GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
ZECHARIAH 13:7
The prophet is beginning a new section here, and perhaps a different chapter division would have been to begin the final chapter at this point, but of course, the divisions of the chapters are not part of the inspired text.
7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who stands next to me,”
declares the LORD of hosts.
“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones.
How is it that God, the Lord of hosts, could speak out against the Shepherd, who is without any doubt Jesus Christ? It’s as unthinkable as a man speaking out against his own arm or torso, saying, “You don’t belong to me!” A critic of Christianity might easily point a finger at this verse and say, “See! Your Christ is no Savior! Even he was punished! How can a man who claims to be God be punished by God?”
The sword and the club are the power or reign of darkness, as Jesus calls them (Luke 22:52). In his time, the Jews and the Romans controlled a wicked government, the sword in the land. He humbled himself to be obedient to the reign of that government, but in that voluntary humiliation, he made himself open to execution and death, even a senseless, unjustifiable execution. Even death from a whim.
It was this punishment, the death of the innocent and sinless Son of God, which God used to atone for the sins of the world. Just as a lamb to be offered as a sacrifice had to be spotless (Exodus 12:5), so the Son of God was shown to be spotless, “a lamb without blemish” (1 Peter 1:19). Just as a sacrifice had to be inspected and judged (Leviticus 1:3), so the Son of God was inspected, questioned, and judged to be innocent. This was done by Pontius Pilate, the highest authority in the land. Pilate proclaimed Jesus to be innocent: “I find no basis for a charge against this man” (John 18:38). Then, after Jesus was flogged, beaten, and humiliated by the Roman soldiers, Pilate again said to the Jews: “I find no basis for a charge against him” (John 19:4). Finally, bringing out the beaten and bloodied Jesus wearing a mockery of a robe and a crown of thorns, Pilate again said, “I find no basis for a charge against him” (John 19:6), but the chief priests stirred up the crowd to shout, “Crucify! Crucify!”
When the Shepherd was struck, beaten, mocked, tortured and crucified by the Romans, we understand what happened to him physically, because being humans ourselves and each having undergone some form of pain or punishment, we have a real or at least imaginary association with some small amount of his pain (Hebrews 12:11). But what is the theology of what took place?
I, Christ made satisfaction for sin. This was not only for original sin, but also for the actual sins of human beings. Everywhere in Scripture this is spoken of in general terms. Nowhere in Scripture is there added any limitation to Christ’s atoning work. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Notice that “sin” is named in the singular so that we should and must understand it universally. Everything that is sin was taken away by the Lamb of God, transferred to him in the exchange of our sin for his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This is also described with universal language: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Also: “He gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness” (Titus 2:14), and “The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
II, Christ made satisfaction for the punishment of our sins. This was the full satisfaction for our temporal and eternal punishment, and it was all laid on Christ on the cross. He took up our guilt and removed it: “At that time, declares the Lord, the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there will be none. The sins of Judah will be sought, but they will not be found, for I will forgive the survivors whom I spare” (Jeremiah 50:20 EHV). The early Christian pastor Tertullian said: “Once the guilt is removed, the punishment is removed” (On Baptism, ch, 5).
III, All punishments for sin are included under the word “curse.” The curse was removed by Christ. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law,” Paul writes, “by becoming a curse for us. As it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13, quoting Deuteronomy 21:23).
• The punishment for sin is the curse of the law, but Christ freed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).
• The punishment for sin is the dominion of Satan, but “Christ has freed us from the power of Satan” (Hebrews 2:14).
• The punishment for sin is God’s wrath, but “Christ has freed us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
• The punishment for sin is death. But “Christ has freed us from death” (Hosea 13:14).
• The punishment for sin is hell and eternal damnation, but Christ has freed us from hell and damnation: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).
This was not an accident, but it was always God’s plan to rescue us from our sins through Christ. “The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). “And what does ‘ransom’ mean?” Chrysostom asks, “God was about to punish them, but he did not do it. They were about to perish, but instead he gave his own Son for them, and sent us as heralds to proclaim the cross.”
“Strike the shepherd,” proclaims God the Father, condemning his Son to death. He did it to rescue us from the burden, the guilt, the curse and the punishment of our sins, by laying all of that on Jesus. This was the gift that brought our justification (Romans 5:16). Jesus’ blood has removed your guilt forever. Jesus’ resurrection means you and I will rise and join him in heaven, for eternal life, freedom, joy, happiness, and bliss.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Zechariah 13:7 Strike the shepherd