000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

the eschatological realm of God (Luke 13:38), even as one of the hosts of
the eschatological banquet (e.g., Matt. 8:11), and as one whose life verifies
God as life-giver and promise-keeper (Matt. 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke
20:37; Acts 3:13; 7:8; 7:32; Heb. 11:17–18). Hebrews refers to the story
of Isaac (and Jacob) living with their parents in tents in the land of promise
as an example of faith (11:9; cf. v. 20).
Zechariah 9:9–12* (Paired)
Proper 9 [14]/Year A 59
A contemporary of Haggai (Proper 27/Year C), the prophet Zechariah
spoke to the same situation. Those who returned from exile were a small
community of destitute people suffering from hunger and drought. “You
have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough
... and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes”
(Hag. 1:6). “The heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth
has withheld its produce” (Hag. 1:10).
Zechariah is concerned that the people no longer trust and hope in
God. Their faith has been taxed to the limit and threatens to fade away.
Leading up to today’s reading are eight visions of hope and promise.
Zion’s cities “shall again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again
comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem” (1:17). God will “strike down
the horns of the nations” that assault Zion (1:21). God will be a protective
wall of fire around Zion (2:5) and remove the guilt from Judah (2:9).
All the Gentiles will join with the people of God; they “shall join themselves
to the LORD on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in
your midst” (2:11; see 8:20–23).
In today’s reading Zechariah tells another vision of hope: “Rejoice
greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your
king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on
a donkey” (9:9). Because kings were anointed in Israel, this passage speaks
of a messianic (anointed) king. The triumph is over the enemies of Judah
who have frequently marauded it, but it is YHWH who has achieved this
triumph over Damascus, Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron (9:1–8).
The coming king is triumphant because God has won the victory.
The messianic king is “humble,” signified by the fact that he will ride on
a donkey, not a warhorse, against which prophets frequently inveighed. Isaiah
regarded Israel’s warhorses as symbols that it had “forsaken the ways”
of God: “their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots”
(2:6, 7). “Alas for those who . . . trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong” (Isa. 31:1). It is also the