DREAM? OR REALITY?

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zechariah 9:9 (read 9:9-12) NIV

Prophecies are the result of times of adversity, and are designed to point ways out. In Zechariah's time the people had returned from exile to their own land and were starting everything all over again. Their reality was harsh: chaos, devastation and poverty with social and economic instability. There were no remaining traces of their past glory or any prospects of its restoration.

For the Prophet Zechariah, such a situation was not cause for dismay. His God was great. It was time to rejoice with the possibilities of the future. He presented the vision of the arrival of a powerful king along with prosperity and peace. This vision gave strength to the people who were struggling to overcome their poverty and misery. But the king, along with prosperity and peace never became a reality. It remained an unfulfilled dream.

550 years later, in Jesus' time, the situation was also of doom and despair. The nation Israel had become a vassal of Rome. King Herod was imposed by a foreign power and wealth was confiscated and sent away to promote the interests of Caesar in Rome. Once again, the people were in need of hope. This vision of the arrival of a powerful leader was reborn. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph (21:5) in the manner that Zechariah described in the Old Testament. Matthew (contrary to Luke) related that Jesus fled from Bethlehem to Egypt in childhood and returned to Nazareth in Galilee where he grew up and exercised his ministry. The exiled one had returned and this ascended a new spark of hope. Would Jesus be this glorious king to restore the lost glory of Israel and bring the end of suffering?

History reveals that this interpretation of the prophecy of Zechariah was very mistaken. Jerusalem (City of Peace) was never the city of peace and glory. It has constantly been violently disputed by the world’s three largest monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In reality it has always been a city of hate, violence and bloodshed. Jerusalem continues to be a center of the threat of war and destruction and not of peace and prosperity. It has never lived up to its name and current events seem to confirm that it never will.

Jesus identified himself more with the foul of the donkey than with the king. He entered the temple and "kicked" those who were commercializing the faith. His acts and teachings were around humility, sincerity, and service. The love of God and neighbor (22:34) should be the fundamental dynamic of the sons and daughters of the Kingdom and service to others the basis for the final evaluation. In place of expectation of glory and triumph, Jesus prepared his followers for distress, frustration, betrayal and death. Hope is not on what is seen, but on trust that God has the last word.

Institutional religion loves statistics and visible achievements. A persecuted, despised and illegal church would be more in harmony with Jesus than the overbearing and manipulative church that we see trying to impose its values in today’s politics.

The reward of the Kingdom is the privilege of loving God and serving others, regardless of the practical results. There is a saying, "It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." Love is our role and our privilege. Love is its own reward.

ZECHARIAH 9:9-12 – NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

    righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,

    and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations.

    His rule will extend from sea to sea

    and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

    I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.

Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;

    even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.