The Man Called the Branch

Silver is melted. Gold is hammered. A crown is made. But it is not placed on a king's head. It is placed on the head of a priest.

It is still the early days of the return from exile, around five hundred and twenty years before Jesus. Jerusalem has no king. The descendants of David live under Persian rule, and Zerubbabel, from David's family, is a governor, not a king. The high priest Joshua leads the people in worship. Now three men arrive in Jerusalem from the Jewish community still living in Babylon. Their names are Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah. They have brought gifts of silver and gold, and they are staying at the house of a man named Josiah, son of Zephaniah. And God has a job for Zechariah involving those gifts.

The word of the Lord comes to Zechariah. Take silver and gold from these exiles. Go the same day to the house of Josiah. Make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Imagine the surprise. Kings wear crowns. Priests wear turbans. In Israel the two jobs were kept apart. A king who tried to act as priest got into serious trouble. And yet here, by God's command, the priest is crowned. It is a sign, a kind of acted-out prophecy, and God explains it.

Zechariah is to speak to Joshua. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, the man whose name is the Branch! He will grow up out of his place, and he will build the Lord's temple. He will build the temple of the Lord, and he will bear the glory, and will sit and rule on his throne. He will be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace will be between them both.” The Branch will be a king, sitting on a throne and ruling. But he will also be a priest. And between the two roles, the royal and the priestly, there will be peace, not rivalry. One person carrying both.

Then God tells Zechariah what to do with the crown afterwards. It will not stay on Joshua's head. It will be kept in the temple of the Lord as a memorial, a reminder, for Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen the son of Zephaniah, the men who gave it. And a promise follows. “Those who are far off will come and build in the Lord's temple.” People will come from far away to help. And then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen, says the Lord, if you diligently obey his voice.

Here is a striking detail. The high priest's name, Joshua, in Hebrew is Yehoshua, which means the Lord saves. When Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, in the centuries before Christ, they wrote his name as Iesous. That is exactly the same Greek name the gospels later give to Jesus. In the Greek Bible of the first Christians, the crowned priest of Zechariah six and Jesus of Nazareth share a name.

The man called the Branch. You can read it in Zechariah chapter six, verses nine to fifteen. A crown on a priest's head, pointing forward to someone who would be both. The New Testament calls Jesus the son of David, born to be king, and the great high priest who brings people to God. At Christmas, Christians remember that the baby in the manger was born to wear both. So here is a question to carry with you. The Branch would be priest and king together. What does it mean for you that Jesus is both your king and the one who brings you to God?