His Holy Name

Read Zechariah 6
 
Zechariah 6:11-13 “Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’”
 
LET’S begin with John 2. When Jesus first went to Jerusalem, he dramatically cleared the merchants’ tables to cleanse the temple (The other gospels have him doing this the week of his passion. There is evidence he did this twice.): John 2:14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (from Palms 69:9) 18 Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
    At his trial three years later, these men would use Jesus’ words against him. Matthew 26:61 “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”  Even mockers at Jesus’ crucifixion pointed to Jesus’ “foolish” claim (Matthew 27:40). How vile and blind are we to dismiss the LORD’s eternal words as foolishness.  
   Jesus, of course, is the Living Temple we worship. He is the Branch, who covers our sins. His zeal for the temple’s holiness was his zeal for his own holiness. God’s wrath whips away those who defile and minimize his name, who mock and revile his Word. He is a God jealous for his own reputation. The merciful Creator commands his creation to worship him.
   Again God points Zechariah to see Joshua, the high priest, as the Christ. The name “Joshua” literally means the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. “Joshua” means “Jehovah saves”. It is Yeshua in Hebrew. Joshua – Jehovah saves – is the one who literally led his people into the Promised Land (Judges 2). “Jesus” is Greek for Joshua – Yeshua - who is the One who spiritually leads us into Heaven’s Promise. Luke 1:31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 
   The vision of the four chariots is God’s power come from heaven – the bronze mountains – to judge the earth. The North is specifically mentioned because Judah’s worst enemies had come from that direction. All is settled there and throughout the earth. The Temple of God is ready to come; the crown will sit on the head of the Great High Priest, who is the King of Kings.
 
Acts 17:31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.