Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9
“Rejoice is a very common word for an expression of joy, often used for the joy prompted by the transformation of one’s own circumstances by God, although also used for the joy arising from the demise of one’s enemy, or the grace extended to another.
The word shout in triumph is used for shouting affirmation for a king; often for a war cry with voices or a war alarm with trumpets; and either the cry of despair in military defeat or the shout of triumph after victory in war. It is likely that this last meaning is in view here…
The use of the feminine imagery Daughter of Zion and Daughter of Jerusalem is a common thread throughout the prophetic and liturgical material… With the fall of Jerusalem and it’s demise there is a sharp increase in the use of feminine images…Such an image would have been useful not only for expressing the pain of loss, but also for expressing the anticipation of salvation…
The emphasis on the needy character of the human royal figure continues into the next line where the king is depicted as humble. This word is used for one who is poor, that is, without adequate resources to sustain life and thus dependent upon others producing a state of humiliation in this ancient society.
At times the term is used to refer to humility as a more general inner quality…such people are contrasted with those of “haughty eyes”… Humility is a key quality for the one able to fulfill this role of submission to and reliance upon Yahweh as the High king.”
Mark J. Boda in The Book of Zechariah (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016) 562-567.
It’s Palm Sunday.
Today’s reflections come from commentator, Mark J. Boda, on this beautiful text. With the prophet Zechariah, we rejoice and shout in triumph for our righteous and victorious King Jesus. There are three reasons this Scripture is most fitting as we celebrate Palm Sunday in a time of plague.
Firstly, we rejoice because the Savior we serve is a righteous and victorious king. As death covers the earth and there is much cause for real mourning for those who survive, we can rejoice because King Jesus has conquered death. He makes things right and makes a way of salvation for all who believe.
Secondly, the daughters are shouting. When war ravaged a region, men were killed and women were abused and enslaved. So, largely only daughters remain after difficulty to proclaim victory. This means those of us who survive COVID-19 should be the ones to shout and give glory to our King Jesus for temporal deliverance.
Thirdly, our king is humble and poor. His unfathomable generosity was sustained not by any level of hoarded wealth but by the faithfulness of the Father. Jesus showed us the posture to take so that our lives bring God glory for sustaining us. To be poor may appear socially unpopular but it just means, like King Jesus, you hold nothing back.
As we welcome Jesus today, rejoice for He is righteous and victorious. Let those of us who endure this plague praise King Jesus for salvation, and let us live, give, serve, and love with humility and generosity. He held nothing back, but gave everything for us on the cross.
Likewise, as He commanded, let us deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him.