The Wounded Hands

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.