Gentle King

The prophecy of Jesus' arrival in the city of Jerusalem is situated in a chapter you'd not expect. Zechariah 9 is the announcement that Israel's king comes not on a warhorse but on a donkey. It's quoted on Palm Sunday almost every year in every Church. It signifies that Christ came not to kill and condemn but to be killed and save. 

Zechariah 9:9 (ESV) 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.

That verse we recognize from Matthew's and John's Gospels. But in the context of Zechariah 9, it is most unexpected. The chapter is very similar to Amos 1-2, in which God delivers words of prophetic doom to the nations that persecuted His people during their exile. 

Zechariah 9:1–4 (ESV) The oracle of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach and Damascus is its resting place. For the LORD has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel, 2 and on Hamath also, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. 3 Tyre has built herself a rampart and heaped up silver like dust, and fine gold like the mud of the streets. 4 But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions and strike down her power on the sea, and she shall be devoured by fire.

The next four verses are more of the same, with God announcing protection for His people. 
Zechariah 9:8 (ESV) Then I will encamp at my house as a guard, so that none shall march to and fro; no oppressor shall again march over them, for now I see with my own eyes.

Yet the judgment ceases on a dime in verse 9. The King of Israel will come, and there will be a covenant of blood between Him and His people that will set prisoners free. 
Zechariah 9:11 (ESV) As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Verse 14 presents with last days imagery:
Zechariah 9:14 (ESV) Then the LORD will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; the Lord GOD will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.

We know these terms from the Lord's promise about His coming, lightning, a trump sound and the wind sweeping His people up to be with Himself. 

Finally, the chapter ends with promises of peaceful dwelling in the presence of the Good Shepherd.
Zechariah 9:16–17 (ESV) On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. 17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.

The promises of God are fulfilled in and through the Gospel message, that the Lord who could judge instead took the judgment for the sins of His people. He did this to bring them safely home, for they could not save themselves. If the Lord had not saved ME, I'd be damned. And without Him, I'd be lost forever. 

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