THE WOUNDED HANDS
Zech. 13:6
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Four ladies from their church’s WM group were driving home one Sunday afternoon when they are involved in a terrible car crash. Unfortunately, none of them survived. When they arrive at the Pearly Gates, Peter told them there was a temporary shortage of space and they’d have to spend a few days in hell until their mansions were ready.
2. After two days, the phone rang in heaven. Peter answered it and the devil said, “You know those four ladies you sent down here? You’ve got to come get them. They’ve been having so many fund raisers and cake sales and raised so much money they’ve already installed fire alarms, water sprinklers and their about to put in an air conditioner system!
B. TEXT
‘And one shall say unto him, “What are these wounds in your hands?” Then he shall answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”’ Zech. 13:6 KJV
C. THE CONTEXT
13:1 “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
2-5 Idolatry and false prophets removed from the land.
“It shall be in that day,” says the LORD of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. 3 It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies.
4 “And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive. 5 But he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’ NKJV
6 ‘And one shall say unto him, “What are these wounds in your hands?” Then he shall answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”’ Zech. 13:6 KJV
I. JESUS OR A FALSE PROPHET?
A ARGUMENTS AGAINST THIS BEING CHRIST
Some interpreters have tried to claim that Zechariah 13:6 is not about the Messiah at all, but about false prophets, since verses 1-5 speak about them. Charles Voss, evidently a Jew, writes on his internet site, “Ask almost any 'Christian' to read Zechariah 13:6 aloud and ask, "Who is this Scripture referring to?" They will look at you in shock and amazement and say, "Why this is obviously referring to 'Jesus Christ,' whose hands were pierced during his crucifixion!" This verse from Zechariah is one of the most often misquoted texts used by 'Christian's to uphold their claim that 'Jesus' is the Messiah. Unfortunately for them, it is also one of the easiest to prove false.
B. REASONS THAT IT IS SPEAKING OF CHRIST
1. THE NEXT VERSE SPEAKS OF CHRIST. However, in Matthew 26:31 and Mark 14:27, Jesus himself quotes Zechariah 13:7 – THE VERY NEXT VERSE – as speaking about Himself! It says, “Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: " 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' There can be little doubt that if verse seven refers to Christ then verse six may also refer to Him.
2. THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER SPEAKS OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION PERIOD. If we back up to Chapter 12, we find that it speaks of the final days of the Great Tribulation period; of the final assault on Jerusalem and God’s rescuing of the city. Zech. 12:2, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” The Lord says in 12:7 that He will save Jerusalem.
3. Zech. 12:9-12 SPEAKS OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST! “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 “And I will pour 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 pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: ….all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
The fact Zechariah 13:6 being only a few verses after 12:10, one of the rare mentioning this of the Messiah being pierced, gives extra force to the probability or certainty that 13:6 is referring to Christ.
4. OTHER VERSES ABOUT THE MESSIAH’S WOUNDING
a. David spoke of it in Psalm 22, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet”(16)
b. Daniel also foresaw it, “After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One [Heb. ‘Messiah’] will be cut off…”(9:26).
c. Isaiah beheld it, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed”(53:5).
II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WOUNDS
A. VERY OLD SCARS
1. Zechariah chapter 13 is a prophecy of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that when Jesus Christ comes again those who're still left are going to say to him with amazement and astonishment; they're going to ask the risen, returning savior, “What are those wounds in your hands?” The nail prints will still be there. After two thousand years the nail prints are still there! And he will answer, "That's where I was wounded in the house of my friends.”
2. Did you know ladies and gentlemen that in the resurrected, glorified body of the Lord Jesus Christ that the scars of his crucifixion still remain? Remember there in John the twentieth chapter after Jesus Christ had come out of the grave, doubting Thomas said, "I don't believe he's been raised from the dead.” Later Jesus again appeared and Thomas was there and Jesus said to Thomas, “Take your finger and put it in the nail print. Put your hand there in the wound in my side. And don't be faithless, but believing.” And when Thomas saw those scars in the glorified body of Jesus he fell to his knees and said, my Lord and my God.
3. The scars of Jesus are on that glorified body in heaven. And when He comes again, He will bring those scars with Him. The only man-made things in heaven are the scars of Jesus. And they are there for all eternity. And through the endless ages He will bear those scars. Even in a glorified, incredibly beautiful body, He will still bear the scars. When He comes again, He will bring those scars with Him.
B. WHY DOES HE STILL HAVE THE SCARS?
1. If we had unsightly scars on our bodies and we had the power to make them vanish, wouldn’t we? Yes! Then why doesn’t Jesus? Certainly for several reasons; 1. They are marks which help us to identify Him, 2. They are marks which, for all time, will remind us of His great love and sacrifice for us on the cross, 3. But most of all, scars are more than skin deep.
2. There would be no purpose in removing the scars from his flesh, because the scars will forever be in his heart and soul. A Vietnam veteran who lived in the Hanoi Hilton could never forget the suffering and humiliation he experienced in that place even if his outward scars were removed. The Son of God will never be again what He was before His incarnation and suffering; He will always bear the marks of the cross on his mind and soul. What a great thing He did for us!
III. THE ANSWER TO THEIR QUESTION
A. ASTONISHMENT GIVES WAY TO CURIOSITY
When Jesus comes back in blazing glory, causing the universe to roll up as a scroll before him and destroying all the wicked with the light of his coming and by the Word of God coming forth from his mouth, He will rescue his people from the Antichrist. They will be in wonderment, astonishment of Him. After so many thousands of years, their Messiah actually did come! But to their further astonishment, they will notice wounds on his hands and when they finally get the boldness to speak they will ask, “What are these wounds in your hands?”
B. GUILT OF THE JEWS
1. We know where he got them; He received them as a false prophet, for the chief priests called him a deceiver, and that was one of the reasons he was crucified. He received them in the house of his friends – the Jews – who should have been his friends, for “He came to His own, but His own received him not.” The bitter truth that he shall not be in a hurry to tell them, was that their own people betrayed and murdered Him. They will already know it, for in 12:10 they wept when they first saw Him and His wounds, but still, they will want to hear it for themselves.
2. But Jesus is of such a beautiful spirit that He will want to soften the blow and to let them know that he still considers the Jewish people His friends, so he says, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”’ Zech. 13:6.
C. OUR HOUSE TOO
Now, lest we began to feel superior because it was not our family that betrayed the Lord, remember this fact: “He was wounded for OUR transgressions.” The really wonderful thing is that Jesus, after being murdered by us and our sins, is of such a forgiving nature and so puts it out of his mind, that he calls us “His Friends.” It wasn’t just the Jewish people’s house He was wounded at, but our house too.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION:A WOUNDED MESSIAH
A lady said to a Jewish boy in Cairo, “Are you expecting your Messiah soon?”
“Yes,” he replied, “we believe He will come within six years.”
“Will He have wounds in His hands?” she asked, and, as he looked at her inquiringly, she continued, “Your prophet Zechariah said of Messiah that when He comes, they shall say to Him, “What are these wounds in Your hands?” Then He shall answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zechariah 13:6). Are you expecting to see your Messiah with wounds in His hands?”
The boy left, but appeared the following morning looking greatly distressed. He said: “I could not sleep last night. All night I was asking myself, “If He has wounds in His hands, how did he get them?” I have come to ask you if you can tell me more.”
Imagine her joy to tell one who was so eager to hear the wondrous story of the Cross, where He was wounded for our transgressions.
The boy received Jesus the Crucified One as his Messiah and Savior and has been the means of bringing three others to Christ.[Knights 3000, p. 225]
B. ALTAR CALL & COMMUNION
