Song of the Drunkards

JESUS FACED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION FOR HIS HARD WORDS AND UNFLINCHING DEVOTION TO YAHWEH. NO SURPRISE THEN IF WE FIND OUR NAME FESTOONED IN BARROOM BALLADS (CF. PS 69:12).

Daughters of Zion, Part Two

May 11, 2010 in Bible - OT - Zechariah, Children, Ecclesiology, Meditations

Zechariah 9:9-10 (NKJV)
9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.’

Last week we began to consider the lessons which young women teach us. The first thing we learn from young women is a matter of identity: the Church collectively is called the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusalem. This title reminds us that we are near to God’s heart – the special object of His affection, protection, and provision. Even as a Father delights over his precious daughter, so the Lord delights over His people. So, young women, learn from the Lord’s decision to call His people His daughter how precious and valued you are.

Today I would like us to note that our text also teaches you young women about your identity. Who are you? This is a question which we all ask others and which we all want to know about ourselves. Who am I? There are, of course, numerous answers to this question. I am the child of certain parents, belonging to a particular father and mother either by birth or by adoption. I am the resident of a specific geographical area – perhaps a city, a county, a state or more than one of these simultaneously. I am a citizen of a particular country. But of all these identities, the identities that shape us and make us who we are, the most central and important is the one mentioned in our text today: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!” Young women, when you think about yourself, when you ask yourself, “Who am I?” the first answer that God wants to come to your lips is, “I am a daughter of Zion – in other words, I belong to Zion, to Jerusalem, to the Church. I am a Christian.”

Throughout the psalms and prophets, it is this language that is used frequently to identify young women. “Let Mount Zion rejoice, Let the daughters of Judah be glad…” (Ps 48:11). “Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments, O Lord” (Ps 97:8). “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem. Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases” (Song 8:4). And even our Lord Jesus used this language, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children” (Lk 23:28).

Young women, God claims you as His own, claims you as His daughters. In the waters of baptism, He has identified you as members of His own people, as His special possession, separated out from the rest of the females in the world and devoted unto Him. You are daughters of Zion, daughters of Jerusalem, daughters of Judah, daughters of the Church.

So here’s the challenge that comes in the wake of that identity: because you are daughters of Zion, daughters of Jerusalem, the Lord summons you to act like it. You are a daughter of Zion; be a daughter of Zion. Why are you consumed with looking like the daughters of Philistia? Why are you enamored with the skimpy clothing of Pharaoh’s concubines? Why bedazzled by the glitzy glamor of Jezebel’s shrine prostitutes? Those aren’t your people, God declares to you, don’t act like they are. Be a daughter of Zion, act like your mothers in the faith – like Sarah, like Tamar, like Deborah, like Ruth, like Elizabeth, like Mary.

Reminded that we all are tempted to act like something we are not, to allow others to define who we are rather than God Himself, let us kneel and let us confess our sins to God.

Daughters of Zion, Part One

May 11, 2010 in Bible - OT - Zechariah, Children, Ecclesiology, Meditations

Zechariah 9:9-10 (NKJV)
9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.’

Two weeks ago we read this passage as we celebrated the Triumphal Entry, the entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem as King. Today I would like to return to this passage for a moment as we begin to consider the lessons which young women have to teach us as the body of Christ. For they do have numerous things to teach us and so we should be learning from them.

The first thing they teach us is about our own identity. Notice that Zechariah’s announcement this morning is of the arrival of the great King, the King who would bring salvation and righteousness to His people; the King who would be humble and upright, not susceptible to the injustice and corruption which were permeating Israel at the time; the King who would bring peace to Israel, delivering her from bloodshed and destruction; the King who would bring peace to all the earth. This King is, of course, our Lord Jesus the Christ.

So here’s the question: was this good news just for the young women in Israel or for all Israel? All Israel! So when Zechariah calls upon the “daughter of Zion” to rejoice, whom is he urging to respond in this way? All Israel. Notice, therefore, that all the inhabitants of Jerusalem collectively are called the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusalem. Men, women, young men, young women, children – all are identified as the daughter of Zion. Indeed, this is a common figure of speech throughout the prophets. Why? Why are the inhabitants of Jerusalem collectively referred to as the daughter of Zion? Because, as any father should be able to tell you, daughters are our special objects of affection, protection, and provision. As glorious and important as sons are – they’ve got to grow up, become men, carry on the family name – daughters are much more special, much closer to our heart.

God calls the inhabitants of Jerusalem collectively “his daughter” to indicate how much He loves them, and how strong is His intention to provide for them and to protect them at the hands of the coming King. Notice how this is the heart of Zechariah’s call to rejoice. Rejoice, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, for your King is coming to you, coming to protect you, coming to provide for you, coming to secure your favor and see you cared for.

So daughters – learn from Zechariah today how much you are beloved: how much you are beloved by your earthly father; but second, how much more you are beloved by Your heavenly Father. Even if your earthly father fails to love you as he ought, God never will. And He identifies you as a daughter of Zion, His daughter, to assure you of His care, His provision, His protection. And all you inhabitants of Jerusalem, you daughter of Zion, call to mind the Lord’s great love for you and His determination to provide for us and protect us. Rejoice, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, for Your King has come to You and shall come yet again.

Reminded that we have failed to trust God’s love, provision, and protection of us and have instead sought out the affection of other lovers, other providers, let us kneel and confess our sin to God.

King Jesus in His Glory

April 5, 2010 in Good Friday, King Jesus

Mark 10:32-45 (NKJV)
32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They said to Him, “We are able.” So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; 40 but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. 42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

There are times in every teacher’s life when he wonders if the people in whom he has been investing his energy are even listening. No doubt this was one of those times in Jesus’ life. Here he has just told the disciples for the third and final time that his mission in going to Jerusalem is one of suffering and death, and immediately James and John sidle up to Him and ask Him, “Lord, when you enter into your glory, grant that we might sit one at your right hand and the other at your left.” Grant that we might be your most influential counselors when you finally take charge in Jerusalem. We can imagine Jesus’ furrowed brow.

What lies behind James’ and John’s request is a distinct notion of kingship, a notion shared in common with the scribes and the Pharisees, with the chief priests and the elders, with the Herodians and the Zealots, with Rome and with Egypt. Kingship, they believed, is a display of power, a show of force, an exhibition of authority. True glory, therefore, lies in making others do one’s bidding, in being served by others.

As James and John are heading to Jerusalem with Jesus, therefore, certain that now is the moment when Jesus will enter upon his glory and take power, they ask him this very pointed request – we want to sit with you, one on your right hand and the other on your left, in your glory.

The interesting thing our text reveals, by the way, is that this radical misunderstanding was not unique to James and John. For when the other disciples hear what James and John have requested they do not laugh the request off – My goodness, how could James and John have so misunderstood what Jesus has been teaching us? No, instead, we are told, the ten are indignant. They are incensed that James and John asked the question that all of them have been yearning to ask but afraid to raise. All the disciples share this same mixed up notion of kingship. And so Jesus takes the time to instruct and correct them once again, to teach them.

Jesus’ response to James’ and John’s request is disbelief. “You do not know what you ask,” he declares. “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Don’t you remember what I’ve been telling you? I’m heading to Jerusalem to suffer, to die, to be rejected – is this really what you want a share in? But James and John miss the rebuke; they persist in their request – “Oh, yes, we are able. We can do it. we’re going to suffer right alongside you, have no fear. We will fight with you and make sure you get your seat in glory. All we ask is that you let us sit beside you, on your right and your left, once you are there. You know our loyalty.”

And so Jesus, ever the patient teacher, knowing that soon James and John along with the others will receive the rude awakening that will enable them to see their ignorance, replies – “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism that I am baptized with you will be baptized” – you will be made to suffer, James and John – “but,” he continues, “to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.”

So James and John, and the other disciples, are left wondering, wrestling with themselves – who will it be? Who will get to sit on his right and his left hand in glory? When he is revealed as the radiant and resplendent king, the long-awaited Son of David, who will be beside him?

So the question for now, in Mark’s Gospel, is left hanging. Who will sit at Jesus’ right hand and his left in his glory? The question has been asked but no answer has been given. Yet.

For Mark does give us the answer to the question. Mark does reveal those for whom it was prepared to sit on Jesus’ right hand and on his left in his glory. When Jesus’ glory as the King of Israel was most fully displayed, Mark tells us who was honored to be on his right hand and on his left.

“Now it was the third hour,” Mark tells us in chapter 15, verse 25, “and they crucified Jesus. And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS. With Him they also crucified two revolutionaries, one on His right and the other on His left.”

So here’s the question we pose this evening: where is the glory of Jesus as our King most fully displayed? Mark tells us that Jesus’ glory was on display in the cross.

And it is this very lesson that Jesus endeavors to teach the disciples once again in our text. Your notions of kingship are all messed up. “You know that those who are appointed leaders among the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus’ true glory as King is that He gave His life for His people. And it is this that we celebrate on Good Friday. So let us thank God for our glorious King.

Let us pray:

You are worthy, O Lamb, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God. we adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom of priest to stand and serve before our God; to him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor, glory and might, forever and ever. Amen.