Zechariah 12:10 reads
“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.”
This prediction, that Israel will see someone
whom they “pierced,” is amazing because it is
God Himself speaking
the Lord is the One who is “pierced.”
This appears to fit later descriptions
of
Jesus Christ’s suffering.
Indeed, the New Testament
specifies that this prophecy is
truly
Messianic
This verse indicates a future time when the Jewish people
will plead for the mercy of God.
This will happen when they see “the one they have pierced.”
Zechariah’s verse is mentioned in
John 19:36-37 when Jesus, hanging on the cross, was
pierced with a spear:
“These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: . . . ‘
They will look on the one they have pierced.’”
Revelation 1:7 adds,
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him;
and all the “peoples of the earth” will mourn because of him”
—definitely an allusion to Zechariah 12:10.
Isaiah 53:5 also predicts that
the Messiah would be pierced:
“But he was
pierced
for our transgressions.”
In addition to the idea of a “pierced” God is the
concept of the “only child.”
Zechariah’s mention of
a “firstborn son” bears an
unmistakable connection to
Jesus as God’s Son
The Hebrew word bekor was translated in the Septuagint
as prototokos, the same
term used for Jesus in Colossians 1:15:
“He is the
image of the invisible God,
the firstborn [prototokos]
of all creation.”
And, of course, there is John 3:16, which includes a reference to
Jesus as God’s
“one and only Son.”
Jesus has been “pierced,” but there will still be a future time
when all of Jerusalem will see Him and
mourn their ill treatment of Him.
At that time, they will cry out to God for mercy, and
He will answer them by saving them from their enemies:
“On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem. . . .
I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem”
(Zechariah 12:8-9).
These events will occur
at the
end of the tribulation period at
Christ’s second coming.
In summary, Zechariah 12:10
predicts the piercing of the Son of God,
the Messiah,
fulfilled at the first coming of Jesus Christ
when He died
on the cross and was
pierced by a spear in His side
(John 19:36–37).
The complete fulfillment of this verse
awaits the last days
when the Jewish people
will plead for mercy from
the
One they have pierced.