Main Idea: Mercy comes through the Pierced-One.
A Look at the Text:
While a time of judgment was sure to come for God’s people as we saw in yesterday’s text, God gave the prophet a final oracle that once again introduces hope into the story. This was the same God who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth, the God who puts life within human beings (Zech. 12:1).
The oracle concerned a future day of deliverance for the people of Judah. A time will come when Jerusalem will be besieged. Yet, when the nations try to drink from them, they will become a cup of staggering (Zech. 12:2).
Furthermore, God assures that He will establish Jerusalem in such a way that they will be like a heavy stone that a man hurts himself attempting to lift (Zech. 12:3). God will prove that He is their help, and the people will realize that God is the source of their strength (Zech. 12:5).
On that day, the people of Judah will experience great deliverance from the nations (Zech. 12:6-9), and they will return to God in search of grace. They will plead for mercy and grace as they look on the one they pierced (Zech. 12:10), and the genuineness of their repentance will be shown through significant mourning (Zech. 12:11-14).
Bringing it Home:
God’s plans for the future of His people aren’t utterly cast away despite their many failings. God still has a future for Israel (Rom. 11:25-29). While the exact nature of that future and how it unfolds is heavily debated by scholars, it shows us an abundantly undeniable truth: God is a God of unfathomable mercy.
For both Jew and Gentile, there is an avenue of grace and mercy that is found at the cross. There, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Pierced-One, suffered for our transgressions (Isa. 53:5). What wondrous kindness the Lord has lavished upon us in that the crucifixion was the result of our sins and yet it abounds to our benefit!
There is no greater grace than that. That the Lord Jesus willingly took on the penalty for our sins so that we could, in the greatest exchange, be given His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).
Let that never cease to amaze us that the same God who established the heavens and earth made a way for us to obtain mercy so freely. The same God who grants us breath and natural life also grants eternal life as a gift if we turn to Him with a plea for mercy.
Challenge:
Do I ever feel I deserve grace?