Last Sunday in our series through the Minor Prophets or The Book of the Twelve, we looked at the book of Zechariah. This is one of those books that is hard to review in a single message. There are so many passages within it “that will preach.”
Most striking in Zechariah are the prophecies about Christ. These include:
His triumphal entry: “behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon as ass, and upon the colt of a foal of an ass” (9:9).
His betrayal: “So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver” (11:12).
His abandonment: “smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered” (13:7).
His crucifixion: “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced” (12:10).
His glorious return: “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives….and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee” (14:4-5).
Indeed, the first Christians found in this little book a gospel narrative before any of the Gospels were written.
We do not read about Christ only in the New Testament, but we also find him in the Old Testament. B. B. Warfield once wrote that the Old Testament is “a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted” (as cited in Robert Reymond, A New Systematic Theology, p. 207). When Christ came to earth Zechariah’s shadowy prophecies became clear.
When we read the Scriptures, both Old and New, we must be looking for Christ. As John Owen noted, “Only Christ can satisfy the soul. All other ways and things will only end in disappointment” (Communion with God, p. 51).
Grace and truth, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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