Zechariah prophesied many details of the coming Messiah. In Zechariah 13:1, he spoke of the era when the Messiah would come, saying, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” The Messiah quoted from Zechariah 13 when He approached the final, culminating hours of His earthly life. In Mark 14:27, Jesus quotes from Zechariah 13:7, in His last meeting with His disciples before the crucifixion, to indicate that very soon, in fulfillment of prophecy, the shepherd would be smitten, and sheep scattered. What to the disciples seemed as the most unimaginable, ungodly deed, utterly against the will of God, was in reality a divine appointment for the cleansing of mankind (Acts 2:23). Thus the Father speaks in personification to the sword, an instrument of death, to awake against His shepherd, “the man that is my fellow,” indicating the human and divine natures that Christ possessed while here on earth (Zechariah 13:7).
God became a man in order to die for us (Philippians 2:5-10). He was named “JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). His forerunner identified Him as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He Himself declared that He came for those who were sin sick (Mark 2:17). When the murder of God’s innocent lamb was finished, the soldier took a spear and opened up the cleansing fountain of blood and water (John 19:34). From that time forgiveness of sins has been preached (Luke 24:47). Jesus loves us and washes us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5). Jesus commissioned water baptism as the means by which men can be washed in His blood and be saved (Mark 16:16). In baptism, sins are remitted (Acts 2:38), blotted out (Acts 3:19), and washed away (Acts 22:16). The marvelous characteristic of the new covenant is that Jesus’ blood has been shed so that sins can be remitted (Matthew 26:28) and remembered no more (Hebrews 8:12).
How could the murder of His only begotten Son be part of God’s plan? It is because He loves us and desires to show mercy to us through His Son (1 John 4:9). For this reason, “it pleased the Lord to bruise him” (Isaiah 53:10). With such a wonderful spiritual blessing before us, we can join in with Micah and say, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19).
All praise to God for opening up a cleansing fountain through His Son’s blood. Will you be washed in it?
There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
and sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains.
-Mark Day
Leave a Reply