Zechariah 13:1

Thus justification and sanctification are implied in this verse as both flowing from the blood of Christ, not from ceremonial sacrifices (1Co 1:30; 1Jo 1:7; compare Eze 36:25). Sin in Hebrew is literally a missing the mark or way.

WE DO NOT GRUDGE to the seed of Israel after the flesh the first application of this very precious promise. There will be a day when those who have so long refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messias shall discern the marks of his mission, and shall mourn that they have pierced him. When the tribes of Israel shall lament their sin with holy earnestness, there shall be no mourning to exceed it, they shall weep even as in the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo, when the wellbeloved Josiah was slain. Discovering that their nation rejected the Son of God, when they crucified Jesus of Nazareth their deeply religious spirit shall be filled with the utmost bitterness of repentance, and each man and each woman shall cry for pardon to the Lord of mercy. Then, close upon the heels of the weeping shall come the full and complete forgiveness; the transgression of the tribes shall be put away in one day; they shall perceive that the very side which they pierced has yielded a fountain to cleanse them from their sin; joyfully shall they behold on Calvary the brazen serpent lifted up for their healing, the Paschal Lamb slain for their redemption, the sin-offering sacrificed in their stead. What a blessed day will that be when “all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” O that you and I might live to see that happy era when all the Jewish race shall behold their Messiahs; for then shall the fullness of the Gentiles be gathered in. Our history is wrapped up with theirs. “Through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?” “Wake, harp of Zion, wake again, Upon thine ancient hill, On Jordan’s long deserted plain, By Kedron’s lowly rill.

WHEN you read a letter, it is well to notice the date upon it—you may make mistakes if you do not. The promise in our text is dated, "In that day." If we look a little way back, we shall find, in the 10th verse of the 12th chapter, these words, "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of Grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him."

WHEN you read a letter, it is well to notice the date upon it—you may make mistakes if you do not. The promise in our text is dated, "In that day." If we look a little way back, we shall find, in the 10th verse of the 12th chapter, these words, "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of Grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him." When the soul learns to mourn before the Cross, then it shall perceive that there is cleansing from sin. If you have looked to Christ whom you have pierced and, if so looking, you have come to lament and loathe your sin, it is in that day that God reveals to you the fountain opened for your sin and for your uncleanness! Are any of you, here, broken down under a sense of sin? Then I am glad that I have such good news for you as my text contains. It is for sinners that Jesus bled and died! It is for you who are conscious of your great guiltiness that the fullness and the freeness of His Grace are manifested. If you are a sinner and Jesus is a Savior, you are well met. If, by faith, you will look to Him, it is a proof that He is looking to you, and He will take away your sin and you shall go your way taking with you a song of love and praise unto Him who has so graciously saved you! So, you see that where there is mourning for sin, there is pardon for sin! When the eyes are full of tears of repentance, they are most fit for looking to Christ who takes all our guilt away. God help every mourner, here, to rejoice in Christ Jesus and His great salvation! According to my text, this cleansing from guilt and sin is followed by a reformation.

In that day there shall be a fountain opened - This chapter is a continuation of the preceding, and should not have been separated from it. A fountain - The source of mercy in Christ Jesus; perhaps referring to the death he should die, and the piercing of his side, when blood and water issued out. To the house of David - To David’s family, and such like persons as it included. See the history of David and his sons, and then learn for whom Christ shed his blood. Inhabitants of Jerusalem - Such like persons as the Jews were in every part of their history, and in their last times, when they clamoured for the blood of Christ, and pursued him unto death! Learn from this also for whom Christ died! These were the worst of the human race; and if he died for them, none need despair. They rejected, betrayed, crucified, slew, and blasphemed Christ, and afterwards persecuted his followers. For these he died! Yes: and he tasted death for Every Man. For sin and for uncleanness - For the removal of the guilt of sin, and for the purification of the soul from the uncleanness or pollution of sin.

In that day there shall be a fountain opened - Zechariah often repeats, “in that day” Zec 12:3-4, Zec 12:6, Zec 12:8-9, Zec 12:11; Zec 13:1-2, Zec 13:4; Zec 14:6, Zec 14:8, Zec 14:13, Zec 14:20, resuming his subject again and again, as a time not proximate, but fixed and known of God, of which he declared somewhat.