Tuesday, April 25, 2017

MOURNING THE MESSIAH



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“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. On that day, the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”

Zechariah 12:12-14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Remember the calls that rang out from the Jews as Jesus was presented before them by Pontius Pilate for a verdict. Here’s a reminder:

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”  Matthew 27:22-23

The people wanted the Messiah executed and while He was at the cross, we know this took place:

Two rebels were crucified with Him, one on His right and one on His left. Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

In the same way, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  Matthew 27:38-43

Not exactly words that reflect compassion, are they?

Indeed, Jesus died isolated and shunned by the very people He had loved and taught and healed, the very people He was dying to save. The prophets had foretold what Jesus would bring for Israel but the people refused to believe those predictions and instead took matters into their own hands, seeing to it that God’s only Son would be falsely accused and executed although He was innocent. Perhaps there has been no greater act of injustice that has ever happened in the history of creation.

Given all this background, you wouldn’t expect to find the foretelling found in the final verses of Zechariah 12, a foretelling that show a complete turnaround in the heart attitudes of the Israelite people from what they displayed on Jesus’ final day of human life. Look again at these words here:

“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. On that day, the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”  Zechariah 12:12-14

Note here that a time was coming when the Israelites would look on Jesus, the promised Messiah they demanded to be killed, and feel remorse over what had happened. They would mourn the One who was pierced, a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion on Calvary’s cross, and “grieve bitterly for Him” as someone would grieve over their firstborn son (and remember Jesus was God’s one and only Son). This change of heart would be born out of God pouring out a “spirit of grace” on His people, a spirit who would allow them to see Jesus in a different light, a spirit that would open up their eyes to the way they mistreated their Messiah.

Today, perhaps we should also mourn the loss of our Savior more than we do, which is typically reserved for Good Friday every year. After all, it was our sins that put Jesus in the place of crucifixion in the first place as He served as the final sacrifice needed for atonement, the Lamb of God who would be slain to take away the sins of the world. His suffering should have been ours but it wasn’t because we serve a God of amazing grace and mercy and love who did not wish for His people to perish or suffer and so He offered up His only Son instead.

Yes, Jesus saved us and for those who place their hope and trust in Him, they will have eternal life. That’s the good news of the Gospel.

But as we revel and rejoice in this good news, let’s never forget that it only came after a great cost.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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