete obedience to God the Father. He was (and is) fully righteous; set apart from every person on earth.


In exchange for our sin, Jesus (*fully righteous*) took the punishment we should have taken and GIVES US his righteousness. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, it’s like we’ve never sinned. When we are clothed in Jesus’ righteousness, God sees us as if we’ve always obeyed.


The coming King brings salvation


Jesus came because we needed saving. He came to accomplish our salvation by living a perfect life, dying on a cross, being buried in a grave, and—on the third day—coming out of that grave, conquering sin and death forever.


We have no salvation apart from Jesus.


The coming King is humble


Most people thought that the Messiah would come on a war horse as a conqueror. But Jesus came on a humble donkey.


Jesus came to us “not to be served but to serve.” In greatest humility, the Creator of our world accomplished the work of our salvation (death on a cross) with joy.


Author Arthur Pink says of Jesus, “Notice it in the men selected by Him to be His ambassadors: He chose not the wise, the learned, the great, the noble, but poor fishermen for the most part. Witness it in the company He kept: He sought not the rich and renowned, but was “the Friend of publicans and sinners.” See it in the miracles He performed: again and again He enjoined the healed to go and tell no man what had been done for them. Behold it in the unobtrusiveness of His service: unlike the hypocrites who sounded a trumpet before them, He sought not the limelight, shunned advertising, and disdained popularity. . . . When He, in fulfillment of prophecy, presented Himself to Israel as their King, He entered Jerusalem “lowly, and riding upon a donkey.”


Because Jesus is a servant King, kingdom work for us looks like serving.


The coming King proclaims peace


Jesus came in on a donkey because He didn’t come to conquer, He came to bring peace. His peace is one extended to all the nations— all welcome and invited in.


The peace Jesus brings is a peace between us and God. Before Jesus, we were God’s enemies. We fired the first shot and turned our backs on Him. Because He is a just God, He punishes His enemies. But the King comes to intervene and establish peace. He doesn’t seek revenge, He seeks relationship.



The coming King reigns forever


...and we get to reign with Him, if we put our faith and trust in Him!



So what do we do with this?


- Don't reject Him.


- Build His Kingdom and serve others!


- REJOICE! Rejoice with shouting, with worship, with all of our lives -- Rejoice!



500 years after Zechariah said all this, Jesus rode into town on a donkey.


Luke 19:27-28 tells us, "As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, [38] saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 


Rejoice in who He is and what He has done! Let that be the refrain of our lives.

Arm Yourselves

June 11, 2025
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, June 8, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 4:1-6 Prepare to suffer Is. 50:6-8a I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. The martial language indicates that discipline and grit are needed to live the Christian life, particularly in view of the suffering believers encounter. -Thomas R. Schreiner Some people won’t like you if you follow Jesus When a culture abandons biblical standards, when extramarital sex, cohabitation, and birth outside of marriage become normal, people attack the church for its moral snobbery and judgmentalism. Peter warns us that if we do take a stand, we need to expect slander, not applause. -Daniel M. Dorian This is one of the hardest things a new Christian has to face. Your friends liked you because you shared in “the same flood of debauchery.” It seemed great fun at times, but then you came to embrace Christ… But your friends have not… They will be surprised when you say “No.” -Juan Sanchez. Keep an eternal perspective Our outcome is glorious Suffering is good for us Let’s remember that suffering accomplishes God’s purposes. It exposes what or whom we are trusting (1 Peter 1:6–7). - Juan Sanchez Ecc. 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Discipleship Questions: Verse 1 tell us to arm ourselves by thinking as Christ did about suffering. How did Christ arm himself for and against sufferings? What does it look like for us to do that? Have you ever lost friendships (or had them change) because you were following Jesus? Do you fear that we (or our kids) will experience greater persecution in the future? If yes, how should we handle that fear?

I Believe That We Will Win

June 3, 2025
Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 3:18-22 Jesus suffered and died in order to bring us to God Jesus conquered death by his resurrection “A wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means.” —Martin Luther Problem #1 - he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison —Jesus preached through Noah to those who lived at that time (1 Peter 1:10–12) —Jesus proclaimed His victory to evil angels (see Genesis 6:1-4) Problem #2 - baptism now saves you —Scripture is clear - we are saved by grace not works —baptism pictures our salvation from God’s judgment through the resurrection of Christ “The waters of baptism, like the waters of the flood, demonstrate that destruction is at hand, but believers are rescued from these waters in that they are baptized with Christ, who has also emerged from the waters of death through his resurrection. Just as Noah was delivered through the stormy waters of the flood, believers have been saved through the stormy waters of baptism by virtue of Christ’s triumph over death.” —Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude —in baptism we are appealing to God for a good conscience "This appeal is an act of the heart looking away from itself and from all human instruments and calling on God, appealing to God, for grace to save.” —John Piper —in baptism we are pledging to God to live in a manner worthy of the gospel Jesus ascended to heaven and now reigns over everything “We can face suffering as Christians with confidence rather than panic, and hope rather than despair, because the road marked with Christian suffering is, no matter what its twists and turns are, the road to vindication and glory. The God who vindicated Jesus will vindicate you, and he will sustain your faith until that day.” –Juan R. Sanchez, 1 Peter For You Discipleship Questions: How does Jesus’ death and resurrection encourage us when we suffer? Why did we need Jesus to suffer and die to bring us to God? How does Jesus’ victory over death give us eternal hope? What are your thoughts regarding some of the problems in this passage? How does what Peter says about baptism elevate the importance of baptism? When were you baptized and how does this passage inform your understanding of baptism? How does knowing our victory is secured help us with all the things this life throws at us?

Who Can Be Against Us?

May 27, 2025
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, May 25, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 3:13-17 Nobody can (truly) hurt Christians Psalm 118:6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Rom. 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? The train of thought is as follows: “No one will be able to harm believers on the future day if they are zealous for good” (v. 13). Indeed, even present suffering is not a sign of punishment but of blessing both now and especially in the future, on the day when God rewards his people with eternal life. -Thomas R. Schreiner Honoring Christ Erases Fear Share your faith with strength and gentleness Embrace balance Be prepared to share The truth of the gospel is a public truth that can be defended in the public arena. This does not mean, of course, that every Christian is to be a highly skilled apologist for the faith. It does mean that every believer should grasp the essentials of the faith and should have the ability to explain to others why they think the Christian faith is true. -Thomas R. Schreiner Be prepared to suffer “I’ve spent a number of years in India and Africa where I found much righteous endeavor undertaken by Christians of all denominations; but I never, as it happens, came across a hospital or orphanage run by the Fabian Society [a British socialist organization], or a humanist leper colony.” -Malcolm Muggeridge Be bold! We will likely suffer as Christians in this world, but that suffering is slight and temporary compared to the eternal inheritance that awaits us. The worst thing that can happen to us is that we die and receive our promised inheritance. Can you imagine how emboldened Christians would be if we only believed what Peter is saying? -Juan R. Sanchez Discipleship Questions: Does the fact that nobody can (truly) harm us comfort you? What would change if we lived like we really believe that? Are you a more confident person as someone who knows Christ? Does your security in Christ embolden you to take some risks in life, knowing that the worst that could happen is death? How equipped / prepared are you to give a reason for the hope that you have? What would grow your confidence and competence in that? Have you considered joining Michael Clark one day for evangelism at the harbor? Well….you should….
Show More