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Friday - Looking on the one they have pierced

There is a curious statement at the end of John’s account of the Crucifixion of Jesus. Having told us of the tremendous events of that day he finishes off with this detail:

John 19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately.

This action is explained, as we have come to expect, by citations from the Old Testament. Jesus’ legs not being broken fulfils the words of Ps. 34:20 (and also alludes once again, to Jesus’ identity as the Passover Lamb - see Exo. 12:46).

However, there is then another citation, less commonly known:

John 19:37 And again another scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.“

Now, it is fair to say that the events of the Crucifixion fulfill this text from Zech. 12:10 - those that executed Jesus and pierced His side must have looked on Him, but this is hardly a substantial claim! No, there is more going on here than the simple prediction of one person looking at another.

The story of the first half of John’s gospel is one of a double rejection. It is the rejection of Jesus by the Jews and of the Jews by Jesus. This is signalled for us right at the start:

John 1:11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him.

From that point we see, apart from a limited number of exceptions, a repeated theme of rejection. We also learn why this is. So, for example, in chapter 6 the crowds following Jesus off the mountain (where He has fed thousands of them in a replay of the feeding of the nation of Israel in the wilderness) slowly turn away from Him. Jesus tells them why they are doing this:

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him

As shocking as it sounds, Jesus is clear - the Father is not drawing these people. He is, instead, pushing them away! It is quite extraordinary but Jesus is clear on this. John’s most transparent statement comes at the climax of this rejection - in chapter 12.

John 12:37 Although Jesus had performed so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, ³⁸ so that the word of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?“ ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said, ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn to me, and I would heal them.“

God is actively blinding eyes and hardening hearts. It is a difficult thing to understand but there it is. God has a new Israel in mind, one made up of Jews and Gentiles. It is no surprise that the height of this rejection comes at the same time as the arrival of Gentiles to see Jesus. So, earlier in chapter 12 we read:

John 12:20 Now some Greeks were among those who had gone up to worship at the feast. ²¹ So these approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.“

Immediately Jesus launches into the next stage of His work:

John 12:23 Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

The arrival of Gentiles who want to see Jesus signals that the hour has come. Now Jesus will go to the Cross. He can go there, since the Gentiles have arrived. Indeed:

John 12:32 ... I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.“

The “all” here is clearly indicating that the people that Jesus draws will be both Jews and Gentiles. It cannot be exhaustively every person on earth since the chapter (as we have already seen) concludes with a clear statement that God is deliberately blinding some. No, rather, we see once again that Jesus is drawing to Himself a new Israel, a new people of God, of both Jewish and Gentile descent. As he told us previously:

John 10:16 I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Time and time again we see in the gospel language that, in the Old Testament, referred to ethnic Israel, now being applied to the new multi-ethnic Israel of God.

Which brings us back to the Crucifixion for it is there, as we saw in 12:32, that Jesus will drawn this multi-ethnic Israel to Himself.

John finishes his account of the Crucifixion with a citation from Zech. 12:10.

Zechariah 12 speaks prophetically of the destruction of Jerusalem’s enemies. God Himself saves His people by destroying those that oppose them. It will be a great day for His chosen people. 12:10 contains an exceptional promise:

Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the kingship of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.

First we should note, in passing, that this is yet another scriptural proof of the divinity of Jesus. The one pierced in John 19 is Jesus, yet here in Zech. 12 it is “me” i.e. God. But there is far more for us. This same God will, in this day of victory for Israel, pour out a spirit of grace and supplication upon the Kingship of David so that they will mourn the one that they have pierced. This is somewhat confusing for us for the Crucifixion of Jesus is not a moment of mourning for Israel; on the contrary it is the moment of Israel’s great rejection of their King - they are certainly not mourning Him. So what is John doing citing Zech. 12:10? Where are these Israelites on whom the spirit of grace and supplication has been poured out? Well, John goes on to show us:

John 19:38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he went and took the body away. ³⁹ Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus at night, accompanied Joseph, carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about seventy-five pounds.

Here are 2 members of the High Council, 2 from the body that executed Jesus. But they do not have murder on their minds. Rather, they are in mourning. As they reverently take the Lord’s body down from the tree John is showing us the great victory that God has won over Jerusalem’s enemies for here stand 2 men on whom the spirit of grace and supplication has been poured out. Here stand 2 men who God has truly rescued from their greatest enemy - sin itself. They now mourn the one that they have pierced.

As we enter the dark Saturday of Easter Eve we are encouraged by John to be quietly confident for he is eager to show us that even at the Cross itself, Jesus has begun to draw all men to Himself. We are privileged to see the first glints of light that will come bursting through the tomb’s entrance on Sunday morning - and that before the stone even been put in place.

Posted by on 03/20 at 10:01 PM

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