SPEAKER_01 0:15

Well, hey, Lifehouse family. Welcome back to our Monday time. Great opportunity. We get Pastor Mark pin him down for 20, 30 minutes, however long he got for us, right? But we enjoy taking this time every week. We hope you do as well, just to dig more into the scriptures that we go over on Sunday. We hope you are following along every week and really getting more out of it. So this week, Palm Sunday, man. So much going on. Tying in a lot of people probably don't immediately go to Zechariah when they think Palm Sunday was.

Zechariah 9 And The Donkey

Hosanna And Misread Salvation

SPEAKER_02 0:43

It's fascinating. You know, so interestingly enough, so Palm Sunday is commemorating Jesus' triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, the Sunday of the Passion Week. So the week that Jesus died, only to rise again on the third day. But how Matthew and John explicitly, like leave no room for confusion, say that in connection with the way that Jesus came and the time and the place that he was fulfilling, Zechariah chapter nine. And so to me, it's fascinating to just consider this prophecy, encouraging, comforting word from the Lord communicated 500 years before Jesus was even born. It's all about Jesus. Like there, so Zechariah, there's so many things like to think about and consider, but the book of Zechariah is an encouraging, comforting word for a discouraged people. And the first eight chapters are written when Zechariah was very young. He was given the visions and communicated these encouraging words to the people, trying to inspire them to be obedient and building the temple. They did that. The last five chapters of Zechariah contain two oracles or weighty. So the word oracle means weight or burden. And so weighty words, the words of the Lord, that there's two of them comprised in those five chapters. Part of the first one is in chapter nine, but it's all about Jesus Christ. I mean, there's so many different things, and I'm excited. We're gonna preach an Easter message this coming Sunday, but you know, things that are so clearly, undeniably fulfilled in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, yeah, Zechariah 9 is one of those obvious connections, and it's it's powerful to think about, you know, that Zechariah 9, the fact that he came into Jerusalem riding on a humble, you know, righteous and having salvation, humble, mounted on a donkey, the colt, the full of a donkey, which that sounds odd to us, but really to the Jewish mind in those days, like that was communicating like this is the way Solomon actually came into when David was passing the torch of kingship to Solomon. That's how Solomon rode into Jerusalem. And so Jesus was very intentionally riding in on a donkey. It wasn't because he was out of options or there were no other options, and so, oh, this is the only thing I got, so let's do it. No, it was to say, I'm Zechariah 9-9, and not just that, but I am the king, you know. And it's fascinating to realize that all the people picked up what he was laying down, like they were not confused about the Zechariah 9-9 uh connection, and in fact, that's why they were specifically singing and shouting aloud and rejoicing, Psalm 118, which is a messianic psalm, which says Hosanna. Like, righteous and having salvation is he. Well, they were singing Hosanna, which literally means save us. Yeah, come. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, and they're waving palm branches. And all of that was basically saying, like, yes, like we believe, Jesus, that you are the Messiah. Where the confusion lied was in the fact that they didn't realize what he was there to save them from or how he would save them. And so they thought he was going to save them from the Romans, right? And they needed to be saved from the Romans, but but ultimately he was there to save them in a much greater and much more profound way. He was there to save them from their sins. He's the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, not away the Romans of the world, but the sins of the world, and so much greater salvation that that he came to usher in.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Right. No, I think it's a great point. Like you mentioned, I think it's 1 Kings 1, and a lot of people forget Solomon too. There was a conflict in David's family of who the true king was. And David's like, no, you know, put Solomon on a donkey. He's coming into this. Let everybody know he's the guy. You know, he is the right one. This is the guy who's going to be the successor and the king. So, as you said, when Jesus comes into Jerusalem this way, he's sending a clear message. You know, I am the king, you know, I'm fulfilling this prophecy. So and I think you pointed out in your message, the Pharisees didn't like that. You know, they were one against him as a king, and then of course the people had the misconception of what type of king he was to be. But there was no doubt he's saying, I'm coming as a king. We'll get into it through the Passion Week, but you know, that was what they wanted to bring him up on charges of claiming to be God and claiming to be king. And they didn't like either of those.

Rest In The King’s Control

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Well, and the Jews, it was the Pharisees specifically in John's gospel, it's recorded that they said, Jesus, tell your disciples, rebuke them. In essence, tell them to stop saying what they're saying and stop rejoicing in the way they're rejoicing. And Jesus's reply was not okay or I can't stop them. He said, No. Like, if if they were silent, even the rocks would cry out. Like Jesus received their acknowledgement. You know, he again, this goes back to that C. S. Lewis argument. Like, based on what Jesus says about himself and what he does, like either he was a liar, he was a lunatic, or he is who he claimed to be, the Lord, and not just king, but king of kings and lord of lords. And so, yeah, that's what is revealed in the gospels. And it's just fascinating how it ties all the way back to Zechariah 9. Now, there's a lot in Zechariah 9, right? And so the three points of the sermon, we kind of uh three points. The first was that we are to rest in the sovereign control of our king. And the word of the Lord that was communicated at the first part of Zechariah 9 was this judgment. The word of the Lord was against like all these cities, Hadrach and Tyre and Sidon and the nation of Philistia, and all these places that we've never heard of and aren't familiar with us to us at all. But to the ancient Jewish mind, like these were invincible cities filled with their enemies. And so they were literally, because of their proximity to Jerusalem, living in fear, right? That they were anxious, always looking over their shoulders. Like, could it be possible for us to be taken away into captivity again? Like even our children? And what the Lord promises is that he will take out these seemingly invincible cities, and that ultimately he's the only one that's invincible, and that he will take them out and wipe them out, displaying his power, his authority, his sovereign control over every situation. And then beyond that, he'll guard them. Like he'll dwell with them and guard them and take care of them in a way that they don't have to fear anymore, right? Like that he will bring peace in that way. And so one thing to just kind of think about and maybe talk about is you know, God is sovereign, like he is in control. It may not seem like he is when we turn on the news and we hear the news and we're like, God, where are you in that situation? And why aren't you taking care of that situation? And we question, you know, is God in control? Does he see? Does he know? And he does. And that's what God is telling his people here. Like, I see, and and they're not invincible, I'm invincible. I have a plan, and it will go forward. And my plan is for you, my people. And so, yeah, I think so. One question to ask or consider as we we read is where might we be not trusting in God's sovereign control? You know, it might be large scale, like in with world events, right? You know a lot of that going on now, right? You know, it's hard to watch the news. You know, China, Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, you know, I mean, all these different things, Iran, like like where are you, God? And do we trust that God is in control and that he sees? And then beyond that, though, I think a lot of times people are so fearful in their personal, they forget the world situations, like they're trusting to trust God or failing to trust God in just their own individual situations and circumstances. It might be a diagnosis, it might be a prodigal child or grandchild, or in their marriage, they might be f having strife or a struggle, and maybe it's their job or just living conditions, whatever it is. I mean, there's things in my life every day that I have to cling to and hold fast to what I know and not hold fast to how I feel, right? Because it seems like God is distant, like God is far, but I know that's not the truth. And so I think that that's a good thing to ask, you know, God, like, is there a place, is there a way that I'm not trusting you? You know, because God wants us to trust him. He doesn't need our trust, but he knows that he can be trusted. He proves this is what scripture's for to reveal us, reveal to us the character of God, to reveal to us what Zechariah 9 very clearly communicates, that he is in control of everything and of every one. And that should comfort us. Like we should rest in that reality because he's a God. Zechariah Yahweh remembers, who remembers, he sees, he knows, he hears, he knows the number of hairs on our head. Like he knows it all.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

And he's in control of it all. Yep. And I think, too, this is you were talking, like, where would we identify? You know, because this same crowd is going to be the same crowd that a few days later is going to shout, crucify him when he doesn't meet their expectations of the king, of their personal situation, of both world events, their events in Jerusalem when he wasn't that conquering hero that they wanted, you know, they turned against him. Or are you the Pharisees who just don't want him king at all? So where do you identify in the story, or in your life have you identified in different places of the story, or have you come to that place of peace and rest, making Christ king of your life, and then you can trust him through all of those circumstances. So I think it's really good point.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Yeah, like we we should it is appropriate to trust the Lord, you know. And I loved the song, the invitation song that we sang at the end of the service yesterday. I surrender all is the song. Very familiar song. Sometimes you just sing the song, you don't think about the words you're singing. But essentially, that's what we should do, that's what we can do, is surrender not just some, but surrender as in trust the Lord. Like, like let him, you know, do what he is supposed to do. That doesn't mean just sit back and do nothing. Like we need to be obedient, but surrender all. Like, trust his sovereign control over everything and everyone and arrest in that reality. Like, don't shake your fist at God or question his goodness when he doesn't answer in the way that you think he should, in the way that you think he should, when you think he should. No, like he hears our prayers, he answers our prayers, he knows he has a plan, and that plan is being accomplished, you know, and so we can surrender our fears to him, we can surrender our questions to him, you know, all and trust and rest in his sovereign control. So, do we do that? That's the question.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

It just reminds me too, contextually, in our society, we're in a time of a great distrust of authority against, you know, government and all areas, institutions, even unfortunately, some leaders in churches. You know, I think we mentioned a couple weeks ago, people who are not building a church on Christ. So there's a lot of distrust of authority, but we can trust God. So don't let that distrust of what you see in man, earthly kings or our own misconceptions about that lead us to not trust Christ. Because kind of, again, that I think kind of cultural air we breathe of not trusting authority, I think, can lead us wrong when it comes to our faith. And we look in Christ.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Fear can lead us astray, can clo can uh distract us. Uh, anxiety and we've talked about it. Fear and anxiety are like an epidemic in our world today. Everyone is afraid and taking even medications for it. And I'm not saying that that's not appropriate in certain situations, but it's so pervasive. And really, fear is the opposite of faith. Trust. And so we can rest and thereby have clear-minded thinking and and perspective on our situations as we move forward and obey the Lord Jesus Christ, and as we so that we can walk in the works that he prepared beforehand for us to walk in. So, yeah, like let's ask the Lord to give us the faith to trust him in who he is. I again, and we can move on to the next point after like we see so many examples in scripture of people who trusted the Lord. But for me, you know, my go-to encouragement in that regard is Paul's testimony when in 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 12, when he's in prison, like he's writing and acknowledging his suffering in prison, probably gonna die. And he actually does die, like he is executed. What's his crime? Following Jesus, furthering the gospel, advancing the gospel. But he tells Timothy, his son in the face, faith, you know, I suffer, but I know in whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed until that day. Like I'm not gonna doubt his goodness. I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I know that he hears my prayers, that he's not forgotten me or forsaken me. I know in whom I have believed. And so we, do you know in whom you have believed, right? Trust him. He is worthy of it all, specifically our trust.

Rejoice Greatly Through Hard Times

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Exactly. And so that should lead to, I think, good segue to the second point. Yeah. When we have trust, when we do have that confidence in our faith and Christ is the king of our life and he is a good king, we can rejoice even in the tough times, even when it seems challenging. Because ultimately, I know when I look back, like, wow, you know, okay, now I see, you know, as we continue to journey in faith, we see more and more times where yeah, we were because of uncertainty or whatever the case may be. We were talking a little bit before we came on, can feel uncertain, but then we just see everything God's doing. It should build that like I can rejoice even in these times because I know God is good. He's on the throne, right? He didn't step back. He's not like, you know, remember Elijah making fun of the male prophets, oh, he must be sleeping. Like or God doesn't sleep, he doesn't rest. Right. He is on his own.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Doesn't take a bathroom break, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Like like Elijah was maybe on the john. Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Yeah, it's my wife and I often talk. You know, we've been through different things in our lives, struggles, trials, tribulations. And I remember one time my wife in particular, we were going through something, and in her prayer time, she felt the Spirit of God impress on her heart that it, you know, if you knew what God was doing, you would rejoice. And that's the thing, God is doing good things, right? All things work together for good. He sees, he knows, he cares. Like if you knew the ways that he was working and what he was leading you to and what he's accomplishing, like even in the hard things, right? Like sanctification, right? You would rejoice, right? Paul says, rejoice in the Lord always. And the exhortation in Zechariah 9, in connection with the fact that Jesus is coming to save, is not just rejoice, but rejoice greatly. There's that clarifier there, and not just shout, but shout aloud, like and behold. And so I love that because I think a lot of times people rejoice and get excited about things because so-and-so told them this or that. But I love how the exhortation there is behold, like see for yourself and rejoice graciously. Behold, your king is coming. Behold, see, know, understand, experience and rejoice greatly, and shout aloud. Right, again, not to just sweep your circumstances and situations under the carpet, but but the fact and what we have and what's available and afforded to us in and through Jesus Christ should bring us to a place where we can rejoice always and greatly, but even in hard situations and circumstances, right, where God seems distant. Behold, your king is coming. So this was talking about his first coming, but we can rejoice in knowing that Jesus is coming again. Jesus made that very explicitly clear during his earthly ministry, and he will come in a different way, not mounted on a donkey, but on a white horse. Revelation 19 spells that all out. He will judge, and he is coming to make war, to do away with all sin and sinfulness, and therefore suffering. Sorrow will be no more, night will be no more, right? And so we can rejoice and long for that which is coming, our king, but also all that's coming with him. I think about what it says in 2 Corinthians, where it says, No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him. That's what awaits us. And that's why we can rejoice, even if we're struggling in the moment.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

I think we may have talked about it on some past episodes, but there's a very distinct difference between joy and happiness. Sometimes we are addicted to happiness and comfort and thinking it should feel good all the time. And again, kind of tying that back to the crowd who thinks certain expectations of what Christ that prosperity gospel, you know, like a name it, claim it, all of these things, that's how life should go. And so when we don't have that, we won't rejoice. You know, our expectations, our expectations have not been met. And so why would I rejoice? But when we truly see the truth, coming back to that trust, now we can rejoice, because a lot of times it's like, man, this is hard. But I can rejoice like God is deemed, you know, was at the apostles in Acts, you know, we were worthy to suffer for the Lord. And when we look back at our life, the times we grow the most, things that challenge us. You know, if you've ever been an athlete, you don't take it easy in practice every day. You work hard in practice, so you can perform, no gain, right? Yeah. So we start to learn to rejoice and to see those things as the fruit, the bringing benefits.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

You know, that's associated with them.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

Yeah. Going deeper with Christ requires confronting things about ourselves a lot of times, where he's not king of our life, I think. And we've been trying to do it ourselves. Hard to give up control. So those are times we may fail to rejoice.

Revel In The King’s Care

SPEAKER_02 18:54

So well, and I've even found that oftentimes the Lord uses seemingly unfavorable circumstances to specifically to reveal to us our need and to keep us in that place of dependence, which is right where we need to remain. Like sometimes when things are just going so good, we're like, you know, maybe even subconsciously, like, oh, I'm good, I got this, and we kind of walk away or turn our back instead of continually focusing and fixating on Jesus. And so, like, we're like Paul's thorn in the flesh, like it kept him humble in the same way. Sometimes our situations, struggles, trials, tribulations like keep us in the right place, right? As opposed to the wrong place. So it's a good thing. So, last point revel in the care of your king. So, beyond salvation, I love how it's a journey. Like I always talk about how salvation is not a destination, it's a beginning, right? So it's a it's a beginning of a journey, it's the beginning of a relationship, you know, and with a good shepherd who cares, who protects, who provides, right? He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother, and he gives us what we need. Paul said, My God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory. Like he doesn't, you know, just leave us hanging or to our own or on our own. Like we have the spirit, right? Right? He equips us, he enables us, we have wisdom, right? Jesus is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification. 1 Corinthians 4 3 1 30. He's everything. And it's just, and this is what is promised here, the flourishing in these last verses of Zechariah chapter 9 is, you know, the young men will flourish with grain and the young women with new wine. And so the picture there is that like everyone will be satisfied and more than so, you know, overflowing of it's a prosperity, it's peace, you know, all the weapons, you know, get rid of your bows, your swords, you know, you don't have to worry or look over your shoulder about any enemy coming. Like you can enjoy life under the abundant life under the care of your king. Jesus said, I'm the good shepherd, right? Who lays his life down for his sheep. You know, and so that was it even talks about like how the the people, his people will be like a flock of sheep. So again, pointing to the ministry and what Jesus said about himself. So there's just so many different things that can be correlated with Jesus' ministry and what's said in Zechariah 9. But any talk about or any comments on the care?

SPEAKER_01 21:29

Yeah, verse 17, how great is his goodness. And I think even mentioning beauty, you know, sometimes we miss you know, the beauty from the ashes, the goodness from you know, the paint like he is good, and that is our standard of good. We don't even know what good good, and it's interesting and fascinating, even if sort of tangential, but you study arts over the year, and like the arts are getting out of hand because they're like just trying to make up stuff, and like Zhang, you know, beauty truly is conformance to Christ and to his plan. And to his purposes in God's world. That's when we reflect that. That's beautiful. But a lot of times we try to get way off track. So it's interesting to study arts. You know, again, that's totally a longer conversation, but just tangential here that I see beauty is something that is tied to Christ as our king. Like it's not a fact that we should lose in terms of being able to see the beauty, being able to see the goodness that ultimately comes from.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

And it's not just seeing it, but enjoying it and being a part of it. How great is his beauty that we can experience and know firsthand, right? And so I yeah, I love that. Thanks for pointing that out. How great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty? Exclamation point. I mean, words cannot describe, you know, ultimately. And we've tasted and we've seen, but yet so much more awaits. And this is why we can revel, you know, and this is why we can long for that day to come, knowing that it will be glorious and beautiful.

The King Who Chooses The Cross

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Absolutely. That's good. And then ultimately, as we journey through Passion Week, I think truly, you know, again, we could examine so much of Christ, prophet, priest, king, you know, all those kind of things, but specifically king, he'd be a king that comes to die for us. He's not a king that came to, you know, just lord it over and impress upon his subjects, but truly came to sacrifice, you know, so there could be that relationship. You know, it wasn't meant to be like most gods where gotta do all these things and perform all these you know acts, but truly a king that would come and lay down his life for us, which how many people do you know in power are really have that mindset? So Jesus flipping all the people.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

Yeah, he didn't come and do what he did for his sake. He did it for our sake. You know, for our sakes he suffered. For our sakes, he was beaten. He subjected himself to suffering. He went to Jerusalem. They didn't trick him, lure him, sneak up on him. Like, you know, there's so many things that we can talk about on that that reveal that Jesus went. He knew what would happen, and yet he went to Jerusalem. He was there riding on the donkey for all to see. Like, here I am. He went to Gethsemane, right? Like knowing that they would come, he said, Someone's betraying me, right? And he went to Gethsemane because that's where they went. And so he knew that if they were going to come looking for him, that that's where they would go. And so he placed himself, right? And and I love even the testimony in John's gospel where it just kind of establishes his control, like were to rest in his sovereign control. When they said, like, you know, they came to arrest him. You know, he said, they're looking for Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am he. And all those guards, those Roman guards, you know, the military men and all the entourage of people there, they fell to the ground at the speaking of that word to show that Jesus was in control. And yet he still subjected himself and submitted to the plan of God and was arrested. And then they're following that, beaten, whipped, spat upon. I mean, the whole list. Again, the king did that. He could have called 10,000 angels, we're told, you know, a legion of angels, and yet he didn't. He went to the cross, he died, he shed his blood, because without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins. Because he came to seek and save the lost. That's why he said on the cross it is finished, because he accomplished that salvation through the shedding of that blood. And so it's beautiful to go back to that word, to think about it. That's why we call it, it's interesting, Good Friday. Like sometimes people think like it's horrible. Like Jesus suffered. I mean, it's bloody, but it's good. It's beautiful because of what it means and what it accomplished and affords men. You know, and love is behind it all. It's such a beautiful thing.

Easter Weekend Invitation And John 20

SPEAKER_01 25:51

So that's the kind of king we have, right? That if we ask into our life, make him Lord of our life, king on the throne. Yeah, we can revel in his care, rejoice in all circumstances, truly have life change that doesn't come any other way. Amen. Yeah. Awesome. Well, we're looking forward to Easter and hopefully it doesn't become road or ritual truly this time every year to really take time and reflect. And so looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

Where we celebrate the resurrection, where Jesus conquered sin, death, and hell, rose on the third day victoriously, didn't stay dead. And yeah, lots to celebrate. Three services 8:30, 10, 11:30.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

So it'll be interesting. There'll be a lot of guests, a lot of visitors here this Sunday, and so an opportunity. So let's trust and ask the Lord to do great things. I'm going to be preaching from John chapter 20. John 20. You know, it's interesting because Easter comes every year, right? You know, and so it's like, okay, you know, what do I preach? You know, on the resurrection. And so there's four gospels, right? Four different accounts to preach from, but that's four years. Okay, what do you do on year five? Here we are to year 14. And so, yeah, but I I just prayed and I felt led to John chapter 20 and John's account of the resurrection. Still don't know what my points are going to be yet, but I'm trusting that God will lead, and I'm excited to gather with the saints and proclaim the word of God from John chapter 20 this Sunday. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Well, Lifehouse Family, we appreciate you joining us. We are so looking forward to Easter, Good Friday. Just taking this time to really reflect. It should all year, but especially at this time. And I think, like you said, this is a great time when maybe your neighbor, maybe your friend, coworker might actually come to church. It's a good time to reach out to people, to invite you, share the truth, encourage them to come and to come back, you know, to truly live, to see Christ as King and not just go through the motions, but to truly understand that. So, Lifehouse Family, we appreciate you joining us. Again, we hope this helps you as you get your week started and