Zechariah 12:6-14: a reflection

6In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem. 7The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of David’s house and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah. 8In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and David’s house will be like God, like the LORD’s angel before them. 9It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10I will pour on David’s house and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. They will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for his firstborn. 11In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo. 12The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of David’s house apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 13the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart; 14all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

Zechariah gives a remarkable prophecy about a future day when God will pour out on his people a spirit of grace and supplication. And in that day, he says, they will look on me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, grieving bitterly as for a firstborn son. It is a prophecy Christians have long seen fulfilled at the cross and beyond: people looking on the pierced One, Christ crucified, and being moved to deep, grief-filled repentance.

Notice the order of things. First, God pours out a spirit of grace and supplication; the mourning comes as a result of grace, not before it. And then they look on the one they have pierced and mourn, a grief that is not mere sadness but the sorrow of realizing what their sin has done, of seeing the wounded One and their own part in his wounding. The grace of God opens their eyes to look on the pierced Christ and grieve rightly over sin.

That is a picture of godly sorrow, and it is itself a gift of grace. True repentance is not something we work up on our own; it comes when God pours out grace that opens our eyes to look on the crucified Christ and see both his wounds and our sin that caused them. This kind of mourning, grieving over sin as we behold the pierced Savior, is not morbid despair but the doorway to healing and forgiveness. Ask God for that spirit of grace, that you may look on the One who was pierced for you, grieve honestly over your sin, and be led through that godly sorrow to his forgiveness. Look on the pierced One, and mourn, and be healed.

Lord, you promise to pour out a spirit of grace, so that your people look on the One they have pierced and mourn. Pour out that grace on me. Open my eyes to look on the crucified Christ, to see both his wounds and my sin that caused them, and to grieve honestly over it. Let that godly sorrow be not morbid despair but the doorway to your forgiveness and healing. Give me a repentant heart that looks on the pierced One and mourns, and leads me to your mercy.