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Zechariah, Prophet of God's remembrance, part 38

After speaking about the prophets who will be removed from their office on account of their heart idolatry, Zechariah 13:6 then returns to his focus on the house of David (verse 1), saying,

⁶ And one will say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?” Then he will say, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”

This is a messianic prophecy and can be seen as a continuation of Zechariah 12:10, “they will look on Me whom they have pierced.” Zechariah 13:6 now speaks of a divine inquiry and explanation for their actions. So it is appropriate that we too continue the investigation in light of the New Testament fulfillment. The verse is not directly quoted in the New Testament, but is referenced in various ways and explained by actual events in Christ’s crucifixion.

The verse seems to apply to Thomas, the doubter, who needed to see the actual evidence that Jesus was raised from the dead. John 20:24, 25 says,

²⁴ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus [The Twin], was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

The other main feature of this prophecy is that He was wounded, or pierced, in the house of His friends.

Who Crucified Jesus?

While it is true that every sin of every sinner made it necessary for Jesus to pay the price by His death, Scripture does not attribute His crucifixion to foreigners (such as the Romans).

John 1:11 says,

¹¹ He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

Peter’s Pentecostal sermon in Acts 2:23 says,

²³ This man [Jesus], delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

In other words, Christ was pierced and wounded in the house of His friends, those who were of His own nation. In Peter’s second recorded sermon, we read in Acts 3:13-15,

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the One whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. ¹⁴ But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ but put to death the Prince of Life, the One whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

Still later, Stephen, the first Christian martyr, said in his defense in Acts 7:52, 53,

⁵² Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; ⁵³ you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.

Paul later wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:14, 15,

¹⁴ For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, ¹⁵ who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men.

Jesus’ parable in Matthew 21:33-45 shows that Jesus knew who would ultimately kill Him. After saying that they had killed and abused God’s servants, the prophets, he says in verse 37-39,

³⁷ But afterward he [God] sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.” ³⁹ They took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Matthew 21:45 concludes,

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

The Law of Sacrifice

Jesus was the ultimate Sacrifice for sin. John the Baptist called Him “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Hence, Jesus fulfilled the prophecies in the law. As the Sacrifice for sin, He had to be killed by the priests, whose job this was (Leviticus 5:6). If Jesus had been sacrificed by Romans, then the law would have been broken, and the validity of Christ’s sacrifice would be in doubt.

John 19:15-18 makes this clear,

¹⁵ So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ¹⁶ So he [Pilate] handed Him over to them [the chief priests] to be crucified. ¹⁷ They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Him…

No doubt there were Romans soldiers present, but Pilate did not command them to make the offering for the sin of the world. This was predestined in the foreknowledge of God, in order that the law might be fulfilled perfectly. Those who try to put the blame on the Romans are not only guilty of false accusation, but they also undermine the validity of Christ’s sacrifice.

Pilate absolved himself by following the procedure in God’s law. Matthew 27:24, 25 says,

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”

Apparently, Pilate knew enough about biblical law to appeal to it properly. In cases of murder, where the elders of a town were responsible for justice, they were instructed to wash their hands and seek absolution from this crime. Deuteronomy 21:6-8 says,

⁶ All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; ⁷ and they shall answer and say, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. ⁸ Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.” And the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them.

I have heard many sermons in my childhood criticizing Pilate for washing his hands. Every preacher refused to absolve Pilate, even though God’s law says “the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them.”

Many years later, on Paul’s fourth missionary journey to Spain and Britain, he returned by the land route, traveling through Helvetia (now Switzerland). Paul stopped at a mountain that is today called Mount Pilatus, where Pilate had committed suicide after being exiled. The account is given in the Sonnini Manuscript, an ancient copy of the book of Acts that includes a final chapter. The account reads:

18 And after much preaching and toil, Paul and his fellow laborers passed into Helvetia [now Switzerland] and came unto Mount Pontius Pilate, where he who condemned the Lord Jesus dashed himself down headlong and so miserably perished.

19 And immediately a torrent gushed out of the mountain and washed his body, broken in pieces, into a lake.

20 And Paul stretched forth his hands upon the water and prayed unto the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, give a sign unto all nations that here Pontius Pilate, which condemned thine only begotten Son, plunged headlong into the pit.”

21 And while Paul was yet speaking, behold, there came a great earthquake, and the face of the waters was changed, and the form of the lake like unto the Son of Man hanging in an agony upon the cross.

22 And a voice came out of heaven, saying, “Even Pilate hath escaped the wrath to come, for he washed his hands before the multitude at the blood shedding of the Lord Jesus.”

23 When, therefore, Paul and those that were with him saw the earthquake and heard the voice of the angel, they glorified God and were mightily strengthened in spirit.

https://godskingdom.org/blog/2007/06/acts-29-from-the-sonnini-manuscript/

Pilate was indeed absolved, and, by extension, Rome itself.

Judas’ Betrayal

There are two main “wounds” in Zechariah’s prophecy and in its fulfillment. The first, as I have shown, is the crucifixion itself at the hands of the chief priests. The second is the pain of betrayal. Both were done in the house of friends, though on different levels. He was killed (sacrificed) by His own nation, and He was betrayed by His own disciple, Judas Iscariot (Ish-Kerioth, “man from Keriath-arba,” the old name for Hebron. See Joshua 14:15.).

Hebron means “association,” and is from the root word Habar, “to unite, join, ally, be in fellowship with.” In other words, it is an association of friends. Hence, when Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, he called Judas “friend” (Matthew 26:49, 50).