Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.I will pour on David’s house and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. They will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for his firstborn.And 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, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
6 sermons cite this verse
… Two different things, but they are so tightly connected. Zechariah 12 says that He will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Jesus will come to a nation that still doesn't get it. And He will pour upon them the spirit of grace and supplication. It comes first. And then the injunction. Then. Say the word then. First, He pours on them what? The spirit of what? Grace and supplication. Then they will mourn for Him. No, then they will look on me whom they pierced. In other words, when he will come to that point in his second coming, as physically he will descend on Mount of Olives, he's going to pour upon them that spirit. Millions of Israelis will stand there. They will, those who... survived the tribulation. That last third, they'll stand there, knowing that there's no rabbi that helped them, no tradition that helped them, nothing. And here they are standing, and they will look up, and their Messiah will come down. …
… And He will destroy the nations. And then verse 10, it's in that context, I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication, so they will look on Me whom they have pierced, the one they crucified. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son. They will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn." In the midst of the nations attacking Antichrist, turning on them, they'll be in their temple worshiping, and everything will come clear. Oh, they'll look on the one they pierced and realize he was their Messiah. Chapter 13, verse 1, in that day, again, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity. They're going to be cleansed. They're going to be saved. Go down to verse 8. It will come about in all the land, declares the Lord. Two parts of it will be cut off and perish. …
… And then in verse 37, another Scripture says, "'They shall look on Him whom they pierce.'" That's from Zechariah 12.10, and it says that the Messiah will be pierced. So here are these ignorant, unbelieving, pagan soldiers treating the body of Christ in exactly the way the Word of God says it will be treated. Thus they authenticate Scripture. Thus they validate the Messiahship of Jesus Christ. Thus they set up the reality of His death, which then leads to the reality of His resurrection. The hypocritical Jews, the Roman governor, Pilate, all the soldiers with a measure of freedom are simply doing exactly what God ordained. God controlled His every move, whether it was Pilate, Jews, or the soldiers to accomplish His purpose. Go back to Mark chapter 15 now, and we'll look at the second group, the saints. This is a marvelous text. We read it a moment ago. Let's go back to it and consider it in more detail. Verse 42, when evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is the day before the Sabbath. …
… One more Old Testament prophet, Zechariah, Zechariah, makes an amazing promise. In Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10, I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced." Referring to the crucifixion, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only Son. And they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. And then He goes on in verses 11 to 14 to lay out the extent of the weeping. I can't imagine any weeping equal to that. That is the day when Israel looks on the one they pierced and mourns for Him. And the mourning will be monumental, for they will be mourning for all of the Jews throughout history until that day who rejected their Messiah. Everyone will mourn. But in that day, chapter 13 begins, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity. …
… I love this. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only Son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a firstborn." It will be like the great mourning in Jerusalem will be like the mourning at Hadad-Ramon in the plain of Megiddo. A town in Megiddo where King Josiah, the last good king, was slain by the Egyptian army, recorded in 2 Chronicles 35, and there was massive mourning over his death. It's going to be that kind of mourning. You say, wait a minute, they've just had a massive triumph. Shouldn't there be a celebration? No, because whatever they may have believed in the past about Yahweh is now dramatically altered because God will choose in that generation to pour out on the house of David and the the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everybody from the common people to the most elite, the spirit of grace and of supplication, they will look on me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. …
… So you submit yourself to that divine will. The Holy Spirit in Zechariah 12.10 is called the Spirit of supplication. And the Spirit, according to Romans 8, helps us with our prayers because we don't know how to pray. So the Spirit makes groanings, groanings which cannot be uttered, interceding on our behalf from within us. This is an amazing thing. The Spirit in us intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, and they're always consistent with the will of God. Christ in us cries out, Abba, Father. The Holy Spirit cries out, Father, do Your will. And so Spirit-filled, Spirit-led prayer is what we want to pray. So there's a large stretch of prayer in one very short verse. We cover everything, and the economy of language here is remarkable. And that's the general instruction. Pray all the time, with all prayer, with all perseverance, for all saints in the Spirit. That's how you live your life. Frequency, variety, manner, indirect objects, all in the power of the Spirit, all working toward God's glory and the believer's joy. …