The God They Pierced

The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA 1. INTRODUCTION - - - In this passage, God tells the Israelites He’s going to save them, even though they’ll kill Him This is a passage about Christ, some 500 years before He came It’s also a passage about God’s love: o (1) He knew people would kill Him o (2) but, He sent Jesus anyway, knowing they’d kill Him, o (3) planning on them killing Him, o (4) so He could raise His eternal Son from the dead, and o (5) send the Spirit to save some of the very people who executed Him It’s as though God is saying: o (1) I’m going to send my only Son to atone for your sins o (2) I know you’ll hate Him, reject Him and kill Him, and o (3) After you kill Him, I’ll raise Him from the dead to prove who He is o (4) Then, after He comes back to heaven with me, I’ll have Him send the Holy Spirit to save some of you anyway, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness And, God told them all this in this passage, about 500 years in advance, knowing most of them didn’t have ears to hear or eyes to see anything He said 2. TEXT: The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: - This means God can do what He’s about to say He’ll do: “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it,” (Zech 12:1-3). 1 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - - Zechariah is preaching to the Israelites, telling them about a great, final confrontation in the last days He wants them to know some very simple facts about this event: o (1) God has not forgotten you, o (2) God has not forsaken you, o (3) God will set everything right one day Everything Zechariah says here is about that: o God stretched out the heavens, founded the earth, and created your soul and spirit – that means He can make good on His promises! o Jerusalem will be like a monstrous stone its enemies can’t move; if they try, they’ll only hurt themselves On that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God,’ (Zech 12:4-5). - God will blind the horses of all His enemies, while protecting the Israelites (echoes of the first Passover, here) On that day, when that happens, when they see this occur, then the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be encouraged, just like the Israelites in the exodus were “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem,” (Zech 12:6). - When that happens, God will make the Israelites like a flaming torch in a pile of dry sticks; they’ll burn and devour everyone in their path o God’s enemies will be beaten back and destroyed 2 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA “And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah,” (Zech 12:7). - - God will protect and rescue His people, who are all equal in His eyes o David’s descendants are equal to Judah’s descendants o In this context, as the Israelites struggle to re-build the temple in a land ruined by the war with the Babylonians and the two generations of neglect that followed, people who were descended from David might be tempted to “lord it over” folks who weren’t o This is probably why God, through Zechariah, made this statement (“that the glory of David … may not surpass …”) What does it matter? o (1) You’re just as important to God as they guy next to you o (2) Your social status, your country of birth, your education level, your job, and your ethnicity – all this is ultimately meaningless to God o (3) In Christ’s family these man-made categories have no eternal significance; the only category that matters is whether you’re a believer and a priest for God, or not ▪ “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise,” (Gal 3:28-29). On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem (Zech 12:8-9). - God will protect His people so much and so well that: o (1) The weakest and littlest person in the city will be as mighty as King David was, before Goliath o (2) The House of David, the Davidic line, will be as strong and unmovable as God – as the immortal Angel of the Lord 3 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - o (3) God will shield them, and then destroy everyone who opposes His people Now, Zechariah does a complete about-face and switches from: o (1) physical deliverance from a terrible situation to o (2) a promise of spiritual deliverance: o The key to understanding this passage is to follow the pronouns and keep track of who is talking – remember the doctrine of the Trinity, and remember who’s talking:1 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy,” (Zech 12:10). - - Who will pour out a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy? o Yahweh (“I”) will; in a triune, corporate sense (see Zech 12:1). What’s being poured out? o It’s the Holy Spirit, who is always personified as water to emphasize the cleansing work He does in the hearts and minds of unbelievers ▪ (1) Ezek 36: sprinkle clean water and cleanse ▪ (2) Mk 1: baptism of Holy Spirit ▪ (3) Titus 3: washing of regeneration and renewal of Holy Spirit ▪ (4) 1 Cor 6: washed, sanctified, justified What about the spirit? What’s it like? o It’s characterized by two things: ▪ (1) grace, and ▪ (2) pleas for mercy o The grace is from God: ▪ it means favor you don’t deserve and can’t earn 1 It’s true that, in the prophets, the narrator often switches from first-person to third-person. This means the resulting switch in Zechariah 12:10 isn’t necessarily meaningful, as Calvin warned so long ago: “There is here a transition from the first to the third person; for though Christ is the same with the Father, yet different as to his person. But, as I have already said, I am not inclined to enforce this view; for the Hebrew mode of speaking seems to countenance the other opinion—that the Prophet first introduces God as the speaker, and then narrates himself, as God’s minister, what would take place,” (John Calvin and John Owen, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets, vol. 5 [Bellingham: Logos Bible Software, 2010], 367). However, is there something more here? As Calvin also notes, the crux is in the unity of essence or being inherent in the pronoun switch. And, let’s be honest – the Father wasn’t pierced, Jesus was. This passage can only be explained in light of the cross, which is what the Apostle John pointed out (Jn 19:3637). So, while I don’t want to make too much of the pronoun switch, it explains (1) the unity of essence and, therefore, highlights the Trinity, and (2) it makes sense in light of the Cross. That’s worth pointing out! 4 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - - ▪ the Holy Spirit is full of and characterized by grace and love. o The mercy is the result of the grace: ▪ when the Spirit pours God’s grace into your heart, the result is that you beg and plead with Him for mercy ▪ your heart and mind have been changed you’ve had a spiritual birth (“born again!”) ▪ Mercy = you decide to not punish, even though you could ▪ This is what a repentant person cries out to God for - mercy! What does this teach us about God? o Grace = God decides to extend love and favor to people, even though they don’t deserve it o Mercy = God is rich in mercy (Eph 2:4), which means He’s eager and willing to not punish us, even though we deserve it ▪ It tells us God is loving and kind But, what about justice? o A crime deserves a just punishment: ▪ we all understand that in a secular context, outside the four walls of this building ▪ anything less would be unjust, unrighteous, and objectively wrong ▪ EX: the man who drove his car into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017, killing one and injuring over 30 o So, is God different? o Does God forgive and forget? o Does He say, “forget about it!”, or does He make sure someone pays for your crimes? ▪ (1) God send His only Son, Jesus, to be punished for your crimes ▪ (2) He upheld the concept of divine justice, and the cost of His own Son – and He did it to redeem people just like you and me! ▪ We all have this common sense of “justice” because we’re each made in the image of God, which means He hardwired and designed us to dimly reflect something of Himself o Atheist and revisionist claim of “divine child abuse:” ▪ (1) Jesus isn’t literally God’s son by physical generation 5 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - ▪ (2) Jesus went willingly and voluntarily ▪ (3) If you don’t want Jesus to pay for your crimes, you’re welcome to pay for them yourself Yahweh goes on, and explains what this spirit of grace and supplication does to people: so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn (Zech 12:10). - - - - Yahweh is still speaking, so He’s talking about Himself when he says, “when they look on me.” They’ll look at him physically, of course, but the real point is that they’ll finally understand: o (1) the lightbulb will come on, o (2) they’ll “get” it, o (3) they’ll look at Him as their great God and Savior, o (4) they’ll see Him as a personal God and Savior, and not an abstract deity who they go through the motions for What about what comes next? Who was pierced? o God says He will be pierced o How can God be pierced? o How can God be killed? o What does this mean? Zechariah tells us - who will the Israelites mourn for, when God pours out the Spirit upon them? o They’ll mourn for Him; for someone other than God o This means it isn’t the Father who will be pierced, who the Israelites will mourn for – it’s someone else o They’ll mourn for this man like they’d mourn for an only child o They’ll grieve bitterly, full of pain, recrimination, lost opportunities, with that sour taste in their mouth of time wasted, of a terrible mistake that can’t be undone What does this mean? Is God schizophrenic? Why does He switch pronouns in mid-sentence? 6 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - - o Sometimes God speaks in the corporate, triune sense: ▪ “Let us make …” (Gen 1:26) ▪ “I am the Lord your God” (Ex 20:2). ▪ “I and the Father; we are one” (Jn 10:30). o Other times He speaks in an individual sense, as the Father: ▪ “You are my beloved Son …” (Mk 1:11). ▪ “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him!” (Mk 1:7). ▪ “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again,” (Jn 12:28). o He began v.10 by speaking in a corporate sense (“when they look on me”), then switched to the third-person to highlight His triune nature (“they shall mourn for Him …)” o The pronouns don’t lie – there are two people here! o The Father isn’t the Son, the Son isn’t the Father and the Spirit isn’t either of them ▪ (1) The Father pours out ▪ (2) His Spirit of grace, which makes the people cry out for divine mercy when they look upon God, who they pierced and killed, ▪ (3) so that they mourn for the Son, like they’d mourn for an only child! This prophesy only makes sense in light of Jesus Christ: o (1) Somehow God will be pierced and killed o (2) After that, God will pour out His spirit of grace and mercy onto the same people who killed Him o (3) The Spirit will make them realize what they’ve done, repent, and beg for mercy o (4) The people will weep and mourn for the God they killed? Who was killed? Who was pierced? o It was Jesus Christ: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; 7 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:4-6). - Zechariah goes on: On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves (Zech 12:11-14). - - All the tribes of Israel will mourn in bitterness, with this same all-consuming sense of despair: o What have we done? o How could we do it? o Why did we do it? o Why didn’t we listen? o Why didn’t we see? o Why didn’t we hear? They aren’t personally responsible, but their ancestors were: o (1) they perpetuated the mistake by rejecting their Messiah o (2) until the moment when God, in His mercy, decided to pour out His spirit of grace from heaven above, o (3) so that their eyes would be opened, o (4) their hearts would be changed, o (5) and they would be born again from above, o (6) so they’d cry out to Him for mercy, o (7) finally realizing who Jesus is and what He’s done 8 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness (Zech 13:1). - - - - On what day? o On the day when God rescues His people on that great day of judgment o On the day when the Father pours out His Spirit, so the people will cry for mercy and turn to the Son What will happen? o The Holy Spirit (i.e. “a fountain;” note the water metaphor again!) will cleanse God’s people from sin and uncleanness o The Spirit washes you clean in a figurative, spiritual way – power washing your soul permanently clean in a moral sense, and cleansing you from all unrighteousness Who will open this fountain? o God! When will He do it? o For Israel = in the last days, like Zechariah said o For the rest of the world = right now, like the Book of Hebrews says ▪ This is why you’re sitting here today, if you’re a Christian ▪ This is why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, this morning Why will He do it? o Just because He wants to! o Just because He has love! 3. CONCLUSION: - If you’re a Christian: o God is full of mercy, grace love and kindness o The Lord’s Supper is an event where we remember and celebrate the Lord’s sacrificial death, until He comes back for His children! 4. LXX TRANSLATION (Zechariah 12:10): 9 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA And, I’ll pour out onto David’s house and onto the people who are living in Jerusalem a spirit of grace and mercy. Then they’ll stare fixedly at me, dumbfounded, because they treated me with hate. And they’ll grieve for Him, crying as for a loved one. And they’ll be in terrible, painful anguish, like for a firstborn son. a. Thought-flow diagram: - NEW THOUGHT And, outpouring of the Holy Spirit ONTO WHOM? CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPIRIT AFTER THAT … - o I’ll pour out o onto David’s house and onto the people who are living in Jerusalem o a spirit of grace and mercy. Then they’ll stare fixedly at me, dumbfounded, o result #1 ▪ WHY THEY’RE SO AMAZED And they’ll grieve for Him, o result #2 DESCRIPTION OF THIS GRIEF ▪ crying as for a loved one. And they’ll be in terrible, painful anguish, o result #3 because they treated me with hate. DESCRIPTION OF THIS ANGUISH ▪ like for a firstborn son. b. Parsing and syntax notes: καὶ ἐκχεῶ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Δαυιδ καὶ ἐπὶ conj additive and 1st,f,p,a,i Yahweh is active agent; simple future I will pour out prep spatial onto asm d.obj the asm d.obj house gsm subj. gen of David conj additive and prep spatial onto And, I will pour out onto David’s house and onto And, I’ll pour out onto David’s house and onto τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Ιερουσαλημ πνεῦμα χάριτος καὶ οἰκτιρμοῦ καὶ apm papapm asf asn conj d.obj; substantival acting as new subj; imperfective aspect adverbial accusative of space accusative of “I have no idea” the people who are living in Jerusalem a Spirit gsf attributive, describing a quality of the Spirit mercy, compassion conj d.obj gsf attributive, describing a quality of the Spirit grace additive and the people who are living in Jerusalem a spirit of grace and mercy. Then, 10 Pastor Tyler Robbins consequence then The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA the people who are living in Jerusalem a spirit of grace and mercy. Then ἐπιβλέψονται πρός με ἀνθ᾽ ὧν κατωρχήσαντο καὶ κόψονται 3rd,pl,f,m,i functions as new subj. referring to house of David and Jerusalem inhabitants; indirect middle they will pay special attention, gaze upon intently prep 1st, s, a prep gpn;rel.pro 3rd,pl,aor,m,i conj 3rd,pl,f,m,i spatial (figurative) d.obj phrase means “because;” BDAG, s.v. “706 ἀντί,” 4. perfective aspect, indirect middle additive refers back to inhabitants, indirect middle to me because they treated with hate/despitefully and they will beat their breasts/mourn/grieve they will gaze intently upon me, because they treated me with hate. And they will beat their breasts they’ll stare fixedly at me, dumbfounded, because they treated [me] with hate. And they’ll grieve ἐπιβλέψονται. The word in its most basic form, means to “look at” or to “gaze on.” The context doesn’t allow for a lackadaisical, bored glance. It clearly means something like “to gaze intently upon.” This is stilted English, but the idea is that the person is staring in amazement at something extraordinary. I rendered this as “they’ll stare fixedly at me, dumbfounded” in order to capture the idea of amazement; of stunned disbelief. In short, they’re blown away. κατωρχήσαντο. This is the key distinction between the LXX and the Hebrew. The word here clearly means something like “treated with hate” or “treated despitefully.” This is nothing like the famous “pierced” of the Hebrew. ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν κοπετὸν ὡς ἐπ᾽ ἀγαπητὸν καὶ ὀδυνηθήσονται prep asm asm adv prep asm conj benefaction obj.prep apposition manner benefaction substantive additive for him mourn, beat the breast, wail as, like for a beloved/loved one and 3rd,pl,f,pass,i refers back to inhabitants; simple passive they will be deeply grieved, in anguish for him; mourning like for a beloved one. And they will be deeply grieved for Him, crying as for a loved one. And they’ll be in terrible, painful anguish, αὐτὸν. This is clearly a personal pronoun, but the issue is the antecedent. There are two options; (1) Yahweh Himself (με), or (2) the hateful and spiteful treatment. Either will fit the context. If the antecedent is Yahweh, then you’d translate this with “he,” even though the grammar makes no sense. Christians would take this to be a third-person reference to Christ and see this as an unveiling of the Trinity. However, you could also see the antecedent as the shameful treatment of Yahweh, in which case the antecedent is impersonal, and you’d translate this as “it.” The second option is grammatically neater here, but makes less sense in light of the rest of the verse. 11 Pastor Tyler Robbins The God Who Was Pierced (Zechariah 12:1 – 13:1) Sunday Morning – December 9, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA ὀδύνην ὡς ἐπὶ πρωτοτόκῳ asf adverbial of manner pain adv manner as, like prep benefaction for dsm obj.prep a firstborn [with] pain, like for a firstborn son. like for a firstborn son. c. Comparison between LXX and Hebrew translations: LXX (my translation) Hebrew (ESV translation) And, I’ll pour out onto David’s house and onto the people who are living in Jerusalem a spirit of grace and mercy. Then they’ll stare fixedly at me, dumbfounded, because they treated me with hate. And they’ll grieve for Him, crying as for a loved one. And they’ll be in terrible, painful anguish, like for a firstborn son. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, vs. vs. vs. they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn 12 Pastor Tyler Robbins