Zechariah 9
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee”.
I have spent a large part of last week visiting the dying and those who visit and stay with the dying. Because of Christ and his suffering and death and resurrection, we are able to live the life of Christ in the world so that we are able to remain at the bed of the dying, and prepare for death in Christ on our own. We fall back on a faith that holds to Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit we see Christ living and acting in us. In a sense we are prisoners of hope. We cannot but speak of the things we have seen and heard as God works out his glorious mercy and grace through Jesus. The hope that we live in gives us the courage to go back to our stronghold, back to our mighty Fortress, and fight the fight and struggle through the struggles that exist in a fallen world. Our king came humble and pronounced his peace. And now we prisoners of hope can proclaim that piece to one another.
