I remember kidding a little bit a year ago already, it is, that I would bring a message from the book of Zechariah, a series that I started about 25 years ago, and there was a gap about, well, however long Pastor Kammiger was here, there was sort of a gap, and I thought maybe you'd like that series continued, though I didn't really expect any, if anyone at all, to remember. But I'd like to turn your attention once more to the visions of Zechariah. This time from chapter 6. And we'll hear the word of the Lord from Zechariah chapter 6, beginning with verse 9 and continuing to the end of the chapter, that's verse 15. I've prepared an outline with some sub-points that you might like to follow as we try to expound this truth. The word of the Lord to Zechariah, recorded in the sixth chapter, starting with the ninth verse, as follows. The word of the Lord came to me. Take silver and gold from the exiles, Heldi, Tobijah, and Jediah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah, son of Zephaniah. Take the silver and gold and make a crown and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua, son of Jehoshadak. Tell him, this is what the Lord Almighty says. Here is the man whose name is the branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty, and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne, and there will be harmony between the two. The crown will be given to Heldai, Tobijah, Jediah, and Ham, the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God. May the Spirit's blessing attend the reading of this great vision. We're going to concentrate on verse 12. Tell him, that is, tell Joshua, son of Jehoshadak, that here is the man, or this is the man, whose name is the branch. And he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. Dear friends in Christ, the Bible has a lot of symbolism. Just a few weeks ago, the Student Association at Westminster invited Professor Beal from Wheaton College, who happens to be a conservative, reformed theologian, and a specialist in interpreting symbolism in the Bible. Very important ability to have. There's nothing more important for a pastor than the exposition and explanation of biblical truth, including symbolism. There's so much of it in the Bible. I was reading just a few mornings ago in Ezekiel chapter 16. Ezekiel saw a vision of the wheel in the wheel way up in the middle of the air. Well, we know that was not a literal wheel, so it symbolizes something. And in order to understand that vision, we have to know what the symbol means. The book of Revelation, my, it's so symbolic. Chapter 16, also in the book of Revelation, speaks of the bowls of wrath. Well, those are not literal bowls like a soup bowl with wrath in it. No, but it has a very significant meaning. The parables are another case in point. Full of symbolism. We don't take them literally. We have to understand what the meaning is. You know, we use symbols all the time, don't you? I heard a mother speak about her daughter who was in a school play. And she said she was the star. Well, a star is that glistening body in the heaven that shines at night, right? But we understand she wasn't a literal star, but she did a brilliant performance. You see, and even the word brilliant is something symbolic. So a symbol is a term or an object, wheel in a wheel, or even a person who stands for something else, which is really the important point that is being made. Now, some symbolism in the Bible is very difficult to interpret, But some of it is not difficult at all. Think of, for instance, another one from Revelation chapter 12, which speaks of a great red dragon. And within six verses, the passage itself says, and that great dragon was the serpent, the devil. So that's easy. The Bible itself interprets it. And tonight we have a rather simple symbol too. In Zechariah 6, verse 12, when we read that Zechariah now is the prophet who receives the vision, and he is told that this is what the Lord Almighty says, This is the man whose name is the branch. That's Joshua. This is the name who symbolizes, who represents, who is a type of a branch. Now, I say that's an easy symbol to interpret because the Bible does it for us. Because often in the Scripture, in the Old Testament Scriptures, the Messiah, the anticipated Savior, is called the Branch, with a capital B. I'll give you some illustrations. Jeremiah 23, verse 5, where Jeremiah is told by the Lord that there would be raised unto David a righteous branch, And this is the name by which he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. The branch. A messianic reference. Or Zechariah chapter 3, verse 8. Where Zechariah receives a vision from the Lord and is told to listen. I am going to bring forth my servant, the branch, and he will remove the sin of this land in a single day. A messianic reference. Sometimes, of course, the Messiah is not called a branch, but it's called a stem. Well, a stem is just a small branch, isn't it? And so the Messiah is called the stem of Jesse. It's sort of in a family tree linguistic framework, you see. And out of Jesse and David's family tree will come a branch, which deserves a capital B. He will be the Messiah. So, you say, well, how will Joshua, the son of Josedach, symbolize, be a type of the branch? Well, there are two ways. To begin with, his name. His name in Hebrew, we say Joshua. His name in Hebrew is Yeshua. And the word in Hebrew means Savior. And there's a New Testament word in the Greek that's so similar. You'll recognize it. Ye-zu. We translate that Jesus. So in the Old Testament, if you drop the A at the end of Joshua, Yeshua, it's Yeshu. And in the New Testament, it's Ye-zu. Jesus. So this high priest Joshua is a type of Jesus to come. And that's why I've entitled this message tonight, Jesus is our priest and king. Once you notice just two things, two points tonight. You may be getting out early, unless, of course, points are longer than you expect. But just two points tonight. First of all, an unexpected union. When we say that Jesus is our priest and king, the union of a priest and a king in one person is very unusual in the Bible. So it's an unexpected union. And secondly, finally, an actual reality. That is, Jesus really is our priest and king. And it's anticipated 500 years before Jesus was born in this prophecy of Zechariah. Okay, Jesus is our priest and king. First of all, an unexpected union. Historically, the offices of priest and king were carefully separated. There's not a single instance where the same person in Old Testament biblical history prior to Zechariah, That one person represents both the religious authority, the high priest, and the political or ruling authority, namely the king. And yet here in this episode, 500 years before Jesus was born, we have an anticipation of someone who does occupy both of these positions. You see, a few thousand feeble exiles had returned from Babylonian captivity. And Zechariah was one of them. He was a prophet, but he was probably born in exile in Babylon. And a few thousand returned to Jerusalem. And when they arrived, the city was rubble. It was a landfill. There was no temple, there were no buildings, there were no walls. It was simply a disaster. But through the encouragement of Haggai and Zechariah, these prophets, People rebuilt the temple. That's all they had finished at this point of the biblical revelation in Zechariah. The temple they built was not very impressive. Nothing like Solomon's grand temple, which was built some 450 years before and lasted many, many years, but was completely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's army in 586 BC. And now this is about 70 years later, not quite yet, that another temple is replacing Solomon's destroyed temple. And Joshua the high priest was invested with high priestly authority. They accomplished this against great odds. These immigrants with little resource and half-hearted workers, some of them, and personal jealousies, the same kinds of attitudes that often haunt all kingdom projects, of course. But the temple was completed and the priests were ordained and especially one priest called the high priest and that was Joshua, the son of Jehoshadak. And when he was invested with high priestly authority, he was given a hairpiece. Some translations call it a fair mitre. Others call it a turban. Something like the bishops in the Catholic tradition wear. These elaborate headpieces, except theirs come to a point, and Joshua's probably was a little flatter on top, but a rather obvious headpiece. And you know what it said on the front? It said, holy unto the Lord. And it identified the high priest as the representative of religious authority final religious authority among the people. But now here in Zechariah chapter 6, this high priest is given another headpiece. And this time it's called a crown. It's a little difficult to translate if you compare translations. You'll notice that some translations suggest that Heldi, Tobijah, and Jediah were the source of the gold and silver. So they were the more wealthy people in the covenant community, and they had the privilege of making a rather large contribution of gold and silver to make a crown, a kingly crown. Other translations say no. They suggest that the gold and silver was donated by people, and these three gentlemen, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jediah, were the craftsmen who fashioned this crown. And whichever way the translation goes, it has a rather beautiful application. Because it's a blessing to have resources to be rich enough to contribute and make a difference to the kingdom of God. But it's also a blessing to have skill, craftsmanship, and use that skill to advance the kingdom of God. And we have both represented in this congregation. We have some very generous people. The Lord has blessed them. And I remember one man saying that he found he cannot out-give the Lord. The more he gives the Lord, the more the Lord blesses him. But we also have skillful people. And they've used their building trade skills to go all over this country, to help hurricane victims. Go all the way to Costa Rica and build a Christian high school. So you see, it's a blessing both to be skilled and contribute those to the kingdom and to have financial resources and make a difference. So whichever way it goes, a crown is prepared. And Joshua, the son of Josedach, is called to receive this second hat. He wore two hats, high priest and king. Now, when in Old Testament history do we ever have an example of the same person invested with both these authorities? Never before this point. As a matter of fact, when kings usurped the prerogatives of a priest, they were condemned. They were punished. They suffered the consequences. I'll give you two examples. Saul, 1 Samuel chapter 13, verses 8 to 16. Saul was about to do battle with the Philistine army. And they had the habit of always having a worship service before they went into battle. They had to bring burnt offerings and peace offerings. But it seems that Samuel was delayed and Saul became impatient. As a matter of fact, some of the soldiers became impatient and deserted and ran back home. So Saul took matters into his own hands and he performed the ceremony that should have been restricted to those who are qualified, burnt offerings and peace offerings. And when Samuel finally came, he said that Saul lost the privilege to continue as king because he violated this commandment of the Lord. Another one is even more dramatic. Isaiah, 2 Chronicles 26, verse 16. I'm going to read that one to you. But after Isaiah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar. But Azariah the priest, with 80 other courageous priests, Boy, when you oppose the king, you better have the courage necessary. Eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. And they said, it is not right for you to burn incense. It is only for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. Therefore, leave the sanctuary. You have been unfaithful. And he was stricken with leprosy. So, it was a pretty serious offense to usurp the authority as a priest if one were a king, and to try to become a king if you were a high priest. But why is it permissible now, at this point in revelational history in Zechariah chapter 6? Well, there are two factors. To begin with, Saul and Uzziah usurped the authority as priests. They took it on their own initiative. Joshua is given this authority by divine revelation, that for one. But more importantly, the Bible is progressive revelation. You begin in Genesis, and as you move through the Scriptures, it becomes clearer and clearer what God's grand design for the salvation of the world is. And so, there are hints that become clearer as Revelation progresses. And so, at this point in Revelational history, Joshua prefigures Jesus, who would be both a priest and a king. We're accustomed to those terms from the Heidelberg Catechism, aren't we? So that Jesus is the living reality of what's anticipated in Zechariah's vision, which brings us to that living reality. You know, there are many references in the Old Testament to the Messiah as a kingly figure. And that's why when Jesus appears on the scene, most people expected a kingly Messiah. Pastor Voss made reference to that in this morning's message. And people in Jesus' day like to remember Psalm 2. You sang about it, didn't you? A messianic prophecy that said, One day there will be someone come who will rule all nations with an iron scepter. The symbol of kingly power. And the people of Jesus' day like to remember that. And also they like to remember Isaiah 9 verse 6. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of His government and of peace, there will be no end on the throne of David. And so people like those kingly anticipations in reference to the Messiah. And most people, frankly, were ready to accept Jesus as king because they wanted someone to free their nation from bondage to Rome. They wanted someone to rule in regal splendor in the Jerusalem palace when the Roman authorities were thrown out. And that explains the excitement of Palm Sunday. It's interesting that Pastor Donovan mentioned Palm Sunday. Just a few weeks ago, we recalled Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And he led this march of people to the city of Jerusalem, which, of course, remember, was occupied territory, wasn't it? Roman occupied territory. There are some of you who are old enough to remember in your younger days when you lived under an occupation and it must not be pleasant where some foreign power sets the rules and restricts your freedom and threatens your very life. And here comes Jesus leading a procession to Jerusalem and the people shout, Hosanna to the Son of David. Hosanna. That means save now. And they expected Jesus to lead an uprising. And overthrow the Roman authorities. But Jesus didn't lead a march to Herod's palace to overthrow his cronies. Jesus led the march to the temple to overthrow the money changers' tables. Jesus didn't march to City Hall to clean out the political order. He marched to the temple to clean house in the temple. Because then, as now, judgment begins at the house of the Lord. So, you see, when Jesus started speaking about his kingdom as not one fashioned after this world's model of kingdom, the people began to desert him. When he spoke of his kingdom established through suffering, which is priestly language, because a priest brings a sacrifice, something that has died. If that's the way his kingdom is to be established, most people would have none of it. Even the disciples all the way to the end apparently expected some earthly political order with Jesus at it. as its head. And they thought, of course, that they would have a prominent role to play in Jesus' regime, in Jesus' cabinet. I have to remind you what Peter said when in Matthew 16, verse 21, we have the record of Jesus saying that He was about to go to Jerusalem where He would suffer many things. From the chief priests and elders of the people and that he would have to suffer and die. And Peter's response was, Not you, Lord! Never! That's not our vision, our hope for the future. You're going to be an earthly, powerful monarch and we're going to have prominent roles to play in that organization. Or think of John and his brother James. James and John. Not long before Jesus was ready to die, they came to Jesus with a request. They said, Lord, when you establish your kingdom, when you get set up with your palace in Jerusalem and with your powerful forces surrounding you, let us be at your right hand and your left hand in your glory. Let us occupy the second highest positions in your empire. And Jesus had to say, are you ready to drink the cup of which I shall drink? Are you ready to pay the price? They were looking for the successful political future of the most important people in their lives, themselves. And in the Matthew account, it says after this account, that the other disciples resented John and James. Of course, because they wanted the cushy jobs. That was the mentality. Peter Marshall, a former chaplain of the U.S. Senate, has written a book about Judas. And in that book he speculates that Judas never expected Jesus to die. But that Judas was a bit impatient for Jesus to assert himself and his authority and establish the earthly kingdom after the Davidic literal model that they all expected. So Judas thought, if only Jesus were really confronted with some opposition, he would call 10,000 angels and he'd wipe out the enemy and we'd get this kingdom started. But when Jesus was captured and beaten and led to a cross, that wasn't what Judas had in his mind. Judas wanted to be the secretary of treasury of Jesus' cabinet. And in disillusionment, he hung himself. And in disillusionment, the other disciples ran away. They all had this vision of an earthly kingdom with Jesus at its head. But they had to learn, and most of them did, after Jesus arose from the grave, that Jesus is a priestly king. That he had to do with suffering. You know, in the book of Ezekiel, frequently we have the term son of man. And Jesus uses that as a self-designation. And you know what that term means in Ezekiel? It means one who through suffering attains glory. It doesn't come through much in the English, I know. But Jesus kept referring to himself as the son of man. because he would be one who through suffering attained unto glory. You see, Jesus was the Lamb of God who offered himself as a willing sacrifice for the sins of the world in order to become King of kings and Lord of lords. And so the people of Jesus' day forgot other messianic prophecies like Isaiah 53 Where God says his own son would be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquity, that he would be beaten. The chastisement of our peace would be upon him and with his stripes we would be healed. The people didn't seem to remember those kinds of messianic prophecies. Or Jeremiah, who had prophesied that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave. You see, Jesus is our king because he is our priest. He rules as king in the hearts of those who have been redeemed by his sacrificial death. And so Jesus' kingly throne began at Calvary. Seems incompatible, doesn't it? But Jesus' kingdom was founded on a cross. And if we're citizens of his kingdom, we are qualified as citizens only if we kneel in repentance at the foot of Jesus' cross. See, Jesus is the King of glory because He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Because He was obedient unto death, therefore hath God highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name. Jesus is the one King who wants only the best for his subjects. He rules not to exploit like most human leaders, political leaders, but to save. Not to enslave, but to free. He's unique because most human kings are looking out only for their own welfare. Tens of thousands died for Napoleon. Napoleon died for nobody. Millions died for Hitler and Stalin and Chairman Mao and Saddam Hussein. They died for nobody. Even leaders in relatively free nations require people to die under their rule. hundreds of thousands of my generation from this own country died while President Roosevelt was the president of this land. And now some are still dying in this troubled world under human rulership. But Jesus is the one ruler who died for those he rules. And he frees his subjects from a tyranny that is worse than any political tyranny. And that's why we willingly obey him. And that's why we want to do nothing that displeases him. Say nothing that dishonors him. And live only to his glory and praise. And there's one more thing. This prophecy not only says that Jesus will be our priest and our king, but it also tells us that he will be the great temple builder. And with this, I'm going to close. Verse 12 says, It is he who will build the temple of the Lord. And it repeats this again when it says, And he will be a priest on his throne. And then later, verse 15, those who are far away, I think you'll find yourself among them, among those who are far away, will come to help build the temple of the Lord. And you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me unto you. Now, this seems initially rather strange, because Joshua is said to be a temple builder. And the temple is already built. Well, you know it's symbolic again, don't you? That temporary building that they built would not last. It was a temporary anticipation of a greater temple to come. A symbol of a far more important temple built by a greater temple builder than Yeshua. Jesus is the temple of God. To quote his own words, he said, destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it. And people mocked him because they thought he was talking about a physical structure. And the disciples needed to have that symbol explained too. And he tenderly said he was speaking of his own body because it would be destroyed, apparently destroyed. But then in the victorious resurrection of Easter Sunday, he would rise again and the temple would be rebuilt. And by faith in him, we become part of the temple of the living God. Don't you know, says the Bible, that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit dwelleth within you? So you see, Jesus takes us, and redeems us, and fashions us, and uses us as building blocks in his temple. So those who are far away will come and help build the temple of the Lord. Yes, we're far away geographically and historically from this vision, but we are parts of the great temple of the Lord. We are building blocks, and one day, one day, pray that it may be soon, Jesus is going to take the last brick and set it into place. And then, the heavens above us are going to split open, and the sight of His glory will make the mountains shake. And then every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. What a day. What a day that will be. Father in heaven, we thank you that you have counted us worthy to be building blocks in the hands of the great temple builder, your Son, our Lord Jesus. Help us, Father, to live in the realization that we are part of the work that Jesus is fashioning as the eternal temple builder. And we thank you that as priest and as sacrifice, He has redeemed us, and as King He is our Lord and our Master. May we be willing subjects to His gracious mastery, to the glory of your name. Amen.