Salvation Is He
Speaker: Dr. John Clayton Series: Advent Scripture: Zechariah 9:9–10, Isaiah 35:5–6, Isaiah 40:11, Matthew 11:28–30
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. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:9-10).
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert (Isa. 35:5-6).
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young (Isa. 40:11).
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).[1]
Although not our text for today, I want us to begin thinking about the seventy-second psalm, which serves as a description of Israel’s ideal king. Likely written by Solomon, upon first reading the psalm sounds self-descriptive. He prays for God-given justice and righteousness and the ability to govern accordingly, all kingly blessings. He prays for prosperity from the land and protection for the people, all national blessings. From its beginning, the psalm sounds like the prayerful petitions of a king known for his wisdom.
But by the fifth verse, it becomes clear that the psalm describes someone greater than Solomon to come, whose time transcends the time of sun and moon, even time itself. He will be a king who refreshes the people like springtime showers, ruling over a time when “the righteous flourish” and peace abounds (Ps. 72:6-7). His reign will reach from sea to sea, welcoming tribute and worship from every tribe, tongue, and nation, redeeming the precious lives of his people that they may bless his name forever. The psalm concludes by blessing “the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things,” blessing “his glorious name forever,” that “the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!” (Ps. 72:19).
One can imagine what it must have been like to sing this psalm at the pinnacle of temple worship in Jerusalem, a hopeful song of a king to come. But we may also imagine that this psalm was sung amidst the ruins of Jerusalem, when there was no temple, after the people returned from Babylon, sung still as a hopeful song of a king to come. It is a psalm for the best of times and the worst of times, and everything in between, because the focus of the psalm is the praise of God for the messianic king to come. For example, during the time of Zechariah, the repatriated children of Israel longed for a time of restoration and renewal of the kingdom. The people were discouraged, because they had placed their hope in a place and a way of life that was unrealistic. Into this hopelessness, Zechariah directed the people beyond their circumstances to their savior, declaring, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you” (Zech. 9:10).
Behold, Your King Is Coming
From the time when Solomon wrote the seventy-second psalm to when Zechariah wrote his prophecy, the royal history of Israel led no one to rejoice. Kings of Israel, and subsequently Judah, left a disparaged lineage upon the country’s history, until then there was none. At the time of Zechariah’s writing, there was no king upon the throne in Jerusalem, there was not even a throne, merely the memory of the promised Davidic dynasty. But Zechariah led the people to look beyond the past and present to a king worthy of celebration, righteous and conquering yet humble and peaceful, a king to save and rule the world.
One of the unique aspects of Old Testament prophecy is the seemingly conflicting characteristics of the messianic king to come. For example, if you were to think of a savior to come, how would you picture him in your mind’s eye? Would you imagine him humble, poor, riding on a donkey? It’s not the imagery of victory worthy of celebration, is it?
On this side of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension, it is easier for us to understand. We know that while Zechariah’s prophecy sounds like its describing two persons, he’s actually describing the two comings of one person. And we are not bothered by Jesus’ humble nature, because we know he who was crucified also resurrected; he who humbled himself to the point of death on a cross in his first coming will return as a conquering king, to whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess his lordship.
Today, we live in what the New Testament calls “the last days” (Heb. 1:2) or “the last times,” meaning after Christ’s first coming, a time that will conclude with Christ’s coming. Theologically speaking, we may refer to this as “the already but not yet,” meaning Christ has come and accomplished our salvation through his life, death, and resurrection, and he will come again, completing our salvation, body, soul, and spirit. Our time then is characterized as a time of evangelism, in which we share the gospel with our neighbors and advance the gospel to the nations, celebrating the “already” of what Christ has done. But there is the perspective of the “not yet” in the good news we proclaim too, pointing toward a day when sin will be no more, nor war among the nations, but the peace of Christ shall reign from sea to sea and to the ends of the new heavens and earth. And it is this truth we clearly hear in the prophet’s declaration: Behold, Your King Is Coming!
See Him and Follow
Prophesying Christ’s first coming, Isaiah describes his identity by the miracles he will perform: “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Isa. 35:5-6a). We can’t read this prophecy and not immediately think of the testimony of the four eyewitness accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We may be reminded of when John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3). To which Jesus replied, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matt. 11:4-5). In other words, for the one like John who had heard and seen, the miracles Jesus performed were clear identifiers of the fulfillment of messianic prophecy. But not everyone had ears to hear or eyes to see.
For example, remember with me when a group of men, unable to reach Jesus because of the crowd, ingeniously devised a way to open the building’s roof and lower their paralyzed friend directly to the Great Physician. Looking up at the descending bed, Jesus also saw their faith. They believed that Jesus could heal the man, and so they went to great efforts to hear Jesus say, “Rise and walk.” But on that day, Jesus said first, “Man, your sins are forgiven you” (Luke 5:20).
Why did Jesus respond this way? The answer is found not in the man but the purpose of Jesus’ miracles. Though Jesus’ miracles were essential to his ministry, as a tangible witness to the presence and power of God and a revelation and validation of his identity, from start to finish Jesus’ purpose was the salvation of sinners. If Jesus had forgiven the man’s sins but not healed his paralysis, the man would have received the greatest gift that Jesus could give. He might not have ever walked but his soul would have leaped for joy for eternity.
But Jesus also responded this way to confront the unbelief of the watching and critiquing Pharisees, who were present that day, and who condemned Jesus in that moment, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:21) Of course, they were exactly right. No one can forgive sins but God, and to equate yourself with God is blasphemy. Their doctrine was right, but their deduction was wrong. Seeing is not actually believing. Apart from faith in Christ, doctrine is dead.
The hardened hearts of the Pharisees and lawyers knew much about God but not enough to be saved by the Son of God. And so, to their unbelief, Jesus asked the Pharisees, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” (Luke 5:23). Listen closely to what Jesus said to the Pharisees’ unbelief: “‘But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the man who was paralyzed—‘I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.’” And Luke says, “immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God” (Luke 5:24-25). Just as Isaiah prophesied, “then shall the lame man leap like a deer” (Isa. 35:6), and so he did and so he will again.
The Pharisees saw the miracles of Jesus, but they did not believe, and that made all the difference. Jesus did not come merely to work miracles. He came to save sinners like you and me. His miracles were identifiers not for the sake of spectacle but salvation. For, the greatest miracle that Jesus works is not in opening the eyes of the blind or the ears of the deaf, or enabling the lame to leap, it is bringing in dead sinners, like you and me, to spiritual life through faith. This is the miracle he continues to perform in the hearts of everyone who believes, bring life to the barren wilderness and streams in the desert of the human heart.
Follow Him and Rest
Sadly, discussion of faith and salvation in recent times has sounded more transactional than relational, like an equation to solve rather than eternal life given. This is one of the reasons I love the beautiful language of the twenty-third psalm, which begins, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul” (Ps. 23:1-3a). The psalmist does not describe the Lord merely as a shepherd but my Shepherd. He’s not “the known god” (Acts 17:23) but the Lord who knows me best and yet loves me most. He cares for me better than I can myself, because he is my Shepherd, who gathers me “in his arms” and carries me “close to his heart” (Isa. 40:11 NET).
As he is my Shepherd, he calls me to follow him, but (unlike Mary’s lamb) I am not sure to go. Often the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and pride of life[2] entice me to follow, and I lose my way, left feeling lost, alone, and vulnerable. In those times, I am tempted to wallow in my self-pity; other times I try to earn my way back: new resolutions, new plans, a new year for a new me! But neither self-pity or self-resolve is the way of my Shepherd, who teaches me that I cannot earn his favor, salvation, or presence, but he gives it all, for his sake. And that is grace.
My Shepherd says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). In place of my wallowing, my Shepherd gives rest. In place of my works, my Shepherd gives his. For, my Shepherd came first as a man “gentle and lowly in heart,” becoming like me that I might become like him. For my sake, and yours, “he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). And so, in him I find rest for my soul, leading me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Ps. 23:3b), teaching me that his “yoke is easy” and his “burden is light.”
But though my Shepherd came “gentle and lowly in heart,” he is also the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords. Therefore, I fear no evil. He has prepared “a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” and having anointed me with his presence, indeed “my cup overflows.” This is my “already,” because the Lord is my Shepherd, but my “not yet” awaits me, and awaits all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever (Ps. 23:5-6).
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] 1 John 2:16
other sermons in this series
Dec 22
2024
Good News of Great Joy
Speaker: Dr. John Clayton Scripture: Luke 2:8–14 Series: Advent
Dec 15
2024
Behold Your God!
Speaker: Dr. John Clayton Scripture: Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 40:9, Isaiah 60:1–3 Series: Advent
Dec 8
2024
The Dwelling Place of God
Speaker: Dr. John Clayton Scripture: Haggai 2:6–7, Malachi 3:1–3 Series: Advent