Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Nov 28 2019 - Zechariah 9 – The coming of Zion's king

Chapter 9 begins with a declaration of judgment on Israel's enemies. Those who seek to do harm to God's people will discover that they will have God to reckon with. When Israel and Judah had turned their backs on God he had sent them away into exile and peoples from other nations had occupied their land. Now that he has brought them back, he will defend them from their enemies. It is now the turn of those enemies, such as the Philistines, to be driven from their land and for it to be occupied by others (v. 6). This section ends with the promise in v. 8:

I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces.
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.

We might be tempted to think that God did not remain faithful to this promise: the Greek empire conquered Jerusalem and desecrated the temple by using it to offer pigs in sacrifice. Later the Roman empire destroyed the second temple in 70 AD. How can God's promise here in Zechariah 9 be reconciled with these facts of history?

The answer is that yet again, the promise points beyond the physical temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel to its fulfilment in the Lord Jesus Christ, as is evident from the verses that follow. Verses 9-13 speak of the arrival of Zion's king, the Messiah. He will come to put an end to warfare and will extend his reign of peace over the entire world of his day: "from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth" (v. 10). This righteous and victorious king will come to his people not in battle dress and riding on a warhorse but "lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (v. 9).

These verses were fulfilled by the Lord Jesus when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on that first Palm Sunday (see Matt 21:4-5). He is the king whose coming was promised in Zechariah 3 and who was symbolised in the crowning of Joshua the high priest in chapter 6. He is the Messiah. He is the one who has defeated the enemies of God and his people not with military might like that of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece or Rome but by his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection. He is the one who has declared peace to those who are near and those who are far off – he is creating a kingdom of peace that extends to embrace every nation and people. He is the fulfilment of the temple, the place where God dwells among his people.

The latter part of the chapter makes it clear that the victory enjoyed by Zion's king will be a victory shared by his people. The Lord will appear over them and his power will be with them to shield and protect them: "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Verse 16 declares:

The LORD their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.

The Lord Jesus did all that was necessary for our salvation when he died for our sins and was raised for our justification. But our risen Saviour is still the Good Shepherd, seeking and saving those who are lost and bringing them home into the embrace of the Father. As the great shepherd of the sheep he is putting together his great flock which Zechariah sees like multiple dots of white sparkling on the hillsides. We, his people are like jewels in his crown. We are those to whom the promise of verse 8 is given; no one will ever snatch us from the pierced hands of our Saviour and the strong grasp of the Father.

Father God, we thank you that all your promises are underwritten for us by the shed blood of your beloved Son, our Saviour. We acknowledge with thanksgiving that, having given your Son for our redemption, you will ensure that nothing again can separate us from your love.

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Nov 28 2020 - John 19:17-42 – It is finished

On the wall of my study, above my desk, is a simple poster bearing the words “It is finished.” It was one of seven such posters that were put together for a series of walk-through meditations on the seven sayings of Jesus from the cross. I brought this one home when it was finished with and stuck it on my wall where it constantly catches my attention.

In John’s Gospel these are the last recorded words of Jesus. They are remarkable words. Jesus does not cry “I am finished” but “It is finished.” He does not die with a cry of defeat on his lips but a cry of victory. Jesus knew that he had completed all that the Father had sent him to do (compare the use of exactly the same form of the verb two verses earlier – striking in the Greek though often invisible in English translation: "knowing that all was now completed").

There are two reasons I have this wonderful saying of Jesus on my study wall. The first is to remind me of the finished work of Jesus Christ. He has done all that was necessary for my salvation. Through his death my sins are forgiven. Through his resurrection I have eternal life. No more condemnation... Nothing can separate us from the love of God... There is a wonderful assurance in these words, “It is finished.” It’s a done deal.

But there is also a second reason. The New Testament speaks of the Christian as one who has died with Christ. My previous life, a life lived from self and to self, must also be brought continually under the judgment of these words: “It is finished.” There is a call and a challenge in these words. The old life is gone; henceforth I am to live with the risen Christ the life of the new creation. When temptation comes knocking, I arm myself with this response, “It is finished”. The person you are seeking does not live here anymore; he's deceased, finished. I’ve done with that old life.

Yet in another sense, the work in me remains very much unfinished.

Jesus' burial underlines the reality of his death. He was not taken from the cross in an unconscious state from which he later recovered. Jesus was truly dead. The Roman soldiers had made certain of that. They had broken the bones of those crucified with Jesus to hasten their deaths, but had not needed to do so with him; he was already dead. Just to make sure, one of the soldiers had stuck a spear into his side, "bringing a sudden flow of blood and water" (19:34). The spear prod was intended to see whether Jesus was really dead; if the body did not jerk or respond to the spear thrust then it was lifeless. The mixture of blood and water suggest also that the blood had already begun to congeal and separate. Jesus was dead.

Matthew tells us that he was sealed in the tomb and that guards were placed outside to ensure that the disciples did not come by night to steal his body. No human power opened the tomb and removed the body; he was raised by the power of God. No human power can give us resurrection life. But the power that raised Jesus from the dead is already at work in us giving us life, and will give us life in all its fullness on that last day.

Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21.)

Heavenly Father, I praise you for the finished work of Christ which is the ground of my hope and the source of my assurance. Show me more and more of the perfection of Christ's saving work that I may be filled with thankfulness, wonder, joy and peace. Thank you that you have promised by your Spirit to finish that work which you have begun in me. Help me to turn from everything that belongs to my unredeemed nature and to grow in likeness to my perfect Saviour even as I shall be made perfectly like him at his appearing.

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Peter Misselbrook