Understand the ‘ROYAL PRIESTHOOD’ of JESUS CHRIST!
October 3
Bible Reading: Zechariah Chapters 4-6
Understand the ‘ROYAL PRIESTHOOD’ of JESUS CHRIST!
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." (Zech. 6:12-13)
The prophet Zechariah
was commanded to get gold and silver from three of the returned exiles in order
to make an elaborate crown for Joshua, the high priest. Ordinarily, a crown is
made for a ruler, not for a high priest. So, the Bible scholars have inferred
that this action points forward to the coming of Jesus Christ as both King and
Priest. In the words of David Baron:
Surely it is in keeping with the
Royal Priesthood of Messiah, that the Hebrew word used here (for temple) means
both palace and sanctuary. As King, He has entered into His palace and as
Priest into His sanctuary. “The counsel of peace shall be between them both,”
that is, peaceful understanding will exist between King and Priest (in one
Person).
Thus,
Prophet Zechariah placed a crown on the head of Joshua, the High Priest, to
foreshadow the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be both King, from the line of David
(Matt. 1:1), and High Priest, from the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7). He is the
BRANCH who will build the millennial temple and rule from His throne with honor
as both Priest and King (Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5). All this shows the
preparation in the Old Testament for the truth that Jesus Christ is our High
Priest (Heb. 4:14; 7:24; 9:11) and our King (Heb. 1:8; Matt. 22:41–46).
As the
BRANCH, Jesus Christ is King (Jeremiah
33:15), God’s Servant (Zech. 3:8), “the Man whose name is the BRANCH”
(Zech. 6:12), and “the Branch of the
Lord” (Isa. 4:2). Some Bible scholars see in these four titles a parallel to the four Gospels. Matthew
presents the Branch of David, the King;
Mark, the Servant; Luke, the Man; and John, “the Branch of the Lord” who is God come in human flesh (John
20:30–31).
The Messiah
Himself will build the temple of the Lord, and the temple of Zerubbabel was a
prophetic symbol of the temple that is still to come. We can note that the
individual members of the church of Jesus Christ are His temple today. "Do you not know that you are the
temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? For the temple of God
is holy, which temple you are" (1 Cor. 3:16-17). Also, we are living
stones that build up God’s spiritual house: "coming
to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and
precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:4-5)
As Haggai
encouraged the people in their daily work, Zechariah urged them to live ‘in the future tense’ and work because
they were a part of God’s glorious future. No Jewish priest had ever reigned as
king, and no king was permitted to serve as a priest (2 Chron. 26:16–21). Let
us understand the royal priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ (Psalms 110:4; Heb.
7:1–3), who was a High Priest when He offered up Himself to be the eternal
sacrifice for our sins. He will reign
forever as King of Kings and Lord of Lords one day in the future from His
glorious temple!
