Sunday, November 16, 2025

On the way to Gethsemane, Jesus also identified himself as “the shepherd”of Zechariah 13:7, saying, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered ’” (Matt. 26:31). Jesus had told his disciples earlier, “You will be scattered.  .  . and will leave me alone” (John 16:32), which found fulfillment during his arrest when “all the disciples left him and fled” (Matt. 26:56). Zechariah 11–13 broadly portrays this “shepherd” as being rejected (chap. 11), pierced (chap. 12), and struck (chap. 13) before the final vindication of the day of the Lord (chap. 14). So John quotes Zechariah 12:10 concerning the crucifixion:“These things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: . . . ‘They will look on him whom they have pierced’” (John 19:36–37). As with Isaiah 53, Zechariah 11–13 also leads up to a prophecy of eschatological glory in chapter14. Therefore Zechariah 12:10 is rightly quoted in light of the return of Jesus: “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen” (Rev. 1:7, csb). - John P. Harrigan, The Gospel of Christ Crucified, p.195

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