God’s Word for You
Zechariah 6:12-13 Christ our prophet, priest and king
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, July 22, 2022
12 Say to him: This is what the LORD of hosts says: Here is the man whose name is The Branch: for he will branch out from his place, and he will build the temple of the LORD. 13 He is the one who will build the temple of the LORD.
“Branch” or “Branch of the Lord” is also a title that Jeremiah uses for the Savior. There the Lord says, “I will raise up for David a righteous Branch” (Jeremiah 23:5), and “I will cause a righteous Branch to grow up from David’s line” (33:15). A branch that branches out is growing, spreading, living, giving fruit, life, shade, and more. It is a blessing that moves and builds and grows.
The modern reader might easily lose sight of the context: The temple had been a ruin, unused and unusable, for more than seventy years; a lifetime. No sacrifices could be made. No atonement could be had. Imagine what kind of agony that would have been for the ordinary Jew, and then compound that agony for the priests and Levites who were trained in nothing else and who simply could not perform the primary function of their office. Now at last the temple was being rebuilt. Now, finally, there was an altar once again. Now the sacrifices could be made. The lamb in the morning was slaughtered. The lamb in the late afternoon was slaughtered. And this could continue, day after day, until the Messiah came. He himself was the Lamb slaughtered in the morning at the time of the morning sacrifice, nailed to the cross at the third hour (Mark 15:25). And he himself was the Lamb slaughtered as the evening sacrifice, killed as the sun was beginning to sink in the afternoon, at the ninth hour (Mark 15:33-34). An ordinary sacrifice was dispatched and died at once, either in the morning or in the evening, but Christ our sacrifice was put to death in the morning and took all day to die, from morning to evening he suffered, bled, and died.
This temple was built under the leadership of these men, Joshua the priest and Zerubbabel the governor. The tabernacle of Moses had served about five hundred years (1446-957 BC), until Solomon built the temple. The temple of Solomon had also lasted about five hundred years (957-586 BC), until Nebuchadnezzar burned it and tore it down to its foundation. This new temple would last a little over five hundred years (516 BC-70 AD), spruced up, perhaps, by Herod, but completing its function until the coming of the Savior, the true Branch who would branch out from this place into all the world with the Gospel. Then forgiveness would go out into all the world, not just in this holy place, but everywhere the gospel is preached. This is the true temple of the Lord: not a place, but a spiritual building made of forgiven souls who put their trust in the one true foundation of Jesus Christ our Lord.
He will bear majesty, and he will sit upon his throne and rule. And he will be a priest on his throne, with peaceful counsel between the two offices.
The majesty and glory that Christ our ruler bears are not physical ornaments and trappings like the robes of a king (Jonah 3:6; 2 Chronicles 18:9), but rather what we hear about in Psalm 145: “They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness” (Psalm 145:6-7). This isn’t the sort of general chatter of the crowds, but the rooftop proclamation of the Gospel (Matthew 10:27). When we share the message of the Scriptures with the world, we give our Lord “praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:13). In this passage, his rightful badges of honor are pointed out: He bears majesty, he sits on the throne, and he rules.
Verse 13 concludes with a challenging sentence: “He will be a priest on his throne, with peaceful counsel between the two.” I have added “offices” as other translations such as the NASB have added, for clarity as to who or what has this peaceful counsel and interaction. In Christ, the offices of priest and king (as well as prophet) stand in peaceful union; there is no one vying to pry these offices apart, to tear them away from our Savior except for the devil and those who set out to do the devil’s work. The Holy Spirit does not plot against the Son, nor does the Father begrudge the station and glory given to the Son. The Son is Prophet, Priest and King. He was sent to do this, and he accomplished his mission, so he rightfully bears the glory for it. We give him glory and praise because his work in all of these roles is identical: The forgiveness of our sins and the eternal governing of our hearts. It was entirely within the power of God and the right of God to condemn all mankind for sin, just as he did with the flood, and although he spared eight the first time, he could be just and be correct to spare no one at all the second time. But he has not done this. “How royal ‘twas to pardon when it was less expected!” Christ, in each of his offices, descended into the world for the sole purpose of rescuing sinners from the clutches and jaws of hell. As prophet, he proclaimed the will of God and the grace of God’s forgiveness. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). As priest, he reconciled man to God through his sacrifice. “He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:9-10). As king, Christ gathers and rules the church through word and sacrament. “Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.’ The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the people with equity” (Psalm 96:10).
Christ our King, Christ our Priest, Christ our Prophet—these titles ring out as praises from our lips and hearts. He came for us, to save us. He remains with us, to be with us as we serve him. He listens as we pray about absent friends and family, he listens as we call out to him for forgiveness as we stumble and fall along the way of the narrow path that leads to life (Matthew 7:14). His hand lifts us up, sets us where he would have us walk, and he remains with us, always, to the very end of the age.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.