Zechariah – Jesus: Priest, King, Son of God

There are many scriptures in the Old Testament that point to Jesus Christ as The Messiah and He fulfilled them all. Zechariah had many prophesies of Jesus, the Son of God. We will discuss these in this and the next post. As foretold in scripture, The Messiah would come in the line of David. Jesus is the Branch, the root of David, the vine. As we abide in Him, we can have eternal life with Him. Zechariah tells of the coming Branch, who will come as a servant, but be both king and a priest.

Zechariah 3:8-10

‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions who sit before you, For they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: Upon the stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.’ “

Zechariah 6:12-13

Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the LORD; Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ‘

There is so much in these verses. Jesus is the Branch. He is the Son of God, who came to this earth as a servant. He took the sins of the world and died on the cross as a payment for our sins. “In one day I will remove the iniquity of the land.” He is the Temple of God. No longer does anyone have to go to a priest to have forgiveness of sins. No longer does a sacrifice have to be made. For Jesus Christ is our priest, He is our sacrifice, He is the Holy of Holies. He is our King, our Lord and our God. The next several scriptures from the New Testament are just some of the verses that show how these things were revealed in Christ.

Revelation 22:16

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

John 15:1-5

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Jesus is more than the BRANCH. He is the Son of God, the Root of David. He came to this earth to pay for our sins so that we can live. As we abide in Him, we are like the branches of a vine. We live and grow because of Him. He sustains us. Because of His death and resurrection, we can become God’s church, God’s holy temple.

John 2:18-22

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

The temple was built in Zechariah’s time. But Christ is the temple. He is the cornerstone. We come to Him for salvation; not through priests, not through sacrifice. He was the ultimate sacrifice. He was the Lamb without blemish. He was sinless and took on our sins and paid for them on the cross (For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23) . He died and rose again on the third day and through that, He conquered sin and death so that we may have eternal life if we believe in Him. In that one day He removed our iniquity. And because of that, as Zechariah sys, “He shall bear the glory.” At the name of Jesus every knee will bow…and shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. See Philippians 2:9-11

2 Peter 1:16-18

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

Matthew 17:1-5

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”

Jesus revealed His glory to His disciples. Many saw Him after He rose again and the disciples saw Him ascend into heaven. One day He will return and rule this earth. He will be king and priest. Jewish tradition has the king and priests in different lines. The king is through the line of David, but the priests are through the line of Levi. But Jesus is of a different order, a far superior one, who is both King and Priest. As King, we obey Him. As Priest, we can come to Him with our sins and be forgiven.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 5:5-10

So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.” As He also says in another place: “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK”; who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest “ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK”

Hebrews 6:19-7:3

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

Let us worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of glory, the High Priest who paid for our sins through His sinless life, death and resurrection, and accept His grace and salvation.