Zechariah 13:7

Christ spoke of the betrayer; he foretold that all would run away; he predicted his own death. "I shall smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered." He foretold who was going to deny him, when he would do so, and how many times it would happen. He predicted everything accurately. After he had foretold all these things as a sufficient proof that he possessed knowledge of what was going to happen, he went to a certain place to pray. The heretics say that the prayer is the prayer of the divinity; we say it is the prayer of the plan of redemption.

There was, therefore, a great and excellent faith in that thief. Clearly it is great and admirable faith which believed that the crucified Christ was being glorified more than punished. For this is the shape that all salvation takes—that the Savior should be recognized as …

O sword - Afflictions, persecutions, and the cross. My shepherd - Who is my faithful shepherd, and will lay down his life for my sheep. My fellow - This speaks Christ; man with us, and God with his father, God-man in one person.

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,....

He is the Shepherd that was to lay down his life for the sheep. How he uses him: Awake, O sword! against him. If he will be a sacrifice, he must be slain, for without the shedding of blood, the life-blood, there was no remission.

WE are sure that we understand this passage, for we have our Lord Jesus Christ's application of it to Himself—"All you," He said to His disciples, "shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered."

For God calls Messiah "My shepherd," that is, provided (Re 13:8) for sinners by My love to them, and ever the object of My love, though judicially smitten (Isa 53:4) for their sins (Isa 42:1; 59:16). man that is my fellow--literally, "the man of my union." The Hebrew for "man" is "a mighty man," one peculiarly man in his noblest ideal.

WE are sure that we understand this passage, for we have our Lord Jesus Christ's application of it to Himself—"All you," He said to His disciples, "shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." It is always well, when we are considering a text in the Old Testament which we think may refer to Christ, if we can be certified that it does so by some declaration of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, or by some testimony from the lips of the Master, Himself, as we have in this case. The passage seems to me to be best illustrated by a description I once heard from one of our Lord's servants who pictured a tempest as gathering in the heavens, the darkness deepening and, by-and-by, came the thunder and lightning, and the storm shook the earth. He saw before him a towering mountain, with its peak lifted high up towards Heaven. At the foot of it lay a sheltered hamlet. The storm seemed all concentrated around the mountain's brow that was the center of the battle of the elements. That lofty peak seemed to be split and broken to shivers by the dread artillery of God. The hamlet down below was in comparative peace—only some gentle drops of rain fell on it, fertilizing its fields.

Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd - This is generally understood of Jesus Christ. The sword is that of Divine justice which seemed to have been long asleep, and should long ago have struck either Man, or his Substitute, the Messiah. Jesus is here called God’s Shepherd, because he had appointed him to feed and govern, as well as to save, the whole lost world. This is a prosopopoeia, and the address to the sword is very poetic. There is a fine passage in Aeschylus to the same effect: - Ξενος δε κληροις επινωμᾳ, Χαλυβος Σκυθων αποικας, Κτεανων χρηματοδαιτας Πικρος, ωμοφρων σιδαρος, Χθονα ναιειν διαπηλας Ὁποσαν αν και φθιμενοισι κατεχειν, Των μεγαλων πεδιων αμοιροις, Aeschyl. Sept. cont. Hebrews 733. “The rude barbarian, from the mines Of Scythia, o’er the lots presides; Ruthless to each his share assigns, And the contested realm divides: To each allots no wider a domain Than, on the cold earth as they lie, Their breathless bodies occupy, Regardless of an ampler reign: Such narrow compass does the sword - A cruel umpire - their high claims afford.” Potter. The man that is my Fellow - ועל גבר עמיתי veal geber amithi, “upon the strong man,” or “the hero that is with Me;” my neighbor. “The Word was God, and the Word was With God;” Joh 1:1. “I and my Father are One;” Joh 10:30. Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered - This is quoted by our Lord, Mat 26:31, in relation to his disciples, who should be scattered on his crucifixion: and they were so; for every one, giving up all for lost, went to his own house. And I will turn mine hand upon the little ones - I will take care of the little flock, and preserve them from Jewish malice and Gentile persecution. And so this little flock was most wondrously preserved, and has been increasing from year to year from that time to the present day.