Knocks Over the Head, Part Two

In the last post I wrote I mentioned the most often cited Messianic prophecies in Zechariah, in chs. 9 and 12, so I wanted to add to what I'd already written by throwing those ones in too, because there's a reason Matthew and John liked them enough to quote them in their gospels. :)

Let's start with chapter 9:

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your King comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the war-horses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. (9:9-12)

Wow, that's pretty good stuff. :) First off, it says that Jerusalem's King will come on a donkey, a symbol of humility. This is exactly how Jesus entered Jerusalem the week before He was crucified, with the people shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" (itself a reference to Psalm 118--"Hosanna" in Hebrew means "Save us!").

The second paragraph states that through this humble King, peace will be brought to Israel and to the nations, which again reflects what we saw last time in Zechariah 2:10-11. The last paragraph is wonderful--"because of the blood of my covenant with you," it says--the blood of the Messiah Jesus which sealed the new covenant God promised to bring about (see Jer. 31:31), we will have freedom, life and hope restored to us. Hallelujah!!

Now let's look at chapter 12, which is also quoted in John's Gospel. This is a truly amazing one, especially when you compare it to Zechariah chapter 2 which we looked at last time.

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves...On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. (12:10-12, 13:1)

It's clear from the context before and after that God is the speaker. He says He will pour out on Jerusalem and the house of David a spirit (or, the Spirit) of "grace and supplication." Now look carefully at the next part:

"They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."

WOW!!! God says, "they will look on me, the one they have pierced." So the people will have "pierced" God Himself. Not only that, but He then switches persons from first to third and says, "they will mourn for him" as they would mourn for an only child, a firstborn son. This is the same kind of voice-switching that we see in Zechariah 2, where the Son speaks of being "sent" by the Father. But in this case, the idea of the "only child" or "firstborn son" is explicit!! Jesus (God the Son) says "They will look on me, the one they have pierced," and God the Father says "they will mourn for him as one mourns for a firstborn son." Why as a firstborn son, an only child? Because Jesus, the One who was pierced, WAS the one and only Son of the Father (John 1:14). So not only does this passage prophecy the nature of Jesus' death by crucifixion (where God Himself says, "They will look on me, the one they have pierced"), but it also testifies to Jesus' divinity and the relationship between God the Father and God the Son.

But not only that, in 13:1 it goes on to say, "On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity." Not only does God show us the manner of Jesus' death and testify to His divinity and unique Sonship, but He shows us why that happened--to bring about the fountain that would "cleanse" the people from their sin. And what is that fountain? The very blood of Jesus the Messiah! Which is exactly why John cites this passage in his telling of the crucifixion:

But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced." (John 19:33-37)

John obviously finds this important enough not only to cite Zechariah, but also to make clear that this event is a sign of which he testifies in truth, so that we also may believe. What is that sign? When the soldier pierced Jesus' side (the very event prophecied in Zechariah), out flowed blood and water--a symbol both of Jesus' death and the cleansing fountain that would wash away our sin and impurity, as Zechariah 13:1 says. So we know through this that the very piercing, the death by crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah, is precisely what brings about the fountain for us that cleanses us from sin and impurity. Wow!!! And not only that--the other scripture John quotes is from Exodus 12:46, which speaks of the Passover Lamb's bones not being broken. On the first Passover (the holiday during which Jesus was crucified) the Israelites slaughtered a lamb and painted the doorpost of their houses with its blood, using a hyssop plant. (Right before the quote above, in John 19:29, Jesus drinks the bitter wine vinegar through a "sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant.") This blood of the lamb spared the Israelites from the angel of death, the bringer of God's wrath, that passed by. So the blood of Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, washes us from our sin and impurity, and His blood on our doorposts spares us from the impending death that we deserve! He drank the bitter cup of death for us, so that we might have life and forgiveness and restoration in Him!!

Oh, Lord, you are so amazing. You have given us such amazing signs in your Word of your greatness, your plan to bring about salvation through your Son Jesus. Lord, even the name of Jesus points us to the salvation He brings--"Yeshua'" means "He saves." Thank you for showing us through your Word, prophecied hundreds of years before Jesus lived on this earth, that He would be the King of Israel, the Son of David, who would come and bring peace to Israel and to the nations, and who brings us freedom and hope through the blood of your covenant with us. Thank you for speaking of His crucifixion, His "piercing," and His blood that cleanses us from our sin and spares us from death. Thank you for showing us that He is the LORD, the Word made flesh, and for pouring out your Spirit of grace and supplication on us, that we might mourn with you for your Only Son. And thank you that in the end, because of your power revealed in His resurrection, through which you overcame sin and death and demonstrated your victory in all things, we have the joy of being restored to you, cleansed from our sins, delivered from death, free from the waterless pit of despair and brought into the very presence of the King of Kings, the Humble Servant, the LORD Almighty.

Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!