Thursday after the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord
Scripture: Zechariah 6:9-15 (NKJV)
6:9 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 10 “Receive the gift from the captives—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 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; 13 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.”’
14 “Now the elaborate crown shall be for a memorial in the temple of the Lord for Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. 15 Even those from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
Devotion
Throughout the Old Testament the Jews often didn’t comprehend the promise of the coming Savior. They didn’t understand how He was going to save His people. And they didn’t realize that the kingdom He would set up would not involve the nation of Israel as an earthly kingdom.
They misunderstood what God was doing, just as their fathers had done. And just as God had done for their fathers He does for them. He says, “Behold, the Man whose name is the Branch! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord.” Like their fathers they thought the Lord would plant a “Branch” that would branch out and expand this earthly nation to its former glory. At the time of the prophet Zechariah many of the returning Jews thought that their return was the beginning of this kingdom.
In Matthew 16 Jesus asked Peter the question, “Who do you say I am?” With God-given faith Peter responded, “You are the Christ.” Jesus replied, “on this rock [that is, Peter’s confession] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” As God promised His people through Zechariah that the Branch would build the temple of the Lord, He now promises that on the confession of Jesus as the promised Branch He is building His Church. God faithfully repeated His promises to His people that He would send them a savior. God always keeps His promises, and through God’s gifts of Word and Sacrament we have been given faith to believe His Word.
We pray: Grant, Almighty God, that we who celebrate the solemnities of the Lord’s resurrection may by the renewal of Thy Holy Spirit rise again from the death of the soul; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
