Ash Wednesday 2026
Theme: Wounded Hands
Text: Zechariah 13:1-6
Text: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zechariah 13:6).
Greetings: The Lord is good and His love endures forever!
Introduction:
The author Zechariah had a message to the postexilic (6th century BCE) Judean leaders and Israel. His contemporary was prophet Haggai. The book of Zechariah is generally accepted to possess a significant shift in style and in content between chapters 1-8 and chapters 9-14. Zechariah was a holy man of God who was given the burden of sharing significant information about Christ's first and second advents.
There are wounds you cannot hide. A wound on the back can be hidden with clothes. A wound on the foot might be hidden in shoes, but how do you hide a wound on your face? And how do you hide a wound on your palms? How long you can place your hand on your pockets, you have to work and have to eat. People shall ask: “What are these wounds in your hands?”
The answer is threefold: Wounded by Friends, wounded for friends, and wounded with friends.
1. Wounded by Friends
“And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zechariah 13:6).
This is a reference to Jesus. Most expositors say this question is addressed to the "false prophet" on the assumption that his wounds were somehow caused by mutilation in his occult rituals. With great sadness, Christ replies that these everlasting wounds had been inflicted at the urging of those who should have been His friends, the leaders of the nation He had come to redeem.
The key for the understanding of this section is that from verses 1-6 the prophecy deals with cleansing sin. Zechariah 13:1-2 possesses a message of salvation. The message is a declaration of Yahweh that He will cleanse the house of David via a fountain. The piercing of an individual and the repentance of the entire population of Judah. Zechariah 12:11-14 seems to indicate that the repentance of Judah is brought about through the recognition that their sins have pierced Yahweh. Furthermore, the cleansing and grace bestowed on Judah are connected by the act of repentance (Zechariah 12:10 and 13:1).
The house of friends should be a place of refuge, but when it becomes a place of beating, place of threat, and a place of slaughter house. How many women in the society are wounded in their homes, places of work, among the known and unknown circles? Many festive seasons, holiday occasions, family ceremonial days had become a place of wounds. We may be wounded everywhere, not by outsiders but by unsuspecting friends in unsuspecting manners in very unsuspecting places, which makes those injuries more bitter.
The word FRIENDS means “LOVERS”, and refers to unfaithfulness of God’s people who worshipped idols, false gods. They are regarded as lovers (Ezekiel 16.33; Hosea 2.5, 7, 10). A few scholars think the word friends means ‘family members’ (Zechariah 13:3).
“I was wounded in the house of my friends,” says Tamar. She was a pretty princess who trusted her brother Amnon but she was sexually abused by her brother (2 Samuel 13:1-20). How does a girl, a virgin, tell such a story? Is a groomed brother’s room the place where a good girl expects to be raped?
Don’t be mad at every friend who has wounded you. Sometimes it is the path to greater honor that you might otherwise have never found. Joseph was hated, betrayed, and sold off into slavery by his very older brothers who should have protected him. “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). His feet were “hurt with fetters” and he was “laid in iron” (Psalm 105:18). "They pierced My Hands and My Feet" Psalm 22:16.John 7:5 "His own".
Understanding Zechariah 13:6 in a Messianic perspective may give the reader a clearer picture of the role of the Messiah in salvation history not only as a monarch but also as a sufferer.
2. Wounded for Friends
The "wounded hands" primarily refer to the crucifixion scars of Jesus Christ. It symbolizes his ultimate sacrifice. We read in Isaiah 53:4-5 and in Zechariah 13:6 about ‘his wounds and the healing power of the Hand of God’ (1 Peter 2:24). The physical marks of Jesus Christ are recorded in John 20:25-27 and God's power to heal brokenness (Psalm 147:3). Some injuries have a good purpose, painful though they have been. Jesus resurrected from the tomb with injuries still in His hands. Thomas swore, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).
The word ???? rendered ‘wounds’, or strokes, or marks. The word wounds is somewhat ambiguous, as it may refer either to fresh wounds or to healed ones. It signifies some particular marks or characters, imprinted on the body of the person who spoke God’s word. Nails were driven into His hands and feet, and a sword was thrust into His heart. They did not understand that He was wounded for their transgressions and bruised for their iniquity, as well as ours.
Luke 10:34 describes by pouring on oil and wine the wounds are treated with love and compassion. Deuteronomy 32:39 declares that "I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand”. The suffering of Jesus brings comfort into our emotional or physical pain, suggesting that his wounds bring healing and restoration to believers.
Matthew 9:35 ESV “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.” (Matthew 4:23, Luke 4:40).
Saul proudly paraded such wounds. Of them, he said, “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians 6:17). Those were marks of which he could boast; marks from the several bruises received from those to whom he had carried the word of love; injuries inflicted by people for whom he risked his comfort and his life; injuries by which no man was thenceforth going to “trouble” him; injuries that put him beyond certain troubles; injuries that spoke for God; injuries that, for him, were proudly “the marks of the Lord Jesus.” (Read: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12).
3. Wounded with Friends
Wherever the persecution takes place, then and there the Lord walks with them, bears the pain with them and cries with them and sighs with them. Exodus 3, Acts 9 are the best examples.
Romans 8:37-39 who can separate us? The very personal experience of God is vividly explained through the theophany to Moses, Saul and Nebuchadnezzar.
God was with Joseph in the Prison (Genesis 39:2, 20-21), God was with David in the caves “THE Lord was with David” (1 Samuel 18:12, 14, 28). The Lord was with the Christians when they were persecuted. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the blazing furnace. But Look! There are four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods (Daniel 3:17, 25).
The Lord said to Moses that I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and he was concerned about their suffering. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have has seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. I have watched over them and have seen what has been done to them in Egypt (Exodus 3:7, 9, 16).
Romans 8:35-39: If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? (Romans 8:35). No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39).
Hebrews 11:35-39: There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith (Hebrews 11:35-39).
Conclusion:
Revelation 21:3-4: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
2 Corinthians 12:9: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Amen.
