Zechariah 13:7-9
St. Paul’s – Manistee, MI
July 10, 2022
Text:
Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.
This third I will put into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’
The Lord is our God
1) he struck the Good Shepherd for us
2) he refines us in the fire
It sometimes happens when little kids get together that they start trying to figure out whose dad is the best at something. One child might say that his dad can lift this heavy object, while another child interjects to say that her dad can lift an even heavier object, until another child says that his dad can lift an even heavier object. And so they go, each child adding more to the conversation to say that their dad is the strongest. Really, what they’re doing is bragging about their dad.
As we consider everything that God has done for us in our lives, we, too, are moved to brag about him. We are moved to declare to all people that the Lord is our God. As we look at a prophecy from Zechariah, we will see two reasons for which we declare that the Lord is our God. 1) He struck the Good Shepherd for us, and 2) he refines us in the fire.
I
Zechariah is a post-exilic prophet, which means that he conducted his ministry in the time period following the Babylonian captivity. You might remember how God’s people were taken captive by the Babylonians and carted off to Babylon. They lived in exile in Babylon for 70 years, and it’s likely that Zechariah was born in Babylon. Once the Persians took over the Babylonians, the Persian king allowed God’s people to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city. This was the setting of Zechariah’s prophecy. He encouraged them in their building project, and he also saw to their spiritual well-being.
Zechariah also offers several Messianic prophecies, those prophecies which point ahead to the Savior, Jesus. For example, Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey.
The words before us today make up another Messianic prophecy. Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. Here we see Zechariah prophesying what will happen to Jesus. Jesus is our Shepherd, our Good Shepherd, and God is promising to strike down that Good Shepherd. And, as he does so, his sheep will be scattered.
This all happened during Jesus’ passion. During Holy Week. As he was struck for us. As he was abandoned by his disciples, those sheep who scattered and left the Good Shepherd all alone.
Yes, God struck the Good Shepherd for us. Why? So that he didn’t have to strike us. So that he didn’t have to take out his just and holy wrath on us because if he had done that we would have been eternally lost. If God had taken out his just and holy wrath on us, which he could have, we would be condemned to an eternity in hell. That’s the true punishment for our sins. Just think of all the sins in our lives. All those times when we just ignore his Word in our lives and do our own thing. Our own sinful thing. Just because it makes us feel good. Just because it satisfies our fleshly appetites. Yes, we deserve eternal condemnation because of those sins. And not just the sins we commit, but we also deserve eternal condemnation because of our sinful state. We are born in sin, which means that even the good that we do is tainted by sin. Yes, because of that, too, we deserve to be stricken by God and sent to the fires of hell.
But, God didn’t do that. Instead, he did it to Jesus. He sent Jesus to this earth to endure the fires of hell for us. He sent Jesus to earth, so that he could take out his just and holy wrath on him. As Jesus went to that old, rugged cross, he bore every one of our sins. Again, think of the sins in our lives. Jesus went to hell for those sins, dear friends. He was stricken by God for those sins. Yes, he was stricken, smitten, and afflicted for us. He had his flesh ripped from his body. He was forced to wear that humiliating crown of thorns. He was forsaken by God and experienced hell. He felt the pain of the fire that is not quenched and the worm that does not die. He felt the pain of an eternity of suffering, which moved him to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
But this was all part of the plan. This was all part of the plan for Jesus came willingly to this earth. God didn’t drag him, kicking and screaming, to the cross. He went to that cross willingly, knowing that, by doing so, he would rescue an entire history book of sinners. A book that includes sinners like you and me. On that old rugged cross, Jesus took our sins and removed them forever. He washed them away with his blood. He saved us!
And now our Savior calls for us to follow him. To pick up our cross and follow him. And, though our sins have been forgiven, we will struggle with sin in our lives. And, we still live in this fallen world, which will throw its worst at us. So God promises to use these things to refine us because, as his children, we need refinement on occasion.
II
Through the prophet Zechariah, God says this: In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. Sadly, the Jewish people, those to whom God originally gave this prophesy, abandoned their God. Generally speaking, the Jews did not believe in Jesus as their Savior, and they scattered from the God who called them to be his special people. But, there was always a remnant of believers among the people. A remnant of people who did not abandon their God.
To help keep this remnant in the faith, God promised this to them: This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ God would refine his remnant. He would allow things to happen in their lives which would shape and mold them to be his people, his faithful people.
My family and I recently went to a place called Old World Wisconsin as a birthday adventure for one of our kids. A highlight of this place is spending time in the blacksmith shop, where a man wearing old-time blacksmith clothes demonstrates how to form and shape metal. He puts iron into an incredibly hot fire and then he hammers it, doing this repeatedly, until he turns that iron into something beautiful and/or useful for daily life. And, if the iron could talk during this ordeal, it would probably express its pain in the fire and under the hammer. But, when the iron worker is done, he has a beautiful piece of iron.
Yes, that’s what God does to his people, too. He continues to test and refine his remnant of believers today, too. That’s the cross that Jesus mentioned in our Gospel reading. Jesus tells us that we should expect crosses in our lives. Things that might be heavy and painful. Like a cross. God might allow painful experiences in our lives. God might throw challenges before us. God might drop an obstacle before us.
And, when he does that, what is the question that we always ask? Why? Why are you doing this, God? Why have you brought this cross into my life?
Through Zechariah, he answers us. He does it to refine us. To make us like gold and silver. Those are precious metals, dear friends. Things that have great value. That’s what God promises to make us. Things that are precious and valuable to him.
He does it so that we might call on his name. When crosses come into our lives, the temptation is to carry it on our own. So, God allows these crosses in our lives to teach us a complete and utter reliance on him. So that we come to him in all things. Maybe even crawling to him at times. But God wants us to call on his name and ask for his help. To call on him in the day of trouble, and, dear friends, he promises to deliver us.
God also tests and refines us, allows crosses in our lives, so that we might brag about him. Yes, God wants his children to brag about their heavenly Father. God wants his children to proudly say: The Lord is our God. When the fire of testing comes into our lives, we will be able to say, “The Lord is our God.” When our faith is tested by a cross in our lives, we will be able to proudly say, “The Lord is our God.” When people ask how we’re able to stand under such a heavy cross, we can boldly declare, “The Lord is our God.” When the storms of life rage without and within, we won’t be cowering in a hole somewhere, but, instead, we’ll be standing up and telling the world, “The Lord is our God.”
Yes, as God allows crosses into our lives, may we embrace them. May we view them as blessings. Things that are meant for our spiritual and eternal good. May we carry our crosses gladly, knowing what God is accomplishing with that cross.
As children brag about their dads, they might have to start making things up in order to keep up with bragging. As they were trying to figure out whose dad was the strongest, one child may have felt the need to go big in their bragging and say, “Well, my dad is so strong that he can carry the moon.” Obviously, that’s not true.
But, as Christians, when speaking of our heavenly Father, it is true. When we brag about our God, it’s not a made-up story. When we declare to the world that the Lord is our God, we mean it. We offer our praises to him for striking the Good Shepherd for us to rescue our souls. And, we thank him for the crosses that he allows in our lives. With our eyes firmly fixed on the cross of Jesus, let us carry our crosses, praising God for the refinement that will happen as a result, letting everyone know that, truly, the Lord is our God. Amen.