Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Zechariah 12:10-14
Yesterday we set the stage for this amazing prophecy given to Zechariah in verse 10. The nations have besieged Judah and Jerusalem, but God is watching and is fighting with Judah. The people of Judah have successfully defended Jerusalem and have consumed their enemies like a “burning torch among sheaves of grain” (vs. 6). Even the weakest people of Judah are as strong as King David as they fight and all the nations that attacked Jerusalem are destroyed.
Then we get to verse 10:
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”
God is lifting the veil on the Jews. This is the moment when the Jewish remnant see Jesus as their Messiah. Isaiah was given the same prophecy in Isaiah 53 where he wrote about the crucifixion of Jesus from the perspective of this Jewish remnant looking back in time with fresh eyes on what their ancestors did to Jesus:
“By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?” (Isa 53:8).
They missed it. Jesus came as their Messiah and they crucified him. No one protested. But this was God’s will:
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer” (Isa 53:10).
God has placed a spiritual veil over the eyes of His chosen people because it was His will for Jesus to die for the salvation of the world. And to this day, the veil is still there – the Jews as a whole reject Jesus as their Messiah:
“What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, as it is written:
‘God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that could not see
and ears that could not hear,
to this very day’” (Rom 11:7-8).
At the end of days, on the day of Zechariah 12:10, the veil will be lifted because God will pour a spirit of grace and supplication on the house of David and the people of Jerusalem. On that day, Isaiah 53 will reach its complete fulfillment as the Jews look back on the days when Jesus walked among them and they will mourn and grieve bitterly what they did.
Jesus spoke of this day as well:
“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” (Matt 24:30).
When we read this passage in Matthew, without the context of Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12, it sounds like all the people of earth are mourning because Jesus is coming back. Yes and no. Those that rejected Jesus will certainly be crying in fear when they see him because they will realize they were wrong and they are doomed.
But the Greek word for “mourn” is koptō which describes deep sorrow that is expressed through loud wailing and beating your breast. This word is commonly used in the New Testament to describe the scene at a funeral. When Jesus arrived at the house of Jairus when his daughter had died, Luke records:
“When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning (koptō) for her” (Luke 8:51-52).
It’s the same word used to describe the scene during Jesus’s path to the cross on the Via Dolorosa:
“A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned (koptō) and wailed for him” (Luke 23:27).
When Jesus returns, there will be loud wailing and mourning again because the Jews will realize they crucified Jesus when he came the first time. God is going to pour out His spirit of grace and supplication on them. Jesus is not coming back as their enemy. He is coming back as their redeemer. They will mourn for Jesus like they should’ve mourned when they crucified him.
John records in his opening remarks of Revelation this very scene as well:
“‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’
and ‘every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him’;
and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’
So shall it be! Amen” (Rev 1:7).
And when the mourning ends, those who call Jesus their Lord and Savior will be with him forever. No more mourning. No more tears. Only eternal life with Jesus:
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’” (Rev 21:3-4).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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