Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
God will pour the spirit of grace and of supplications upon His people, awakening them from moral deadness and leading them into earnest, tearful, continuing prayer. The one pierced is Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father, who bore the penalty of transgression on the cross and was pierced in His side after His death. To look upon Him is to face that our own sins wounded Him, and to mourn for Him in bitter, humble, repentant sorrow as for an only son and as for a firstborn. Those who rejected and pierced Him will also behold Him in glory at His coming and at the final judgment, acknowledging His kingship with anguish when pardon can no longer be received. Looked upon now in faith, the pierced Christ breaks hard hearts, brings sorrow for sin with love and gratitude, turns sinners from pride and sin, and changes them into His likeness.
Spirit of Grace Poured
God will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplication. That outpouring is promised to awaken his people from moral deadness and to quicken them with power from above. Those who receive it are brought to look upon the one they have pierced and to mourn for him with the deep grief felt for an only son.
The spirit of supplication thus given is earnest, living and continuing prayer. It expresses itself in prayer accompanied by tears and deep feeling. God's people need the Spirit poured out upon them to lead them into such prayer. In that prayer is found the Lord's blessing.
The Pierced Christ
The one pierced is Christ, the only Son of the Father and the only-begotten Son, who on the cross bore the penalty of transgression in the sinner's place and died to give the transgressor life. Every sinner may look to the Redeemer and live, and looking to Him is meant to awaken contrition, tenderness, gratitude, and love in response to God's great gift.
He was pierced by human sin, so to look upon Him crucified is to face the suffering that our sins caused Him. That sight reveals the depth of the love and salvation offered through His suffering and calls for sorrow over sin and wholehearted devotion to Him who gave His life to save. It should awaken a sense of His love and lead to yielding the heart to Him rather than resisting or treating His love lightly. His humiliation also teaches that entering life involves conflict and self-abasement, calling His followers to accept humility, sorrow, and tribulation and to share His humility, sorrow, and tribulation rather than seek an easier way into His kingdom.
The prophecy was fulfilled when a soldier pierced Jesus' side after His death on the cross, identifying Jesus as the one to be looked upon. John's eyewitness account confirms the piercing, and those who look upon the pierced one are thereby directed to the crucified Christ. The marks of the nails in His hands and feet and of the spear in His side remain as lasting signs of the price of human redemption. Those who see Him recognize Him by those wounds, which testify to His suffering and are also His glory.
Those who pierced and rejected Him will later see Him in heavenly glory and majesty, acknowledge His kingship, and mourn with deep anguish over their part in His death. The men who pierced Him will be raised at the close of the thousand years, see Him descending in glory with angels and saints, recognize the wounds in His hands, feet, and side as those of the one they crucified, and wail because of Him. Overcome with anguish at His majesty, their mourning is like the bitter grief for an only son and firstborn. His pierced hands show He gave Himself at infinite cost to save sinners, proving His power to rescue the lost so that every wanderer who submits to be ransomed can be saved.
Bitter Mourning Foretold
Those who look upon him will mourn for him with deep, repentant sorrow and humility, in bitterness as for an only son and as for a firstborn. The Jews who rejected him at his first coming will look upon the one they pierced at his final triumph when he comes in glory and grieve bitterly. Jerusalem's temporal ruin foreshadows the final destruction of those guilty of his death.
His murderers and those who pierced and rejected him will behold him in heavenly glory and majesty and mourn with deep anguish over their part in his death. Those who mocked him as King will behold him reigning in majesty and acknowledge his kingship. The marks of the nails in his hands and of the spear in his side will remain as lasting signs of the price of human redemption, and those who pierced him will look upon him and recognize him as the one they crucified. At the resurrection of the wicked they see the marks of his crucifixion and are overcome with anguish at his majesty.
When he returns in the clouds, those who pierced and rejected him will see and recognize him, and sentence will be passed on those who did not receive him. At the close of the thousand years the wicked dead are raised and see Jesus descending in glory with angels and saints, and wail because of him when they recognize him as the one they crucified. The men who pierced him will see the nail wounds and the spear wounds in his hands, feet, and side, and their mourning is like the bitter grief foretold. The wounds that testify to his suffering are also his glory.
Unrepentant sinners will look upon Christ whom they pierced too late to receive pardon and mourn hopelessly because they refused him as Redeemer, showing that repentance and pardon are available only for a limited time. Those who speak against God's law and make void the law Christ came to magnify and make honorable will ultimately face Christ whom their opposition has pierced. Their grief will be shared with those who crucified him when they see him in his glory and mourn because they pierced him. In the judgment, when the books are opened and people are judged by their recorded works, they will see the result of their actions and be seized with terror. He died to save sinners while preserving the honor and majesty of God's law.
Fulfilment in Advent History
The promised outpouring was fulfilled in the seventh-month movement, when the spirit of grace and supplication was poured upon God's people to lead them to look to the One they had pierced and to mourn and humble themselves before Him. In the 1844 movement that same spirit produced deep heart-searching, confession of sin, repentance, and penitent, broken-hearted prayer for pardon and acceptance. Believers searched their hearts, humbled themselves, afflicted their souls, turned away from worldly attachments and from the world itself, and made preparation to meet the Lord. Families were moved to mourn apart, each household separately, in humility and earnest supplication.
That mourning and prayer also points to a future special time at Jacob's trouble, when God will pour the spirit of grace and supplication upon His people to move them to cry earnestly for deliverance. This will come in the final conflict under a decree threatening the saints with death, and it cannot be brought about at will by believers beginning a campaign of prayer.
Repentance and New Life
The Holy Spirit leads those who look on the pierced one to see that their own sins wounded Jesus and to mourn for the anguish they caused Him. That sorrow is genuine repentance that renounces sin, not mere grief over sin's unpleasant consequences. The Spirit reveals the heart's ingratitude, brings contrition at the cross, and does not leave the mourner in melancholy or pretended humility.
When sinners understand the cost of His sacrifice, looking on Christ pierced by sin brings sorrow for the sin that caused His suffering, with humility, love, gratitude, repentance, contrition and tenderness. At Calvary the only-begotten Son suffers the penalty of transgression in the sinner's place and gives the transgressor life, and every sinner may look to Christ and live. This faith works through love to purify the soul and puts away sin rather than seeking permission to continue in it.
As people keep looking to Christ pierced by their sins and burdened with their sorrows, they gain strength to become like Him. Beholding Him leads to penitence and humble trust, humbling the beholder and turning him from pride and sin. By beholding they are changed into His likeness, claim no righteousness of their own, and depend on His merits.
Looking on Jesus whom sin has pierced reveals the meaning of His sacrifice, for He suffered and died in humanity's place bearing the bitter cup caused by sin. The sight calls for sorrow and contrition and willingness to share His humiliation. From Him who bore that cup come blessing, lifting up, reconciliation with God, the water of life freely given, and gratitude, praise and submission to His will.
The sight of His suffering and sacrifice for redemption should awaken a sense of His love and gratitude for salvation from ruin, break hard and proud hearts, and lead to yielding the heart to Him rather than resisting or treating His love lightly. The cross reveals His humiliation and love in giving Himself to save fallen humanity, teaching that entering life involves conflict and self-abasement rather than seeking ease. Those who contemplate it are moved to share His humility, sorrow, tribulation and self-denial, becoming humble, self-denying and free from hatred and revenge.
His sacrifice, humility and compassion reveal God's love for the whole human race and put human pride and social distinctions to shame. At the cross rich and poor, learned and ignorant meet as equally redeemed souls dependent on Christ, and those sanctified through truth are brought into unity. The promise belongs to drawing sinners to the cross now, where earnest appeals filled with Christ's sympathy and love can soften hearts long hardened against God.