Jesus was being mourned

JESUS WAS BEING MOURNED
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Zechariah 12:10 10"And I will pour out on the house
of Davidand the inhabitants of Jerusalema spiritof
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 firstbornson.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Penitential Sorrow
Zechariah 12:10-14
D. Thomas
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon
me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn, etc. To whateverparticular event this passage refers, the
subject is obvious and most important, viz. that of penitential sorrow. And
five things in connectionwith it are noteworthy.

I. THE SUBJECTSOF THIS PENITENTIALSORROW. Theyare Jews, and
not Gentiles. "The house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem" -
expressions whichdesignate the whole Israelitishpeople. The Jewishpeople
had often been reduced to this state of sorrow. When in Babylonian captivity
they wept when they "remembered Zion." "The scene," saysDr. Wardlaw,
"depictedbears a very close resemblanceto those recorded to have taken
place on the restorationfrom Babylon, when Jehovah, having influenced them
individually to return to himself, and to settheir faces, with longing desire, to
the land of their fathers, inclined their hearts, when thus gathered home, to
socialand collective acts ofhumiliation and prayer. The prayers of Ezra and
Nehemiah on those occasions might be taken as models, in the 'spirit and even
the matter' of them, for the supplications of Judah and Israel when brought
back from their wider and more lasting dispersions."
II. THE CAUSE OF THIS PENITENTIALSORROW. "Iwill pour." The
Prophet Joel(Joel2:28) refers to this outpouring of Divine influence. "And it
shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." All
genuine repentance for sin originates with God. He sends down into human
souls the spirit of grace and of supplications. The spirit of grace is the spirit
that produces in the mind of man the experience of the grace of God; and this
experience works repentance and inspires prayer.
III. THE OCCASION OF THIS PENITENTIALSORROW, "And they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced." "The expression, 'upon me,'" says
Hengstenberg, "is very remarkable. According to ver. 1, the Speakeris the
Lord, the Creatorof heavenstud earth. But it is evident from what follows
that we are not to confine our thoughts exclusively to an invisible God who is
beyond the reach of suffering, for the same Jehovahpresently represents
himself as pierced by the Israelites, and afterwards lamented by them with
bitter remorse. The enigma is solvedby the Old Testamentdoctrine of the
Angel and Revealerof the MostHigh God, to whom the prophet attributes
even the most exaltednames of God, on accountof his participation in the
Divine nature, who is describedin ch. 11. as undertaking the office of
Shepherd over his people, and who had been recompensedby them with base
ingratitude." "Theyshall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they
shall mourn for him." The "me" and the "him" are the same Person, and that

Personhe who says, in ver. 10, "I will pour upon the house of David." In the
first clause he is speaking ofhimself; in the secondclause the prophet is
speaking ofhim. The Messiahwas pierced, and pierced by the Jews:"They
pierced my hands and my feet." A believing sight of Christ produces this
penitential sorrow.
"Alas! and did my Saviourbleed,
And my Redeemerdie?
Did he devote his sacredhead
For such a worm as I?"
IV. THE POIGNANCYOF THIS PENITENTIALSORROW. "And they
shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in
bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." "There are
few states ofdeeper and acutersorrow than this - that which is felt by
affectionate parents when bereft of those objects of their fondest affections;
the one solitary objectof their concentratedparentallove; or the firstborn
and rising support and hope of their household." As to the poignancy of this
grief, it is further said, "In that day shall there be a greatmourning in
Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon," etc.
Perhaps the greatestsorrow everknownamongstthe Jews was the sorrow in
the valley of Megiddon, occasionedby the death of King Josiah (2 Chronicles
35:24). Jeremiahcomposeda funeral dirge on the occasion, andother odes
and lamentations were composed, and were sung by males and females. But
true penitential sorrow is far more poignant than that occasionedby the death
of an only sonor a noble king. It is tinctured with moral remorse.
V. THE UNIVERSALITY OF THIS POIGNANT SORROW. "And the land
shall mourn, every family apart," etc. All the families of the land shall mourn,
and all shall mourn "apart." Deepsorrow craves loneliness.
CONCLUSION. There is one event in history - whether such an event is
referred to here or not - that answers betterto the description here of
penitential sorrow than any other in the chronicles of the world; it is the Day
of Pentecost. Thousands ofJews assembledtogetheron that day from all parts

of the knownworld. Peter preachedto the vast assemblyand chargedthem
with having crucified the Son of God. The Holy Spirit came down upon the
vast congregation, and the result was that, "When they heard this, they were
pricked in their heart" (Acts 2:37). Faron in the future, it may be, a period
will dawn in Jewishhistory when such penitential sorrow as is here described
will be experiencedby all the descendants of Abraham. - D.T.
Biblical Illustrator
The burden of the Word of the Lord for Israel
Zechariah 12:1
The burden and glory of God's Word to Israel
J. Leckie, D. D.
God presents Himself here as creating and speaking. It is to Israel that HIS
Word is primarily addressed, for it is Israelthat recognisesHis Word, and by

IsraelHis Word is carried to the world, which thus becomes also Israel.
Remember the meaning of the name, and its origin. Prince of God was the
name which Jacobgotfrom that long wrestling in the dark — Israel, prince of
God, because he had powerwith God. The name denotes the fact and the
powerof communion. Israel is composedof those who seek Godand cling to
Him, who worship Godin the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh.
I. THE CREATOR OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH AND THE SPIRIT
OF MAN HAS AN ISRAEL. The idea of Israel is fellowshipwith God and
powerwith God, gained in and by that fellowship. Is such an idea reasonable?
We think it a poor conceptionof God which represents Him as so mighty and
rich that He does not care for fellowship with souls. Do you think to convince
me that God is wanting in sympathies and affections by showing that He is
Almighty? The argument is all in the opposite direction. Should I have more
ground to believe in His heart if He were less than all-powerful and all-wise!
There is in man a longing after relationto the Infinite. All his history proves
this. Something in him cries out after God, and the heavens and the earth
have tended to intensify this cry. Man is haunted by a something issuing from
heaven and earth that will not let him rest. It would have been sad if man had
craved an infinite friend, had yearned after nearness to a perfect and eternal
living One, and felt no hope, countenance, or stimulus in the world around
him. But man stands in no such barren and dead world. A living world is
round him, material, but full of spiritual suggestion, inviting him to seek God,
and waking him up againwhen he grows dull and hard. Will it be said that
this does not make probable the idea of an Israel — men that have power with
God, it gives support to the idea of communion with God, but not to that of
prayer, an asking that influences the Divine will? The answeris obvious.
Communion with God, in the case ofa being like man, an imperfect, sin-laden
being, must take largely the form of prayer. Such a being, coming nearto
God, cannotbut ask from Him. And this asking, so inevitable, cannotbe a
futile thing. If asking be a necessitywith the spirit that has communion with
God, there must be room and need for it on the side of God. What is true on
the human side is true on the Divine side. The whole doctrine of prayer is
found in the spirit of man, in the longings and necessities, andthere can be

nothing in real contradictionto these. They who seek Godhave a peculiar
affinity with Him. God as a moral being has moral affinities. It is not a
lowering or limiting of God to believe that He has an Israel.
II. GOD HAS A WORD FOR HIS ISRAEL. Neither the heavens nor the earth
nor the spirit of man take the place of a word. They are eacha revelation. But
they are fuller of questions than of answers. The heartof man needs a word. It
is only in words that there is definiteness. One of the distinguishing
peculiarities of man is that he employs words. By these he reaches the fulness
of his being. He makes his thought clearto himself, and gives it an outward
existence by words. He makes all shadowyand vague things firm and abiding
by words. And shall not God meet him on this highest platform? A Word of
God is a necessityto the human soul God has a word to Israelwhich makes
fellowship close andconfiding. The word gives man the necessaryclue to the
interpretation of the universe and himself. It is God's Word to Israel as the
ideal man Israelis the ideal and complete man, and it is in proportion as any
man approaches the ideal that he fully comprehends and embraces the
messageofGod's Word to Israel.
III. GOD'S WORD TO ISRAEL IS A BURDEN. This expressionis often used
by the prophets. No doubt it expresses, in the first instance, the weightof
obligation and responsibility in the declaring of God's message, but this rests
on the fact that the Word of God is a weighty matter for all men.
1. God's Word is a burden by reasonof the weight of its ideas. Thoughts that
may be put into words are of all degrees ofweight — some light as a feather,
some heavy as a world. Thoughts weigh upon the mind, even though they are
felt to be precious. The ideas in God's Word are the weightiestof all — God,
soul, sin, salvation, renewal, eternity. Men are never right till they try to lift
these thoughts and weighthem. They are no judges of the weightof things till
they try these.
2. God's Word is a burden of momentousness and obligation. There are many
weighty thoughts that have little or no practicalmoment. But the thoughts in
God's Word are of pressing and supreme importance. They are light, food,

shelter, life. To rejectthem is ruin. Everything must depend on how we stand
to these words.
3. God's Word is a burden which is easierto bear in whole than in part. The
half or quarter, or some little fraction of God's Word is worse to bear, harder
and heavier than the whole. A single truth takenout of the whole may be quite
oppressive and intolerable. It may crush all joy and courage out of life. The
truth about sin needs the truth about grace and redemption in order to be
borne. The truth about duty needs the Divine promises. Reliefis to be found
not by throwing off any truth, but by taking up more. The hardest truths
become pleasantin proper company. Every truth has relations to all the rest,
and is not properly itself without them. Let the effort be to take the whole
truth, and to take it as a whole. Then it will no more oppress than the vast
load of atmosphere which every man carries.
4. The Word of God is a burden which removes every other load. Thought,
conviction, and feeling bring their inevitable burden. And if a man rejects
burdens he is but making up a heavierburden. If a man will not have the
burden of God's Word, then the whole riddle of the universe becomes his
burden. But if I take up God's Word, and actually carry it as God's Word, I
have no further care. There is provision for driving awayevery fear and every
care in that Word.
(J. Leckie, D. D.)
Which stretchethforth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth
The universe
Homilist.
I. That the universe INCLUDES THE EXISTENCE OF MATTER AND OF
MIND. The phrase "heavens" and"earth" is used here and elsewhere to
representthe whole creation.

1. It includes matter. Of the essenceofmatter we know nothing; but by the
word we mean all that comes within the cognisance ofour senses, allthat can
be felt, heard, seen, tasted. How extensive is this material domain!
2. It includes mind. Indeed, mind is here specified. "And formeth the spirit of
man within man." Man has a spirit. Of this he has strongerevidence than he
has of the existence of matter. He is conscious ofthe phenomena of mind, but
not consciousofthe phenomena of matter.
II. THAT THE UNIVERSE ORIGINATED WITHONE PERSONAL
BEING. It had an origin. It is not eternal. The idea of its eternity involves
contradictions. It had an origin; its origin is not fortuitous, it is not the
production of chance. Its origin is not that of a plurality of creators;it has
one, and one only, "the Lord."
III. THIS ONE PERSONALCREATOR HAS PURPOSES CONCERNING
THE HUMAN RACE. The "burden" may mean the sentence ofthe Word of
the Lord concerning Israel.
1. No events in human history are accidental.
2. The grand purpose of our life should be the fulfilment of God's will.
IV. HIS PURPOSE TOWARDSMANKIND HE IS FULLY ABLE TO
ACCOMPLISH. His creative achievements are here mentioned as a pledge of
the purposes hereafterannounced. Every purpose of the Lord shall be
performed. Has He purposed that all mankind shall be convertedto His Son?
It shall be done.
(Homilist.)'
COMMENTARIES
BensonCommentary

Zechariah 12:10. And I will pour, &c. — God’s signalinterposition in behalf
of Judah and Jerusalem, aftertheir future restoration, having been foretold,
the prophet proceeds to foreteltheir conversionto Christianity. But though
the prophet speaksofthis after he has foretold their restoration, it does not
follow that it shall take place after that event. It is certainly much more
probable that they will first be brought to repentance for the sin of rejecting
and crucifying their Messiah, and to believe in him with their heart unto
righteousness, andthen that God will bestow upon them that greatmercy of
re-establishing them in the possessionof Canaan:see note on Zechariah12:2.
“The Jews had stumbled and fallen at the stone of stumbling and rock of
offence, the Messiah, in his humble appearance, as Isaiahforetold. That no
one might be surprised at this sudden change oftheir affairs, [namely, their
restorationto their own land, and their prosperity therein,] Zechariahtells us,
they should themselves be first changed, and repent heartily of that sin which
had been the cause of their fall, for God should pour out on them the spirit of
grace and supplication, that they might look with compunction of heart on
him whom they had pierced; and he should, by his Spirit, improve those good
dispositions into a thorough conviction of his being the Messiah, whom they
had rejected:for this they should weepbitterly, Zechariah 12:11, and make
earnestsupplications till receivedagaininto his grace and favour. This done,
it follows, Zechariah13:1, In that day shall a fountain be opened, &c. Now
who were they whose sin and uncleanness were washedaway, but the house of
David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem;the same who had sinned, and
mourned, and repented, and were therefore pardoned? What did they mourn
for, but for him whom they had pierced, and whose deaththey had bewailed
with all the solemnities of true mourners? It was then the act and sin of the
house of David, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they pierced and
slew him whom they now lookedupon; for which their land was treatedas
polluted, and removed out of God’s sight into captivity, not to be restoredto
them till their sin was remitted upon their true repentance. Thus much is
evident from the context:” see Chandler’s Defence, andDodd.
But though this passagemay chiefly relate to the future and general
conversionof the Jews to the Christian faith, Which St. Paul calls life from the

dead, and therefore will not receive its full accomplishmenttill that event
takes place;yet it may also be understood of some other prior conversions of
the Jewishpeople, and particularly of those of the many thousands brought to
repentance by the preaching of John the Baptist, of Christ, and his apostles.
For it appears from the accounts we have in the New Testament, that though
the rulers and leading men among the Jews were notconverted in that age of
the Christian Church, yet a vast number of the people were. So that this
prophecy has, in some degree at least, been alreadyfulfilled, and the spirit of
grace and supplication hath been poured out in a measure, if not upon the
house of David, yet upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the expression, They
shall look upon me whom they have pierced, (the words being spokenby
God,) is implied, that in the piercing of Christ, Godhimself, figuratively
speaking, was piercedthrough the wounds of his beloved Son, he being
infinitely dear to his heavenly Father, and his cause the cause ofGod. This
passageis undoubtedly cited in St. John’s gospel, John19:37. Οψονται εις ον
εξεκεντησαν, They shall look on him whom they have pierced. Foralthough
the presentHebrew text is, ‫יבה‬ ‫ו‬ ‫,ילה‬ They shall look unto me, betweenforty
and fifty MSS. are produced which read ‫,וובי‬ unto him, with the concurrence
of other authorities. They shall mourn for him — They shall heartily lament
the crucifying of the Lord Jesus, not only as the sinful, cruel act of their
fathers, but as that in which their sins had a great share. As one mourneth for
his only son — With an unfeigned and real, a greatand long-continued, a
deep and lasting sorrow, such as is the sorrow of a father on the death of an
only son: they shall retain it inwardly, and express it outwardly, as in the
funeral mournings on such occasions.And shall be in bitterness for him —
True repentance will bitterly lament the sins that brought sorrows and pain
upon the Son of God.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
12:9-14 The day here spokenof, is the day of Jerusalem's defence and
deliverance, that glorious day when God will appear for the salvationof his
people. In Christ's first coming he bruised the serpent's head, and broke all
the powers of darkness that fought againstGod's kingdom among men. In his
secondcoming he will complete their destruction, when he shall put down all
opposing rule, principality, and power; and death itself shall be swallowedup

in that victory. The Holy Spirit is gracious and merciful, and is the Author of
all grace or holiness. He, also, is the Spirit of supplications, and shows men
their ignorance, want, guilt, misery, and danger. At the time here foretold, the
Jews will know who the crucified Jesus was;then they shall look by faith to
him, and mourn with the deepestsorrow, not only in public, but in private,
even eachone separately. There is a holy mourning, the effectof the pouring
out of the Spirit; a mourning for sin, which quickens faith in Christ, and
qualifies for joy in God. This mourning is a fruit of the Spirit of grace, a proof
of a work of grace in the soul, and of the Spirit of supplications. It is fulfilled
in all who sorrow for sin after a godly sort; they look to Christ crucified, and
mourn for him. Looking by faith upon the cross ofChrist will cause us to
mourn for sin after a godly sort.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
And I will pour - As He promised by Joel, "I will pour out My Spirit upon all
flesh" (Joel2:28. See vol. i. pp. 193, 194), largely, abundantly, "upon the
house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,"all, highest and lowest,
from first to last, the "Spirit of grace and supplication," that is, the "Holy
Spirit" which conveyeth "grace," as "the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding" Isaiah 11:2 is "the Spirit" infusing "wisdom and
understanding," and the "Spirit of counseland might" is that same Spirit,
imparting the gift "ofcounsel" to see whatis to be done and "of might" to do
it, and the Spirit "of the knowledge andof the fear of the Lord" is that same
"Spirit," infusing loving acquaintance with God, with awe at His infinite
Majesty. So "the Spirit of grace and supplication," is that same Spirit,
infusing grace and bringing into a state of favor with God, and a "Spirit of
supplication" is that Spirit, calling out of the inmost soul the cry for a yet
largermeasure of the grace alreadygiven. Paul speaks of"the love of God
poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" Romans
5:5; and of "insulting the Spirit of grace" , rudely repulsing the Spirit, who
giveth grace. Osorius:"When God Himself says, 'I will pour out,' He sets
forth the greatnessofHis bountifulness whereby He bestowethall things."
And they shall look - with trustful hope and longing. Cyril: "When they had
nailed the Divine Shrine to the Wood, they who had crucified Him, stood

around, impiously mocking. But when He had laid down His life for us, "the
centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus, seeing the earthquake
and those things which were done, fearedgreatly, saying, Truly this was the
Son of God" Matthew 27:54. As it ever is with sin, compunction did not come
till the sin was over:till then, it was overlaid; else the sin could not be done. At
the first conversion, the three thousand "were pricked'in the heart.' "when
told that He "whom they had takenand with wickedhands had crucified and
slain, is Lord and Christ" Acts 2:23, Acts 2:36. This awokethe first penitence
of him who became Paul. "Saul, Saul, why persecutestthou Me?" This has
been the centerof Christian devotion ever since, the security againstpassion,
the impulse to self-denial, the parent of zeal for souls, the incentive to love;
this has struck the rock, that it gushed forth in tears of penitence: this is the
strength and vigor of hatred of sin, to look to Him whom our sins pierced,
"who" Paul says, "lovedme and gave Himself for me." Osorius:"We all lifted
Him up upon the Cross;we transfixed with the nails His hands and feet; we
pierced His Side with the spear. Forif man had not sinned, the Sonof God
would have endured no torment."
And they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for an only son, and shall be
in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for a first-born - We feel
most sensibly the sorrows ofthis life, passing as they are; and of these, the loss
of an only sonis a proverbial sorrow. "O daughter of My people, gird thee
with sackclothand wallow thyself in ashes,"Godsays;"make thee the
mourning of an only son, Most bitter lamentation" Jeremiah 6:26. "I will
make it as the mourning of an only son" Amos 8:10. The dead man carried
out, "the only son of his mother and she was a widow," is recordedas having
touched the heart of Jesus. Alb.: "And our Lord, to the letter, was the Only-
BegottenofHis Father and His mother." He was "the first-begotten of every
creature" Colossians1:15, and "we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-
Begottenofthe Father, full of grace and truth" John 1:14. This mourning for
Him whom our sins pierced and nailed to the tree, is continued, week by week,
by the pious, on the day of the week, whenHe suffered for us, or in the
perpetual memorial of His Precious Deathin the Holy Eucharist, and
especiallyin Passion-Tide. Godsends forth anew "the Spirit of grace and
supplication," and the faithful mourn, because oftheir share in His Death.

The prophecy had a rich and copious fulfillment in that first conversionin the
first Pentecost;a larger fulfillment awaits it in the end, when, after the
destruction of antichrist, "all Israelshall" be converted and "be saved."
Romans 11:26.
There is yet a more awful fulfillment; when "He cometh with clouds, and
every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him, and all kindreds of the
earth shall wail because ofHim" Revelation1:7. But meanwhile it is fulfilled
in every solid conversionof Jew paganor carelessChristian, as well as in the
devotion of the pious. Zechariahhas concentratedin few words the tenderest
devotion of the Gospel, "Theyshall look on Me whom they pierced." Lap.:
"Zechariahteaches that among the various feelings which we can elicit from
the meditation on the PassionofChrist, as admiration, love, gratitude,
compunction, fear, penitence, imitation, patience, joy, hope, the feeling of
compassionstands eminent, and that it is this, which we especiallyowe to
Christ suffering for us. For who would not in his inmost self grieve with
Christ, innocent and holy, yea the Only BegottenSonof God, when he sees
Him nailed to the Cross and enduring so lovingly for him sufferings so
manifold and so great? Who would not groanout commiseration, and melt
into tears? Truly says Bonaventure in his 'goadof divine love:' 'What can be
more fruitful, what sweeterthan, with the whole heart, to suffer with that
most bitter suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ? '"
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
10. Future conversionof the Jews is to flow from an extraordinary outpouring
of the Holy Spirit (Jer 31:9, 31-34;Eze 39:29).
spirit of grace … supplications—"spirit" is here not the spirit produced, but
THE Holy Spirit producing a "gracious"disposition, and inclination for
"supplications." Calvin explains "spirit of grace" as the grace ofGod itself
(whereby He "pours" out His bowels of mercy), "conjoinedwith the sense of
it in man's heart." The "spirit of supplications" is the mercury whose rise or
fall is an unerring test of the state of the Church [Moore]. In Hebrew, "grace"
and "supplications" are kindred terms; translate, therefore, "gracious
supplications." The plural implies suppliant prayers "without ceasing."

Herein not merely external help againstthe foe, as before, but internal grace
is promised subsequently.
look upon me—with profoundly earnestregard, as the Messiahwhom they so
long denied.
pierced—implying Messiah's humanity: as "I will pour … spirit" implies His
divinity.
look … mourn—True repentance arises from the sight by faith of the
crucified Saviour. It is the tearthat drops from the eye of faith looking on
Him. Terroronly produces remorse. The true penitent weeps overhis sins in
love to Him who in love has suffered for them.
me … him—The change of person is due to Jehovah-Messiahspeaking in His
own person first, then the prophet speaking ofHim. The Jews, to avoid the
conclusionthat He whom they have "pierced" is Jehovah-Messiah, who says,
"I will pour out … spirit," altered "me" into "him," and representthe
"pierced" one to be MessiahBen(sonof) Joseph, who was to suffer in the
battle with Cog, before MessiahBenDavid should come to reign. But Hebrew,
Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic oppose this; and the ancient Jews interpreted it
of Messiah. Ps 22:16 also refers to His being "pierced." So Joh19:37; Re 1:7.
The actualpiercing of His side was the culminating point of all their insulting
treatment of Him. The act of the Roman soldier who piercedHim was their
act (Mt 27:25), and is so accountedhere in Zechariah. The Hebrew word is
always used of a literal piercing (so Zec 13:3); not of a metaphoricalpiercing,
"insulted," as Maurer and other Rationalists (from the Septuagint) represent.
as one mourneth for … son—(Jer6:26; Am 8:10). A proverbial phrase
peculiarly forcible among the Jews, who felt childlessnessas a curse and
dishonor. Applied with peculiar propriety to mourning for Messiah, "the
first-born among many brethren" (Ro 8:29).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
And I; God the Father, so Acts 2:17,18 Isa 44:3.

Will pour, in plentiful measures, as a plentiful rain is poured forth on a thirsty
ground: this was fulfilled on Christ’s exaltation, when he receivedgifts for
men, and, being glorified, gave the Spirit, sentthe Comforter to his disciples
and believers;this is daily performed to the children of God, and will be
continually performed till we all are made perfect, and are brought to be with
Christ for ever.
Upon the house of David; on some of that royal family; or, typically
considered, it is the whole family of Christ, his house, who was the seedof
David, and who is calledDavid their king, Ezekiel37:24 Hosea 3:5. Upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem;literally understood it was fulfilled extraordinarily,
Acts 2:4,5; and, no doubt, in the ordinary manner to many of whom no
mention is made: mystically, the inhabitants of Jerusalemare all the members
of Christ, all believers of all ages.
The Spirit of grace;which is the fountain of all gracesin us, and which makes
us lovely in the eye of our God; grace to purify us and to beautify us, that God
may delight in us.
And of supplications, or prayer, which is an early, inseparable fruit of the
Spirit of grace:by the Spirit we cry, Abba, Father, and are helped to perform
this duty, Romans 8:26.
They, all those who have receivedthis Spirit, shall look upon me, with an eye
of faith, and turn to Christ, love, obey, and wait for him.
Whom they have pierced: every one of us by our sins pierced him, but many
of the Jews nailedhim to the cross, andactually murdered the Lord of life.
This, as foretold, so was very punctually fulfilled, and recordedin the account

of his death given by John, John 19:34,35,37;this hath then a particular
respectto the Jews, though not confined to them.
They shall mourn for him; grieve, and heartily lament the crucifying the Lord
Jesus Christ, not only as the sinful, cruel actof their fathers, but as that in
which their sins had a greatshare.
As one mourneth for his only son;with a very greatand deep, with a long and
continued sorrow, with an unfeigned and realsorrow, such as is the sorrow of
a father in the death of an only son; they shall retain it inwardly, and express
it outwardly, as in the funeral mournings on such occasions.
Shall be in bitterness for him: this speaks the inwardestaffectionof the
mourner; there may be tears in some cases withoutgrief or bitterness in the
spirit, but here both are joined; true repentance will bitterly lament the sins
which brought sorrows and shame upon our Lord.
As one that is in bitterness for his first-born: this bitterness is comparedto the
grief of one who losethhis first-born, to confirm and illustrate what he had
just before spokenof Christians mourning for Christ.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem,....The Jews that belong to the family of Christ, and to the heavenly
Jerusalem, the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven:
the Spirit of grace and of supplications; by which is meant the Holy Spirit of
God, who is calledthe "Spirit of grace";not merely because he is goodand
gracious, and loving to his people, and is of grace given unto them; but
because he is the author of all grace in them; of gracious convictions, and
spiritual illuminations; of quickening, regenerating, converting, and

sanctifying grace;and of all particular graces, as faith, hope, love, fear,
repentance, humility, joy, peace, meekness, patience, longsuffering, self-
denial, &c.; as well as because he is the revealer, applier, and witnesserofall
the blessings ofgrace unto them: and he is calledthe "Spirit of supplications";
because he indites the prayers of his people, shows them their wants, and stirs
them up to pray; enlarges their hearts, supplies them with arguments, and
puts words into their mouths; gives faith, fervency, and freedom, and
encouragesto come to God as their Father, and makes intercessionfor them,
according to the will of God: pouring it upon them denotes the abundance and
freeness ofhis grace;see Isaiah44:3,
and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced; by nailing him to the
tree at his crucifixion; and especiallyby piercing his side with a spear; which,
though not personally done by them, yet by their ancestors, atleastthrough
their instigation and request; and besides, as he was pierced and wounded for
their sins, so by them: and now, being enlightened and convictedby the Spirit
of God, they shall look to him by faith for the pardon of their sins, through his
blood; for the justification of their persons by his righteousness;and for
eternal life and salvationthrough him. We Christians can have no doubt upon
us that this passagebelongs to Christ, when it is observed, upon one of the
soldiers piercing the side of Jesus with a spear, it is said, "these things were
done that the Scripture should be fulfilled; they shall look on him whom they
have pierced";and it seems also to be referred to in Revelation1:7 yea, the
Jews themselves, some ofthem, acknowledgeit is to be understood of the
Messiah. In the Talmud (f), mention being made of the mourning after spoken
of, it is asked, whatthis mourning was made for? and it is replied, R. Dusa
and the Rabbins are divided about it: one says, for Messiahben Joseph, who
shall be slain; and another says, for the evil imagination, that shall be slain; it
must be granted to him that says, for Messiahthe son of Josephthat shall be
slain; as it is written, "and they shall look upon whom they have pierced, and
mourn", &c. for, for the other, why should they mourn? hence Jarchiand
Kimchi on the place say, our Rabbins interpret this of Messiahthe sonof
Joseph, who shall be slain; and the note of Aben Ezra is, all the nations shall
look unto me, to see what I will do to those who have pierced Messiahthe son
of Joseph. Grotius observes, that Hadarsan on Genesis 28:10 understands it of

Messiahthe sonof David. The Jews observing some prophecies speaking of
the Messiahin a state of humiliation, and others of him in an exaltedstate,
have coined this notion of two Messiahs, whichare easilyreconciledwithout
it. The Messiahhere prophesiedof appears to be both God and man; a divine
PersoncalledJehovah, who is all along speaking in the context, and in the text
itself; for none else could pour out the spirit of grace and supplication; and yet
he must be man, to be pierced; and the same is spokenof, that would do the
one, and suffer the other; and therefore must be the or God-man in one
person. As to what a Jewishwriter (g) objects, that this was spokenof one that
was pierced in war, as appears from the context; and that if the same person
that is pierced is to be lookedto, then it would have been said, "and mourn for
me, and be in bitterness for me"; it may be replied, that this prophecy does
not speak ofthe piercing this person at the time when the above wars shall be;
but of the Jews mourning for him at the time of their conversion, who had
been pierced by them, that is, by their ancestors,hundreds of years ago;
which now they will with contrition remember, they having assentedto it, and
commended it as a right action;and as for the change from the first personto
the third, this is not at all unusual in Scripture:
and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son; or, "for this"
(h); that is, piercing him; for sin committed againsthim; because oftheir
rejectionof him, their hardness of heart, and unbelief with respectto him;
and on accountof their many sins, which were the occasionofhis being
pierced; which mourning will arise from, and be increasedby, a spiritual sight
of him, a sense ofhis love to them, and a view of benefits by him. Evangelical
repentance springs from faith, and is accompaniedwith it; and this godly
sorrow is like that which is expressedfor an only son; see Amos 8:10 and
indeed Christ is the only begottenof the Father, as well as the firstborn among
many brethren, as follows:
and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn;
sin is a bitter thing, and makes work for bitter repentance.
(f) T. Bab. Succah, fol. 52. 1.((g) R. Isaac Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1. c. 36. p.
309. (h) "super hoc", Junius & Tremellius; "propter hoc", Gussetius;"super
illo", Piscator, Cocceius.

Geneva Study Bible
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the spirit of {e} grace and of supplications: and they shall look
upon me whom they have {f} pierced, and they shall mourn for {g} him, as one
mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in
bitterness for his firstborn.
(e) They will have the feeling of my grace by faith, and know that I have
compassiononthem.
(f) That is, whom they have continually vexed with their obstinacy, and
grieved my Spirit. In Joh19:37 it is referred to Christ's body, whereas here it
is referred to the Spirit of God.
(g) They will turn to God by true repentance, whom before they had so
grievously offended by their ingratitude.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
10. I will pour] The word denotes the abundance of the effusion. Comp. Joel
2:28 [Heb., 3:1]. “Quodverbum doni largitatem et copiam indicat.” Rosenm.
the house of David, &c.] Becausethey, restoredto their proper place and
dignity (Zechariah 12:8), are as it were the head of the nation. But from the
head the holy unction shall flow to the whole body (“the land,” Zechariah
12:12). Comp. Psalm 133:2.
the spirit of grace and of supplications] i.e. the Spirit which conveys grace and
calls forth supplications. The word “grace”is not here used in its primary
sense ofthe favour of God towards man, but in that secondarysense, with
which readers of the N. T. are familiar, of the effects ofthat favour in man, by
the gifts and influences of the Holy Spirit. See John1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:10;
and for the expression, “the Spirit of grace,”Hebrews 10:29, where, as Dean

Alford shews, the secondmember of the “alternative very neatly put by
Anselm; Spiritui sancto gratis dato, vel gratiam dante,” is to be accepted.
upon me whom they have pierced] unto me, R. V. The Speakeris Almighty
God. The Jews had pierced Him metaphorically by their rebellion and
ingratitude throughout their history. They pierced Him, literally and as the
crowning act of their contumacy, in the Personof His Son upon the Cross,
John 19:37. Comp. Revelation1:7. “Confixerant ergo Deum Judæi quum
mærore afficerentejus Spiritum. Sed Christus etiam secundum carnem ab
illis transfixus fuit. Et hoc intelligit Joannes, visibili isto symbolo Deum palam
fecisse nonse tantum olim fuisse indigne provocatum a Judæis; sed in persona
unigeniti Filii sui tandem cumulum fuisse additum scelestæ impietati, quod ne
Christi quidem lateri pepercerint.” Calv. There is no sufficient ground for
adopting with Ewald and others the reading, upon him.
his only son] Comp. Jeremiah 6:26; Amos 8:10.
10–14.The penitent Sorrow of the People for Sin
The conversion(Zechariah12:10-14)and moral reformation (Zechariah 13:1-
6) of the people shall accompanytheir deliverance from their enemies
(Zechariah 12:1-9). On the royal house and the royal city first God will pour
out His Spirit, and as the consequencethey shall regard Him, whom they have
pierced and wounded by their sins, with the deepest sorrow and bitterness of
soul, Zechariah12:10. The mourning in Jerusalemshallbe such as to recall
that which was occasionedby the greatnational calamity of the death of
Josiahin battle, Zechariah12:11. But the outpouring of the Spirit and the
penitent grief calledforth by it shall extend to the whole nation, so that every
family throughout the land, the sexes apart, shall form itself into a separate
group of mourners, Zechariah12:12-14.

Pulpit Commentary
Verses 10-14. -§ 2. There shall ensue an outpouring of God's Spirit upon
Israel, which shall produce a great national repentance. Verse 10. - I will
pour. The word implies abundance (comp. Ezekiel39:29; Joel2:28). The
house of David, etc. The leaders and the people alike, all orders and degrees in
the theocracy. Jerusalemis named as the capitaland representative of the
nation. The spirit of grace and of supplications. The spirit which bestows
grace and leads to prayer. "Grace"here means the effects produced in man
by God's favour, that which makes the recipient pleasing to God and
delighting in his commandments (Hebrews 10:29). They shall look upon me
whom they have pierced. The Speakeris Jehovah. To "look upon or unto"
implies trust, longing, and reverence (comp. Numbers 21:9; 2 Kings 3:14;
Psalm34:5; Isaiah22:11). We may saygenerally that the clause intimates that
the people, who had grieved and offended God by their sins and ingratitude,
should repent and turn to him in faith. But there was a literal fulfilment of
this piercing, i.e. slaying (Zechariah13:3; Lamentations 4:9), when the Jews
crucified the Messiah, him who was God and Man, and of whom, as a result of
the hypostatic union, the properties of one nature are often predicatedof the
other. Thus St. Paul says that the Jews crucified"the Lord of glory" (1
Corinthians 2:8), and bids the Ephesianelders "feedthe Church of God,
which he hath purchasedwith his own blood" (Acts 20:28;for the reading
Θεοῦ, see the critics). St. John (John 19:37)refers to these words of Zechariah
as a prophecy of the Crucifixion (camp. Revelation1:7). The LXX. renders,
Ἐπιβλέψονται πρὸς μὲ ἀνθ ῶν κατωχρήσαντο, "Theyshalllook to me because
they insulted," either reading the lastverb differently, or understanding it
figuratively in the sense ofassailing with cutting words; but there is no doubt
about the true reading and interpretation. Vulgate, Aspicient ad me quem
confixerunt. "Me" has been alteredin some manuscripts into "him:" but this
is an evident gloss receivedinto the text for controversial purposes, or to
obviate the supposed impropriety of representing Jehovahas slain by the
impious. That St. John seems to sanctionthis reading is of no critical
importance, as he is merely referring to the prophecy historically, and does
not profess to give the very wording of the prophet. A suffering Messiahwas
not an unknown idea in Zechariah's time. He has already spokenof the

Shepherd as despisedand ill-treated, and a little further on (Zechariah 13:7)
he intimates that he is strickenwith the sword. The prophecies of Isaiah had
familiarized him with the same notion (Isaiah 53, etc.). And when he
represents Jehovahas saying, "Me whom they pierced," it is not merely that
in killing his messengerand representative they may be saidto have killed
him, but the prophet, by inspiration, acknowledgesthe two natures in the one
Personof Messiah, evenas Isaiah(Isaiah 9:6) calledhim the "Mighty God,"
and the psalmists often speak to the same effect(Psalm 2:7; Psalm45:6, 7;
Psalm110:1, etc.; comp. Micah 5:2). The "looking to" the strickenMessiah
beganwhen they who saw that woeful sight smote their breasts (Luke 23:48);
it was carried on by the preaching of the apostles;it shall continue till all
Israelis converted; it is re-enactedwheneverpenitent sinners turn to him
whom they have crucified by their sins. Critics have supposedthat the person
whose murder is deplored is Isaiah, or Urijah, or Jeremiah;but none of these
fulfill the prediction in the text. They shall mourn for him. There is a change
of persons here. Jehovahspeaks ofthe Messiahas distinct in Personfrom
himself. As one mourneth for his only son... for his firstborn. The depth and
poignancy of this mourning are expressedby a double comparison, the grief
felt at the loss of an only son, and of the firstborn. Among the Hebrews the
preservationof the family was deemedof vast importance, and its extinction
regardedas a punishment and a curse, so that the death of an only sonwould
be the heaviestblow that could happen (see Isaiah47:9; Jeremiah 6:26; Amos
8:10). Peculiarprivileges belonged to the firstborn, and his loss would be
estimatedaccordingly(see Genesis 49:3;Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 21:17;
Micah6:7). The mention of "piercing," just above, seems to connectthe
passagewith the Passoversolemnities andthe destruction of the firstborn of
the Egyptians (see Expositor, vol. 6. p. 131, etc.).
Keil and DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament
The secondvision is closelyconnectedwith the first, and shows how God will
discharge the fierceness ofHis wrath upon the heathen nations in their self-
security (Zechariah 1:15). Zechariah1:18. "And I lifted up mine eyes, and
saw, and behold four horns. Zechariah1:19. And I said to the angel that
talkedwith me, What are these? And he said to me, These are the horns which
have scatteredJudah, Israel, and Jerusalem. Zechariah1:20. And Jehovah

showedme four smiths. Zechariah 1:21. And I said, What come these to do?
And He spake to me thus: These are the horns which have scatteredJudah, so
that no one lifted up his head; these are now come to terrify them, to cast
down the horns of the nations which have lifted up the horn againstthe land
of Judah to scatterit." The mediating angelinterprets the four horns to the
prophet first of all as the horns which have scatteredJudah; then literally, as
the nations which have lifted up the horn againstthe land of Judah to scatter
it. The horn is a symbol of power(cf. Amos 6:13). The horns therefore
symbolize the powers of the world, which rise up in hostility againstJudah
and hurt it. The number four does not point to the four quarters of the
heaven, denoting the heathen foes of Israelin all the countries of the world
(Hitzig, Maurer, Koehler, and others). This view cannotbe establishedfrom
Zechariah 1:10, for there is no reference to any dispersionof Israelto the four
winds there. Nor does it follow from the perfect ‫ּורז‬ that only such nations are
to be thought of, as had already risen up in hostility to Israel and Judah in the
time of Zechariah; for it cannotbe shownthat there were four such nations.
At that time all the nations round about Judah were subject to the Persian
empire, as they had been in Nebuchadnezzar's time to the Babylonian. Both
the number four and the perfectzērū belong to the sphere of inward intuition,
in which the objects are combined togetherso as to form one complete
picture, without any regard to the time of their appearing in historical reality.
Just as the prophet in Zechariah 6:1-15 sees the four chariots all together,
although they follow one another in action, so may the four horns which are
seensimultaneously representnations which succeededone another. This is
shown still more clearly by the visions in Daniel2 and 7, in which not only the
colossalimage seenin a dream by Nebuchadnezzar (ch. 2), but also the four
beasts which are seenby Danielto ascendsimultaneously from the sea,
symbolize the four empires, which rose up in successionone after the other. It
is to these four empires that the four horns of our vision refer, as Jerome,
Abarb., Hengstenberg, and others have correctly pointed out, since even the
picturing of nations or empires as horns points back to Daniel 7:7-8, and
Daniel 8:3-9. Zechariah sees these in all the full development of their power, in
which they have oppressedand crushed the people of God (hence the perfect
zērū), and for which they are to be destroyedthemselves. Zârâh, to scatter,
denotes the dissolution of the united condition and independence of the nation

of God. In this sense allfour empires destroyed Judah, although the Persian
and Grecianempires did not carry Judah out of their ownland.
The striking combination, "Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem," in which not only
the introduction of the name of IsraelbetweenJudah and Jerusalemis to be
noticed, but also the fact that the nota acc. ‫יא‬ is only placed before Yehūdâh
and Yisrâ'ēl, and not before Yerūshâlaim also, is not explained on the ground
that Israeldenotes the kingdom of the ten tribes, Judah the southern
kingdom, and Jerusalemthe capitalof the kingdom (Maurer, Umbreit, and
others), for in that case Israelwould necessarilyhave been repeated before
Judah, and 'ēth before Yerūshâlaim. Still less canthe name Israel denote the
rural population of Judah (Hitzig), or the name Judah the princely house
(Neumann). By the factthat 'ēth is omitted before Yerūshâlaim, and only Vav
stands before it, Jerusalemis connectedwith Israeland separatedfrom
Judah; and by the repetition of 'ēth before Yisrâ'ēl, as well as before
Yehūdâh, Israelwith Jerusalemis co-ordinatedwith Judah. Kliefoth infers
from this that "the heathen had dispersed on the one hand Judah, and on the
other hand Israel togetherwith Jerusalem," andunderstands this as
signifying that in the nation of God itself a separationis presupposed, like the
previous separationinto Judah and the kingdom of the ten tribes. "When the
Messiahcomes," he says, "a small portion of the Israelaccording to the flesh
will receive Him, and so constitute the genuine people of God and the true
Israel, the Judah; whereas the greaterpart of the Israel according to the flesh
will rejectthe Messiahatfirst, and harden itself in unbelief, until at the end of
time it will also be converted, and join the true Judah of Christendom." But
this explanation, according to which Judah would denote the believing portion
of the nation of twelve tribes, and Israeland Jerusalemthe unbelieving, is
wreckedonthe grammaticaldifficulty that the cop. ‫ו‬ is wanting before
‫ריב‬ ‫.יארה‬ If the names Judah and Israel were intended to be co-ordinated
with one another as two different portions of the covenantnation as a whole,
the two parts would necessarilyhave been connectedtogetherby the cop. Vav.
Moreover, in the two co-ordinatednames Judah and Israel, the one could not
possibly stand in the spiritual sense, and the other in the carnal. The co-
ordination of 'eth-Yehūdâh with 'eth-Yisrâ'ēl without the cop. Vav shows that
Israelis really equivalent to the Jerusalemwhich is subordinated to it, and

does not containa secondmember (or part), which is added to it, - in other
words, that Israelwith Jerusalemis merely an interpretation or more precise
definition of Yehūdâh; and Hengstenberg has hit upon the correctidea, when
he takes Israelas the honourable name of Judah, or, more correctly, as an
honourable name for the covenant nation as then existing in Judah. This
explanation is not rendered questionable by the objection offeredby Koehler:
viz., that after the separationof the two kingdoms, the expressionIsrael
always denotes either the kingdom of the ten tribes, or the posterity of Jacob
without regardto their being broken up, because this is not the fact. The use
of the name Israelfor Judah after the separationof the kingdoms is
establishedbeyond all question by 2 Chronicles 12:1;2 Chronicles 15:17; 2
Chronicles 19:8; 2 Chronicles 21:2, 2 Chronicles 21:4; 2 Chronicles 23:2; 2
Chronicles 24:5, etc.
(Note:Gesenius has correctly observedin his Thesaurus, p. 1339, that"from
this time (i.e., from the severanceofthe kingdom) the name of Israel beganto
be usurped by the whole nation that was then in existence, and was used
chiefly by the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Deutero(?)-Isaiah, andafter
the captivity by Ezra and Nehemiah; from which it came to pass, that in the
Paralipomena, evenwhen allusion is made to an earlierperiod, Israel stands
for Judah," although the proofs adduced in support of this from the passages
quoted from the prophets need considerable sifting.)
Jehovahthen showedthe prophet four chârâshı̄m, or workmen, i.e., smiths;
and on his putting the question, "What have these come to do?" gave him this
reply: "To terrify those," etc. Forthe order of the words ‫וא‬ ‫בא‬ ‫ייה‬ ‫ילי‬ ‫,תי‬
instead of ‫ייה‬ ‫ילי‬ ‫וא‬ ‫בא‬ ‫,תי‬ see Genesis 42:12;Nehemiah2:12; Judges 9:48.
‫יהרהוא‬ ‫ילי‬ is not a nominative written absolutelyat the head of the sentence in
the sense of"these horns," for that would require ‫יילי‬ ‫;יּלרהוא‬ but the whole
sentence is repeatedfrom Zechariah 1:2, and to that the statementof the
purpose for which the smiths have come is attachedin the form of an
apodosis:"these are the horns, etc., and they (the smiths) have come." At the
same time, the earlier statementas to the horns is defined more minutely by
the additional clause ‫ופו‬ ‫יהא‬ ‫,וגה‬ according to the measure, i.e., in such a
manner that no man lifted up his head any more, or so that Judah was utterly
prostrate. Hachărı̄d, to throw into a state of alarm, as in 2 Samuel 17:2. Them

('ōthâm): this refers ad sensum to the nations symbolized by the horns.
Yaddōth, inf. piel of yâdâh, to castdown, may be explained as referring to the
powerof the nations symbolized by the horns. 'Erets Yehūdâh (the land of
Judah) stands for the inhabitants of the land. The four smiths, therefore,
symbolize the instruments "of the divine omnipotence by which the imperial
powerin its severalhistoricalforms is overthrown" (Kliefoth), or, as Theod.
Mops. expresses it, "the powers that serve God and inflict vengeance upon
them from many directions." The vision does not show what powers God will
use for this purpose. It is simply designed to show to the people of God, that
every hostile powerof the world which has risen up againstit, or shall rise up,
is to be judged and destroyed by the Lord.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
Mourning For Christ BY SPURGEON
“I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the Spirit of Grace and of supplications. And they shall look
upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one
mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that
is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
Zechariah 12:10
Look, Beloved, from where every goodthing flows–“Iwill pour upon the
house of David the Spirit of Grace.” The starting point is the Lord’s sovereign
act in giving the Spirit! Every work of Grace begins with God! No gracious
thought or act ever originates in the free will of unregenerate man. The Lord
is first in all things which are acceptable in His sight. It is God that “works in
us to will and to do of His owngoodpleasure.” “You have workedall our
works in us.” Then notice how exceedinglyeffectual the work of the Lord is.
Men may persuade and even inspired Prophets may warn without effect, but

when the Lord puts His hand to the work, He never fails! As soonas He says,
“I will pour,” the next sentence is, “and they shall look.”
When He works, who shall hinder? His people shall be willing in the day of
His power!“They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall
mourn.” This is effectualcalling, indeed! In such results we see what is the
exceeding greatnessofHis powerto usward who believe according to the
working of His mighty powerwhich He workedin Christ when He raised Him
from the dead. Observe, thirdly, the dignity and the prominent position which
is occupiedby faith. “I will pour upon them the Spirit of supplication and they
shall look.” Faithis evidently intended here, for faith is always that glance of
the eyes which brings us the blessing which Christ has to bestow. “As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, evenso must the Son of Man be lifted
up that whoeverbelieves in Him should not perish.” A look at the bronze
serpent healedIsrael and, according to the figure, believing in Jesus Christ is
a saving look.
Now, this look of faith is mentioned as the first fruit of the Spirit–before they
mourn, they look. When the Spirit of Grace and supplication is given, its
principal result is looking unto Jesus. Butnow see what a choice fruit follows
upon faith–a soft, sweet, mellow fruit of the Spirit–“Theyshall mourn for Him
as one that mourns for his only son.” This sorrow is a sweetbitter, a delicious
grief full of all manner of rare excellencies!It is a peculiar order of mourning
and differs greatly from the sorrow of the world which works death. Those
who mourn in this fashion are made sorry after a godly manner, for godly
sorrow works repentance to salvationnot to be lostforever.
Mark, it is godly sorrow or repentance towards God. Its specialtyis that it
looks Godwardand weeps because of grieving Him. The lamentation
describedin the text is a mourning for Christ. “And I will pour upon the
house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of Grace
and of supplications. And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in
bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
This is a very remarkable peculiarity of true Spirit-worked repentance. It
fixes its eyes mainly upon the wrong done to the Lord by its sin. No other
repentance but that which is evangelicallooksin that direction. The
repentance of ungodly men is a horror at their punishment, an alarm at the
dire result of their transgressions.Theyrepent like Esau, not of eating the
pottage, but of losing the birthright. They see sin only in reference to
themselves and their fellow men–its higher bearings in reference to the Lord
they quite ignore. The ungodly, at times, and especiallyin the hour of death,

feel remorse, but it has nothing to do with God unless it is that they tremble at
His justice and fear the punishment which He executes. It is, after all, pure
selfishness!They are sorry because they are about to suffer the consequences
of their rebellion. Evangelicalrepentance sympathizes with the GreatFather
and grieves that He should have been so sadly provoked.Seeit in David–
“AgainstYou only have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.” See it in
the prodigal–“Father, I have sinned againstHeaven and before you, and am
no more worthy to be calledyour son.” See how it was workedin Saul of
Tarsus, for the voice from Heavensaid, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute
Me?” It was sin as againstthe exalted Savior which struck home to Paul’s
heart and laid him low at the feet of his Lord. All true repentance has this for
its specialmark, that it is attended with evident reconciliationto God since it
now regrets the wrongs done to Him. One sure sealof its genuine spirituality
is that it is a lamentation on accountof the dishonor which sin has done to
God and to His Christ.
We are going to view the specialcase before us from that point of view and
work it out in three or four ways.
1. First, according to our text, when the Spirit of Grace is given, THERE
WILL BE A SPECIAL MOURNING FOR CHRIST ON THE PART
OF ISRAEL. You must take the text in its primary significance, for we
must treat the Word of God fairly. There will come a day when the
ancient people of God, who have so long rejectedJesus of Nazareth, will
discoverHim to be the Messiahand then one of their first feelings will
be that of deep humiliation and bitter regret before God. They will
mourn as at the mourning of Hadadrimmon, when the BelovedJosiah
fell in battle, and all goodmen knew that the light of the nation was
quenched. “The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was
takenin their pits, of whom we said, under his shadow we shall live
among the heathen.”
They justly mourned for pious Josiah, for he was the last of their godly kings
and the full showerof wrath from the evil to come beganto fall upon Judah
when he was taken. Right well, also, will it be for them to mourn bitterly as a
nation, when they discern the Lord whom they have pierced, for is there not a
cause? Theyhad a peculiar interestin the Messiah, forit was to them and
almost to them, only, that His coming was clearly revealed. Godspoke of Him
to Abraham, Isaac, Jacoband the fathers. It was from their race that the
Messiahwas to come. It is no small honor to Abraham’s seedthat the Man,
Christ Jesus, is one of them!

It was a Judean virgin of whom He was born and to IsraelHe is, indeed, bone
of their bone and flesh of their flesh. When He came on earth, He confined His
ministry to them. Of them He said, “I am not sent exceptto the lost sheepof
the house of Israel.” He healedtheir sick. He opened the eyes of their blind
ones and raisedtheir dead. It was in their streets that He delivered His
gracious messages oflove. And when He was gone, it was in their chief city
that the preaching of the Gospelbeganand the Holy Spirit was poured out.
“Go you and teach all nations,” He said, “beginning at Jerusalem.”
It was from among the Jews that the first vanguard of the Church’s host was
chosen. The first to preach the Gospelwere of the house of Israel and they
might have been to this day in the very front of the army, peculiarly adapted
as they are, in many respects, to lead the way in the teaching of a pure faith–
but they judged themselves unworthy and, therefore, the ministers of Christ,
though chosenfrom them, were obliged to say–“We turn unto the Gentiles.”
Then came their casting away, for a time, during which seasontheir own
Messiahwas despisedand blasphemed by the nation which ought to have
receivedHim with exultation. “He came unto His own, and His own received
Him not.”
Their rejectionof the Lord Jesus was mostdetermined and carried to the
utmost length. It was not sufficient for that generationin which Jesus lived to
turn a deaf earto His admonitions–they must seek His life! Once they would
have castHim headlong from the brow of a hill. At another time they took up
stones to stone Him and, at last, they did take Him and bear false witness
againstHim, fiercely seeking His blood. By their malice He was given over to
the Romans and put to death, not because the Romans desired to slay Him,
but because the clamor of the multitude was, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
and their voices prevailed with Pilate. They imprecated on their heads His
blood, saying, “His blood be on us and on our children.”
They pushed the rejection of the King of the Jews to the utmost possible
extreme, for they restednot till He hung upon the shameful tree and life
remained no more in Him. Petersaid, “And now, Brethren, I know that
through ignorance you did it, as did, also, your rulers.” How bitterly, then,
will they lament when that ignorance is removed! They will mourn as one who
has losthis firstborn and only child, as for a loss never to be repaired. Worse
still was this, that their ignorance was, to a large extent, willful, for Jesus was
rejectedby them againstthe clearestpossible light. John came as a voice
crying in the wilderness and all men knew that John was a Prophet. Those
who most hated Jesus of Nazarethwere yet afraid to say that John was not

sent of God. Yet he bore witness of Jesus and said, “Beholdthe Lamb of God,
which takes awaythe sin of the world.”
Moreover, Jesus Himselfspoke as never any man spoke–His teachingscarried
their own evidence within themselves, so that He justly said, “If I had not
come and spokenunto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no
excuse for their sin.” His words were accompanied, also, withsigns and
wonders by which He proved His Deity and His Father’s pleasure in Him, so
that He said, “If I had not done among them the works which no other man
did, they had not had sin; but now have they both seenand hated both Me and
My Father.” In memory of this He stoodand wept over Jerusalem, saying,
“How often would I have gatheredyour children togetheras a hen gathers her
chickens under her wings, and you would not.” What agonywill tear their
hearts when they perceive how blinded they were and how they despisedtheir
own mercies!
One greatreasonfor the bitter mourning of restoredand believing Israelwill
be the long ratification of this rejectionof Christ by generationafter
generation. Nearly1,900 years have passedsince Calvary’s Cross was erected,
but they still reject the Nazarene. Alas, poor Israelites!The veil is still upon
their faces though Moses is readin their synagogueseveryJewishSabbath.
Alas for the sorrowing seedof Jacob, stillwaiting with their wailing hymns,
for the coming of the Messiahwho has already come, but who was “despised
and rejected” ofHis own people and made by them “a Man of Sorrows and
acquainted with grief”!They will mourn as over the grave of an only child
when they come to know that Jesus ofNazarethwas, indeed, the virgin-born
Emmanuel, God With Us! They will wring their hands and seek to blot out the
pages of their history with tears because they did so despitefully maltreat and
so obstinately rejecttheir Lord, the Prince of the house of David! If another
Jeremiahshall be found to lead the singing men and singing women in their
lamentations, he will have no need to look long for subjects for his laments.
Looking to Him whom they pierced, the whole house of Israelwill weep
bitterly!
And now, dear Brothers and Sisters, it will tend to increase the blessed
sorrows whichwill then sweepoverIsrael to think how the Lord has had
patience with them and still has never castthem away! To this day they are as
distinct a people as ever they were! They dwell alone–theyare not numbered
among the people. Persecutedalmostbeyond conception, poorIsrael, for
many a century, has been the butt and jestof those–Iam ashamedto say it–
who calledthemselves Christians and yet despisedthe chosenpeople of the
Lord! Alas, the precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, have been

esteemedas earthenpitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! “How has
the Lord coveredthe daughter of Zion with a cloud in His angerand cast
down from Heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel!”
They have, for centuries, endured a terrible chastening!They have been
turned upside down and wiped as when a man wipes a dish, but still they
stand waiting for a vainly expectedking. They would not have their true King,
Jesus the Son of David, and they have no other–where is there any king of the
Jews? The scepterhas departed from Jacoband the lawgiverfrom between
his feet, for Shiloh has come, evenHe who, as He hung upon the Cross, was
thrice named, “King of the Jews.”JESUS is the only King of the Jews!And
they are preserved and kept alive notwithstanding a thousand influences
which threatened to make them lose their nationality.
They shall yet be gatheredagain and their restorationshall be the fullness of
the Gentiles–andwe and they shall rejoice togetherin Him who has made
both one, and broken down the middle wall or partition, so that there is now
neither Jew nor Gentile, barbarous Scythian, bond nor free–but we are all one
in Christ Jesus!
II. I now come to more personalmatters. In the secondplace THERE IS A
GENERALMOURNING WHICH GOD GIVES TO HIS CHURCH ON
BEHALF OF CHRIST–a mourning which is only known and manifested
when the Spirit of Grace and supplication is fully poured out. I wish we might
have a large measure of that mourning at this present hour. Let us deplore at
this time, beloved Brothers and Sisters, that Jesus Christ, by the greatmass of
men, is treatedwith utter indifference, if not with contempt!
Where are the multitudes, even, of our own city at this present moment?
There are many gatheredin places ofworship to sing hymns in the
Redeemer’s praise, but there are many, many thousands in this city–I have
even heard it said that there are millions of people who seldom, if ever, enter
within the walls of a House of God. Jesus has suffered and bled to death for
men who, when they hear of it, treat His loving Sacrifice as anidle tale. He is
not quite unknown, I hope, to any of our city–some tidings of Him must have
reachedtheir ears–butthey scarcelyhave enough curiosity to enquire more
about it.
Their little children go home from schooland sing to them on the Lord’s Day
and so they have sweetlysounded in their ears the “old, old story” of
redeeming love, but ah, they break the Sabbath–theymake it a day of
amusement and pleasure, or they spend it in sloth! The Bible is left unread, or
read without interest in its Divine message. Theyhave no care for the bleeding

Lamb, no regard for their bestFriend. If they do not sorrow about this, we
ought to sorrow for them, for they are men and women like ourselves and they
are living in contempt of our Lord Jesus!Some of them have many
amiabilities–there is so much, indeed, of human excellence aboutthem that we
have deplored that the “one thing” which they lackedwas not sought after by
them! Yet they continue as they are and it is to be feared many of them will
continue so till they perish!
Weepnot so much because Jesus sufferedon the Cross, but because He is
practically crucified every day by this carelessnessand contempt! The
Crucifixion at Calvary is over, now, and it is but the visible tokenof a
crucifixion to which careless menand women are putting the Redeemerevery
day! They care nothing about Him–dead or alive He is nothing to them! At the
thought of such unkindness will you not cry, “For these things I weep;my
eyes, my eyes run down with water.” Reflectsorrowfully, too, how the Lord
Jesus has been ill treated and piercedand wounded by His opponents–andI
mention here as among the chief of them, those who deny His Deity. At this
moment there are men of greatattainments and abilities who will extol our
Lord’s manhood and even profess to be in love with His Character, but they
will not yield Him Divine honors!
Oh, Son of God, to whom the Father bore witness by an audible voice out of
Heaven, saying, “This is My BelovedSon, hear Him”–they rejectthe witness
of God and so dishonor You! You did not count it robbery to be equal with
God, but they gladly would pierce You in Your divinity and make you nothing
but a man! Men, also, rejectour Lord’s Atonement. By many that Truth of
God is obscuredor utterly denied! I still hear the cry in many quarters, “Let
Him come down from the Cross and we will believe on Him.” Modern
philosophers will acceptanything exceptthe bleeding Substitute for guilty
man! When I think of the false doctrine which is preachedabout the Lord
Jesus and how His Glory is tarnished by the lips of His professedministers
who think His Gospela worn-out tale, I see that there is, indeed, occasionfor
us to getto our chambers and pour out our hearts in lamentation!
Alas, my Lord, why are You thus blasphemed by the worldly wise? Why is
Your Truth despisedamong the learned and ridiculed by the scribes? I do not
know when my grief has been more stirred for my Lord and Masterthan
when brought actually to see the superstition by which our holy faith is
impregnated and His blessedname blasphemed! Turning from skepticism,
where He is wounded in the house of His enemies, you come to superstition,
where He is wounded in the house of His professedfriends–and what wounds

they are! I have felt, sometimes as if I could tear down the baby image held in
the Virgin’s hands when I have seenmen and women prostrate before it!
What? O you sons of Antichrist, could you not make an idol, like the
Egyptians, out of your cats and dogs, or find your gods in your gardens?
Could you not make a golden calf, as Israel did in the wilderness, or borrow
the fantastic shapes of India’s deities? Could nothing content you till the
image of the holy Child Jesus should be made into an idol and Christ upon the
Cross uplifted should be set up as an image for men to bow before? The
idolatry which worships the image of the devil is less blasphemous than that
which worships the image of Christ! It is an awful sacrilegeto make the holy
Jesus appearto be an accomplice in the violation of the Divine
Commandment–yes, and to turn that blessedmemorial of death into an
idolatrous rite in which Divine honors are given to a piece of bread!
Was there ever sin like unto this sin? O You, innocent Savior, it is grief,
indeed, to think that You should be set up in the idol temple, among “saints,”
and that men should think that they are honoring Your Father by breaking
His First and Secondcommandments! This must be to our Lord the most
loathsome of all things under Heaven! How does He, in patience, bear it? Let
not His people behold it without a mourning like the mourning of
Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon, because ourblessedChrist is so
blasphemed by Antichrist that the image of the Incarnate Son of God is set up
as an objectof idolatrous worship it its churches!
There should be greatsorrow and mourning when we read the history of the
past and look, even, at the present, at the fearful wrongs which have been
done in the name of Jesus. Jesus is all love and tenderness and yet they place
His Cross upon the blood-stainedbanners of accursedwar!Jesus, who said,
“Put up your sword into its sheath, for they that take the swordshall perish
with the sword,” is, nevertheless, adjured to go forth with armed hosts to blow
men to pieces with guns, or pierce them with bayonets!When the Spanish
nation captured Peru and Mexico, it makes one’s blood boil to read that while
they murdered the defenselesspeople for their gold, they set up in every town
the images ofthe holy Cross!What had the Cross to do with their murders
and robberies?
They tortured their victims in the name of Jesus and when they put them to
death they held up before them the image of the crucified Jesus!What horrors
have been workedin Your name, O Christ of God! Men have, indeed, pierced
You and they who take Your name and callthemselves, “the SocietyofJesus,”
[Jesuits]have been chief enactors ofthese abominations!Your Crucifixion at
Calvary is a small part of the matter, for the sons of men have gone on

piercing You by maligning You infamously! You, Lord, of boundless love!
And now, today, what is done in our land? I can scarcelystayto enlarge, but
there are multitudes of things done in the name of the religion of Christ which
are a dishonor to it!
Under the pretense of guarding the interests of His Church, a certain
community of professing Christians beg that their fellow Christians may not
be buried within the same enclosure as themselves–indeed, Christ’s name
must sanctionsuch un-Christly bigotry! One sectionof the Church must, also,
be patronized and made dominant in the land–and this wrong is done in the
name of Jesus!It is to honor Him that this crying injustice is perpetrated!
Hear it, you heavens!There are multitudes of other things which I shall not
mention for which the Christian Church ought perpetually to sorrow. That
she does wrong is enough to make her humble–but that she has dared to do
wrong often, in the very name of Jesus, is worstof all!
Still, Brothers and Sisters, the worst sorrow, probably, for us all is that there
should be so many professing Christians who actin a manner the very
opposite to what Christ would have them do. The heathens everywhere point
to our countrymen, who are supposed to be Christians, and they say of us that
we are the most drunken race of men upon the face of the earth–and I suppose
we are. Charges are brought againstus which are supported by the conduct of
our sailors and soldiers and others who go abroad which make the followers
of Mohammed and the disciples of Brahmanism to think their religion
superior to our own. These Englishmenare supposedto be Christians, though
they are not! This is a great scandaland a grievous sorrow under the sun.
And then in the very heart of it all lies this, that true Christians, those who are
truly Christ’s blood-bought, regeneratedpeople, nevertheless do not
sufficiently bring glory to His name. Where is the zeal of the Church–the
allconsuming zealof other days? Where is the consecrationwhichought to
rest upon all members of Christ’s blood-bought body? Where, I say, is that
mightiness in prayer and supplication which, at the first, so gloriously
prevailed? Where is that spirit of hearty love and unity, of brotherly kindness
and compassionwhichought to be seenin all Christians? The first Church
brought greathonor to the name of Christ–does the Church of today do the
same? Do even the most spiritual portions of the Church bring to the Lord
Jesus suchhonor and glory as He ought to have?
You judge what I say! Are we not all unprofitable servants? Is there not cause
for mourning and for greatmourning, too, to think that Jesus should thus
have been ill-treated by friends and foes? ForHim, our bestBeloved,

perpetually pierced, the Church may well proclaim a fast and mourn before
the Lord, as in the day of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon!
III. Suffer, now, a word or two upon the third point, for THE TEXT SPEAKS
OF A FAMILY MOURNING. It will be a very blessedday, indeed, when we
see this–whenthe Spirit of Grace and supplication shall be largely poured out
and the land shall mourn, every family apart. Have you ever seenthis in your
households? Where the Spirit of God really rests upon a family, there will be
much of it and, surely, there is cause enoughfor it in some families where
there is none at all. We ought to grieve to think that there has been such
formality and coldness in family devotion. There is so little love to Jesus
manifested in the morning and evening worship. I fear that there are
professing families where daily prayer is altogetherneglected!
The individuals, I trust, pray in their chambers, but they have given up the
assembling of themselves as families to worship in the name of Jesus. As
families they are prayerless and dishonor the Lord. Herein is serious cause for
sorrow, because ourLord loses, by this neglect, that which He delights in,
namely, family praises. Families should, also, mourn because the Lord is not
so regarded as He should be in family management. Christ is not made first
and chief in family matters. Fathers look to the worldly prosperity of their
boys in placing them out, rather than to their moral and spiritual advantage.
Many a time marriages for the daughters are sought, not in the Lord, but
solelyin reference to pecuniary considerations.How much of the arrangement
of the householdignores the existence ofthe Savior? As, for instance, much
work done on the Sabbath which might be spared by a little care and thought
and, consequentinability to go out to worship the Savior with the rest of
God’s people. There is a way of setting the Lord always before us in the
managementof householdmatters and, on the other hand, there is a way of so
acting as to prove that God is not in the leastconsidered. Family quarrels,
family pride, family covetousness andfamily sins of all kinds bring shame
upon our professionand dishonor upon the name with which we are named!
This ought to cause greatsorrow.
If there are any members of a family unconverted, this should cause the whole
household deep regret. If there is but one child unsaved, the whole should
plead for him with tears. Happy are you who have all your householdwalking
in the faith! But if there is one left out, weepnot for the dead, neither bewail
him, but weepfor the living who is dead unto his Lord! Wife, be grievedin
your heart if you have a worldly husband! O husband, mourn for your
unconverted wife! If you have brothers or sisters not yet brought to Jesus, fail
not to lament concerning them! I would to God that families did, sometimes,

come togetherto pay their vows with specialcare and that the father would
confess family faults and family sins in the name of them all and so
acknowledge eachwound given to the Lord in their house.
I am not alluding to those private rebukes which every wise parent must give,
but I would have a common confessionfrom all, uttered by the voice of the
head of the household. Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, how blessedit is to think that
You are the God of all the families of Israel and that You love the tents of
Jacobso well! Grant that our households, as households, inasmuch as they sin
and transgress,may, also, walk before You in all humbleness! Let all families
mourn! Let the house of David mourn, for there is sin in royal and noble
families! Let the house of Levi repent, for, alas, there are sins in ministers'
families which greatly provoke the Lord our God!
The house of Shimei, of whom we know nothing, may representthe private
families which are unknown and of the humbler order. Let these, also, draw
near to God in penitential grief. The house of Nathan may be regardedas the
prophetic, or perhaps as the princely house–but be they what they may, let
them all come before the MostHigh–eachwith the language of confession!It
will be a grand thing for England when we shall see more family piety and
family mourning for sin. They tell us that in Cromwell’s day if you went down
Cheapside at a certain hour in the morning, every blind of every house was
down because the residents were at family prayer. It was, then, a standing
ordinance of all professors ofreligion and it was the greatbuttress against
Popery.
Modern Ritualists want us to go to Church every morning and night to pray–
the Church is openedall day long, so I see by a notice on one of our Churches,
for private prayer. It strikes me as being rather a place for public prayer and
well adapted for the display of devotion. The idea that prayer is more
acceptable in the parish Church than in your own houses is a superstition and
ought to be treated with no respect!If we will pray with our families and
make every house into a Church and consecrateeveryroom by private
supplication, we shall not be fascinatedby the foolishidea of the holiness of
places or priests–andwe shall so be guarded againstthe seductions of Popery.
The Lord pour out the Spirit of Grace upon all the families of His people!
IV. But now, lastly, and more personally. According to the text, when the
Spirit of Godis given, there will be PERSONAL, SEPARATE AND
SALUTARY MOURNING ON THE PART OF EACH ONE. “Every family
apart, and their wives apart,” these words, often repeated, bring out vividly
the individuality of this holy sorrow before the Lord. Let us now endeavor to
enter into it. First, dear Brothers and Sisters, let us mourn that our sins

occasionedourLord’s death. And when we have done this, which would
naturally be the first thought from the text and, therefore, will naturally occur
to you without my needing to urge it, let us go on to mourn our sins before our
regeneration.
To me it will ever cause regretthat I was unbelieving towards One who could
not lie. Now, as I know my Lord and have proved His faithfulness so well, it
looks so strangelycruel that I should have doubted Him–that I should have
thought He could not cleanse me, or that He would not receive me. He is the
most tender of all hearts–the most loving of all beings–andyet there was a day
when I thought Him a severe tyrant who expecteda preparation of me which I
could not produce in myself! I did not know that He would take me just as I
was and blot out my sin. I know it now, but I mourn that I so grievouslybelied
Him. Ought we not to grieve over our long carelessness?
You used to hear the Gospel, dear Friend, and you understood its plan and
scope, but you did not wish to feelits power. The Sonof God, in pity, came to
die for you, and yet you thought it an everyday matter to be attended to at
your convenience–andyou went your way to mind earthly things. O Lord,
how could I shut the door of my heart againstYou so long when Your head
was wetwith dew and Your locks with the drops of the night? You did gently
knock and knock again, my God, and yet I would not let You in for many a
year! Sorrowfully do I repent for this! Think, then, dear Friends, of the
contempt which we castupon Christ while we were living in that state of
carelessness–fordid we not as goodas sayin our heart, “ Pleasure is to be
found in the world and not in Christ. Restis to be had in wealth, not in
Jesus”?Did we not deliberately choose,whenwere young, to follow the
devices of our own hearts instead of the will of Jesus? Now that we know Him,
we think ourselves fools that we should have seenany charms in the painted
face of thatJezebelworld when Jesus stoodby with all His matchless beauties!
Forgive us, dear Redeemer, that we ever thought of these trifles, these
transitory toys, these mockeries and let You go, though it were but for an
hour. Alas, this base contempt of You was no error of an hour, but a crime
which lasted many years!Pardon us, O Lord! Let us reflect, again, with great
regretupon the resistance whichwe offered to Christ. In some of us, the Spirit
strove mightily. I do confess that under sermons I was oftentimes brought to
my knees and driven to my chamber with tears–but the next morning saw
those tears evaporate and I was as stubborn as before.
Did Jesus persuade us to come to His wedding feast? Did He put His arms
about our neck and say, “Come and receive My love?” By His tenderness did
He not persuade us and by His terrors did He not threaten us? And yet did we

not resistHim? What a crime is this! Look at Him now! Oh, look at Him with
His dear wounds and His face marred more than any man! Did we push Him
aside? Did we contend with Him who only meant our good? Did we not, by
this conduct, pierce our Lord? It was even so!Alas, for those dark days! Let
the whole of our life before conversionbe counted as but a breathing death!
Write down its days as nights and let the nights perish and be forgotten
forever!
But we have more than this to reflect upon, namely, our sins since conversion.
Do I address any, this morning, who have grievously backsliddensince they
professedfaith in Christ? Have you committed greatand open sins? Has it
even been found necessaryto remove you from the Church of God as the leper
is put out from the camp? Then do not think of it without feeling your eyes
swim in tears! What is justly bound by the Church on earth is bound in
Heaven and, therefore, do not despise the censure of the Church of God. And
if others of us have been kept–as I trust we have–from the greattransgression,
yet, Beloved, what shall we say?
Are there not with us, even with us, many sins againstthe Lord? We, too, have
often been guilty of mistrust. We have doubted the Lord, who is Truth itself!
What a stab at His heart is this! What a reopening of His veins! We have been
gloomy, sometimes, and full of murmuring until men have said that Christians
are miserable and they have takenup a proverb againstour holy faith because
we have been despondent and have not felt the joy of the Lord. This is
wounding Him in the house of His friends and for this evil let us mourn!
Might not our Belovedcharge lukewarmnessupon very many who would be
unable to deny the accusation? Lukewarmtowards the bleeding Lamb–
towards the dear Lover of our souls!
Have we not been disobedient, too, leaving undone certainduties because they
were unpleasant to the flesh and doing other things which we know we ought
not to have done because we chose to please ourselves?This is a sad state of
things to exist betweenour hearts and our Beloved. Has there not been in us a
very greatlack of self-denial? What little we have given to Him! Did we ever
pinch ourselves for Him? Might He not say to us, “You have bought Me no
sweetcane with money, neither have you filled me with the fat of your
sacrifices.You have made Me to serve with your sins, you have weariedMe
with your iniquities.” And how little zeal we have shown for Him! Zeal has
just lingered on, unquenched like a spark in the flax. And how little flame has
there been! How little love for God–how little love for perishing sinners! How
little love, even, for Christ’s ownpeople! How scanthas been our fellowship
with Jesus.

I know some who, I hope, love Him. They go from day to day without hearing
His voice and some will even live a month in that condition. Shame! Shame!
To live a month in the same house with our heart’s Husband and not to have a
word with Him? It is sad, indeed, that He, who should be All in All to us,
should often be treated as if He were secondbest, or nowhere in the race!
Alas, alas!Christ is all excellenceand we are all deficiency. In Him we may
rejoice, but as to ourselves, we ought to mourn like doves because ofthe griefs
we must have causedto His Holy Spirit through the ill estate of our souls.
We have askedyou and I pray the Spirit of Godto enable you, to mourn over
the past, but what shall we say as to the present? Take stock,now, of last
week. I invite myself and you, for we are one in Christ if we are Believers, to
look through last week. Didyou make any survey of the days as they passed?
If so, I think you might have said with Dr. Watts–
“What have I done for Him that died
To save my guilty soul?
How are my follies multiplied,
Fastas my minutes roll!”
Has it been a week ofreal service for Christ? You have done something–did
you do your best? Did you throw your heart into it? Did you feel that
tenderness, when you were trying to bring others to Christ, which a Christian
ought to feel? You had some little contention with another–did you actin a
Christian spirit? Did you show the mildness and gentleness ofJesus? You
were offended–did you freely forgive? ForHis dear sake did you castit all
behind your back? You have been somewhatin trouble–did you take your
burden to Him as naturally as a little child runs to its mother with a cut
finger? Did you tell Him all and leave it all to Him? You had a loss–didyou
voluntarily resignall to His will?
Has there been no pride this week? Pride grieves Him very much, for He is
not a proud Masterand is not pleasedwith a proud disciple. Has there not
been much to mourn over? And now, at this very moment, what is the state of
our feeling toward Him? Must we not confess that though there is a work of
Grace in our souls, yet there is much about us at this moment which should
make us bow down in grief before the Lord? Dear Savior, You know there is
not one in this house who has more cause to mourn for You than he does who
speaks forYou now, for he feels that these poor lips are not able to tell what
his heart feels–andhis heart does not feel what it ought. A preacher should be
like a seraph. One who speaks forChrist and tries to praise Him should be a
very Niobe when he sees the sins of men and his own. Where are my tears?
The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak.

I think what I have now said of myself will suit most of you who are engaged
in my Master’s service. Do you not feel that you blunder at it? Do you not feel
that when you would paint Him, you make a daub of His likeness? Whenyou
would set Him forth visibly crucified among the people, do you not obscure
Him with the very words with which you wish to reveal Him? You must have
such feelings and if you have them, let me close by reading these words to you.
They are, assuredly, true when there is a time of hearty, sincere mourning for
Jesus–“Inthat day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalemfor sin and for uncleanness.”
So let us plunge into the sacredbath! Believing in the precious blood, let us
washand be clean! Glory be to His name, those whom He has washedare
cleanevery whit! Amen!
ERROR–To ourintense regretwe perceive that in the last sermon, the Printer
has inserted a verse from the First Epistle to the Corinthians instead of from
the Second. This entirely spoils our argument. Will the reader kindly correct
his copy? Put 2 Corinthians for 1 Corinthians and mark out the misquoted
words. The error was occasionedby a slip of our pen. [By His Grace, the verse
is corrected.]
STEVEN COLE
Zechariah 12:1-14 God, The Mighty Savior
Excerpt from introduction:
Just outside of Madrid is a famous old monastery, the Escorial. The kings of
Spain have been buried there for centuries. The architect who built the
church made an arch so low that it frightened the king. Fearing that it would
collapse, he ordered the architect to add a column to uphold the middle of the
arch. The architect protestedthat it was not necessary, but the king insisted
and so the column was built. Years later, the king died and the architectthen
revealedthat the column was a quarter of an inch short of touching the arch,
and that the arch had not saggedin the slightest. I have heard that tour guides
still pass a lath betweenthe arch and the column as mute proof of the
architect’s knowledge (DonaldBarnhouse, Let Me Illustrate [Revell], p. 245).

That arch illustrates our salvation, which comes totallyfrom the Lord. It
stands because ofGod, not because ofanything that fallen sinners can add to
it. But, like the Spanish king, people want to add something to help Godout.
The idea that salvationis totally from God is an affront to our pride. So even
many that profess to believe in Christ as Saviorare prone to think that their
salvationrests at leastpartially on something that they must do, rather than
completely on what God has done. We keepadding our columns, but God’s
Word clearly shows that God’s salvationdoes not need our human support.
God’s mighty power will save His people according to His purpose.
Zechariah 12-14 contains the second“burden” that the prophet receivedfrom
God (see 9:1). This burden focuses onIsrael, and specificallyon Jerusalem(22
times in these chapters). The phrase “that day” occurs 17 times and “the
nations” occurs 14 times, pointing to the period of time when God brings His
purpose for Israeland the nations to culmination. As we saw lastweek,
chapter 11 predicts Israel’s rejectionof Jesus, the GoodShepherd, and her
subjection during the Tribulation to the worthless shepherd. This will plunge
the nation into a time of severe testing, describedby Jeremiah(Jer 30:5-7-
note) as “the time of Jacob’s distress.”Daniel(Daniel12:1-note) calls it “a
time of distress such as never occurredsince there was a nation until that
time.” This time of testing culminates in the Battle of Armageddon (Joel3:9-
16; Rev. 16:16-21;Zech. 12:1-9; 14:2-3), when God will gather all the nations
againstJerusalemto battle. At the lastminute, just before Israelis
annihilated, God will supernaturally rout the enemy and deliver His people.
Our text describes the physical deliverance of Israelin Zechariah 12:1-9, and
the spiritual deliverance of Israelin Zechariah 12:10-14. The greatmilitary
victory that Godwill achieve for His helpless people illustrates the great
spiritual salvationthat He also brings. Both sections emphasize the truth that
God is mighty to save His people according to His purpose.....(And from the
conclusion)Why did God give this remarkable prophecy to people who lived
at least2,500 years before it would take place? It was not so that they could
draw up prophecy charts and read books about how soonthese things would
take place. He gave these prophecies to comfort His people as they went
through trials and facedthreatening enemies with the solid truth that He is a
mighty Savior, and that no one cantouch His electapart from His purpose.
That’s how He wants us to apply it. If you have not yet repented of your sins
and trusted in Christ as your Savior, God may have kept you alive until now
so that today you would look on Him whom you pierced and mourn. If you
have trusted in Christ, He wants you to know that no enemy, whether
“tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, orperil, or

sword,” or even death itself, will be able to separate you from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35-39)!
RON DANIEL
12:10-14 Pouring Out The Spirit
God is going to deliver the Jews from the nations. You have to wonder why He
choosesthis time to do it. After all, He has used the nations to judge them -
why will He do it now? Paul tells us in Romans 11:
Rom. 11:25-31 ForI do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this
mystery, lestyou be wise in your ownestimation, that a partial hardening has
happened to Israeluntil the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all
Israelwill be saved; just as it is written," THE DELIVERER WILL COME
FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROMJACOB. AND
THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR
SINS." Fromthe standpoint of the gospelthey are enemies for your sake, but
from the standpoint of {God's} choice they are beloved for the sake ofthe
fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Forjust as you
once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of
their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, in order that
because ofthe mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.
Some Christians have a strange theologywhich says that the Jews are saved
apart from belief in Jesus Christ. They point out that "all Israelwill be
saved." But when will Israelbe saved? Theyare hardened of heart right now,
and disobedient. But when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, the
Delivererwill come.
Why will He come? Becausethey will call out to Him, finally seeing Jesus as
their Messiah, and mourning over what their forefathers did to Him.
Here's the mystery: Jesus said,
John 6:44 "No one cancome to Me, unless the Fatherwho sent Me draws
him..."
God will pour out His Spirit on the Jews, so that they will callto His Son.

Ezek. 39:29 "...Iwill not hide My face from them any longer, for I shall have
poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.
They Will Look On Me Whom They Have Pierced
This is one of the most difficult passagesforthe Jews to explain away. After
all, how can God be pierced? The explanation is of course simple to us. Justas
it was prophesied,
Ps. 22:16 ...Theypierced my hands and my feet.
Isa. 53:5 ...He was piercedthrough for our transgressions...
God's piercing occurred when He was hung on the cross, His hands and feet
were pierced. Then, the soldiers came, and...
John 19:33-37 ...whenthey saw that He was already dead, they did not break
His legs;but one of the soldiers piercedHis side with a spear, and immediately
there came out blood and water. And he who has seenhas borne witness, and
his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also
may believe. For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be
fulfilled, "NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN." And again
another Scripture says, "THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY
PIERCED."
They will look on Him again. Revelationsays,
Rev. 1:7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye
will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will
mourn over Him...
Like The Mourning Of Hadadrimmon
They will mourn for Him. Their mourning is comparedto the mourning in
another place:Had-ad-rim-MONE. Had-ad-rim-MONE is a place in the
valley of Megiddo.
Mostof the commentaries saythat this is referring to the mourning of the
people of Israelafter King Josiahwas killed by the archers of PharaohNeco
on the plain of Megiddo. But listen to the account:
2Chr. 35:22-24 However, Josiahwould not turn away from him, but disguised
himself in order to make war with him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco
from the mouth of God, but came to make war on the plain of Megiddo. And
the archers shotKing Josiah, and the king said to his servants, "Take me
away, for I am badly wounded." So his servants took him out of the chariot
and carried him in the secondchariotwhich he had, and brought him to

Jesus was being mourned

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