Looking, weeping, and living

^{About Zech 12:10
By David Guzik – Enduring Word}
Today, let's talk about looking, weeping, and living. I'm going to read you from Zechariah 12, verse 10, where we read this.

And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication.
Then they will look on me whom they have pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10

Zechariah 12 is all about a great outpouring of the spirit of God upon his ancient people of Israel. He promises to bless, restore, and strengthen them in the last days.
As Zechariah tells us in chapter 12, verse 10, part of this great outpouring of strength and might to defend Jerusalem will be an outpouring of his spirit. But it will be for grace and supplication. God will move among Israel and bring saving grace and repentant prayer.
Then God made a remarkable promise:
Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son.
As Jerusalem will be supernaturally defended and the Spirit will be poured out on the nation, they will turn to Jesus, the pierced one.
His head was pierced with thorns, his hands, and his feet were pierced with nails, and a spear pierced his side.
Look at this wonderful promise, word by word.

First, they will look

They will turn away from their trust in the foolish, worthless shepherd, described earlier in Zechariah chapter 12, and they'll turn their focus on the good shepherd.
When we see Jesus crucified, understanding why he went to the cross and what he accomplished there, then we are drawn to him in humble repentance.

Secondly, they will look on him whom they pierced

They will realize that they did it and that they bear responsibility, certainly not the sole responsibility, but responsibility nonetheless for the crucifixion of their Savior.

Third, they will mourn

The Jewish people will turn to Jesus in repentance, mourning their past rejection of him. The mourning will be deep as if for an only son, in fact, the firstborn.
Firstborn was synonymous with the most beloved, and it expresses the great depth of the mourning that will mark the fulfillment of this prophecy.
This will fulfill the amazing promise of Romans chapter 11, verse 26, where it says, and so Israel will be saved. and many other passages as well that tell us that before the physical return of Jesus to this earth, the Jewish people, as a whole, will welcome him as their Lord and Savior.
The whole context of Zechariah chapter 12 puts this radical conversion in the setting of miraculous deliverance from an attack from the nations.
Let this prophecy also speaks to us today. Look at the order:
They will look.
Then it says, they will mourn.
Here we see the pattern for coming to Jesus and true repentance.
First we look to Jesus and then we mourn for our sins. Looking to Jesus must come first.
This is a great mistake that is commonly made. It is often believed that we must first mourn over our sins and then look by faith to Jesus.
It is common today for evangelists to think that they must make people mourn over their sin first and then only after that point them to Jesus Christ.
Do we not find here in Zechariah chapter 12 a pattern for something different? Our text gives us a pattern of first looking to Jesus and then mourning for our sin. We can tell people to look to Jesus immediately.
An old preacher once said something very beautiful. He said that we are given "two eyes", one to look with and the other to weep with.
We should do both.
Look to Jesus and weep over our own sin.
All in all, Zechariah chapter 12 gives us a beautiful picture. The Father sending the Spirit so that men would look upon the Son.
Look today and live!

You can listen the audio sermon here
For more information about David Guzik's ministry, visit EnduringWord.com