The Branch
Scripture Reading: Zechariah 6:12-13
Thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, the man whose name is the Branch; for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
While there is an immediate fulfillment of this prophecy in view, it is also pointing to something beyond Zechariah’s day, and beyond Joshua, the high priest who presided over the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.
Isaiah used the title “Branch” as a Messianic
name. Zechariah seems to be doing so as well. Jesus would be the One who is both king and priest. He would be the One who would sit on the throne and be the peace bridge.
Jesus, like Joshua the high priest, would oversee the building of the temple of God, but in a greater, more magnificent, and more complete way. The church universal is now the temple of God. Every person who comes to faith in Christ is another stone stacked on the wall, another jewel put in its place, another column erected, another lamp lit in the construction of God’s temple.
Jesus, the Branch, is the construction superintendent over the building of God’s house.