Zechariah 9:9-12 (NRSV)
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Verse 9Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Verse 10He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. Verse 11As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Verse 12Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
Devotion
There is a mystery to the ways of God. There is a certain irony in the way today’s reading of Zechariah takes me back to Palm Sunday—and then even further back to Advent when we were engaged in talk of Messianic hopes. All of this points us to thoughts of freedom. Freedom is something we celebrate tomorrow as a nation. For ancient Israel, God’s covenant was designed to give these prisoners hope. I have witnessed too many people shackled, weighed down, often by a grief they could not escape. The King comes riding in not on a war horse but on a donkey. With humility he comes! Hard to comprehend how this could mark triumph and victory.
Could this be a sign that even today the battle bow might be broken? Perhaps the King will command peace amid the shootings and violence in our schools, workplaces, and nations. The blood of the cross sets us free.
Prayer
Ride on King Jesus, let nothing hinder your will and purpose for our world. Grant us your grace and fill the nations with your peace. Amen.