Lent Devotion: The Struck Shepherd Gathers the Scattered Sheep

Julius: We continue our series on Zechariah today, the reading Zechariah chapter 13, verses seven through nine, and we'll focus on this for the message. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd! Against the man who is my associate, declares the Lord of armies, strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. This will take place in the whole land, declares the Lord. Two-thirds of those who remain in it will be cut off and perish, but one-third will be left in it. I will put that third into the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined. and I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer them. I will say, this is my people. And they will say, the Lord is my God. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Et tu, Brute? Famous line from Shakespeare's rendition of the betrayal of Emperor Julius Caesar. I'm not named after him, I'm named after my great-grandpa. Don't have to worry about getting stabbed, but that's when Julius Caesar was saying it. And he was getting stabbed by a lot of people he probably expected. He had overthrown the Roman Republic, made himself dictator. Of course he was going to have some enemies and he had assassins around him. but one of them he didn't expect, it was his friend, Brutus. And so he looks at him and he says, even you? You too, Brutus? It's a betrayal. And we see something similar in Zechariah chapter 13, except it's even more inexplicable. At least in Brutus's case, you could figure out why he did it. Sure, maybe he was friends with Julius Caesar, but his commitment was to the Republic. He needed to save Rome and so even his friend, he struck his friend. But in Zechariah chapter 13 verse 7, the father turns to the son, the perfect son, and he says, my sword and strike him. We read, awake, ⁓ sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate declares the Lord of armies. The Lord God Yahweh Father, says, the man next to me to the sword of his wrath. And what's the explanation? You could expect God to say this against bad shepherds. There's a lot of bad shepherds in the Bible. God speaks very strongly against them all. But here is the good shepherd, the perfect shepherd who has done nothing wrong and yet he is being struck. Jesus quotes these words before he's crucified. He went out to the Mount of Olives with his disciples after the Last Supper and he said this, This 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. And that's exactly what happened just a few minutes later. Jesus had warned his disciples several times. He warned them again here. He wasn't saying, sorry guys, it's destiny. The Lord has prophesied you must all fall away. No, he's warning them. He's saying, watch and pray so you don't fall into temptation. Hey, and this is about to happen. The shepherd's going to be struck and the sheep are going to scatter. Be ready. And they weren't. And it's because they were very proud. How did they react when Jesus said things like this? No way. I won't scatter. Maybe other sheep would, but I never would. They said, Lord, we will never fall away. Peter especially, right? He says, even if everybody else falls away, it won't be me. But what happens? The shepherd is struck. He's arrested, taken away to be tried and crucified, and all the disciples flee. So why is the shepherd struck? We just sing about it in a beautiful hymn, ⁓ dearest Jesus, what law have you broken that this would happen to you? Well, we read, the shepherd is struck for sheep that wander, for sheep that scatter. If the good shepherd is dying, We know why because Jesus already explained it. In John chapter 10, he said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus the perfect shepherd isn't being struck down because of anything he did wrong. He's being struck down to save his poor wandering sheep. And Isaiah 53 explains this in detail. It says, was taking up our weaknesses, he was carrying our sufferings. We thought it was because of God that he was stricken, smitten, and afflicted, but it was because of our rebellion that he was pierced. He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all have gone astray like sheep. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has charged all our guilt to Him like a lamb He was led to slaughter. Right after Jesus says, words are about to happen, we see why they had to happen. Because what happens when the shepherd is struck, his disciples scatter. They betray Jesus. They run away from the shepherd. They weren't listening to his voice. And so they scatter. And this is why the shepherd had to die. For sheep that are so prone to wander. And not just for those disciples back then in the garden, for us too. Isaiah, when he prophesied, included himself and he included all of us. He said, of us have gone astray like sheep. And think about how quickly we can wander in life. We make some commitments like the disciples, some of them even public. Jesus, I will never fall away. All of us who have been confirmed have made that commitment, that promise. I will stay faithful to the word of God no matter what. And you say that when you're what, 12? How long does that promise last? A week? But that's still a trouble for all of us throughout life. We make these big promises, I'm not going to sin, or at least I won't do it again now that I've been forgiven. I'm going to stay away from that sin. And we wander. We sing in another hymn, are sheep so prone to wander, prone to leave our God above. Why is the shepherd struck? For sheep like us. that are prone to wander so that we aren't scattered and destroyed, sacrificed because of our own wandering, Jesus becomes that sacrificial lamb in our place. That's one of the reasons the shepherd is struck. But there's one other reason we see here in Zechariah chapter 13. Why is he struck for us not only to be struck in our place to save us, but also to gather us back to himself? in humble faith. That's what the disciples needed. Why did they scatter so easily? It's because they were proud. Jesus says, watch and pray, and they say, no need, no problem. Jesus, even if everybody else scatters, we won't. You know what? We're hardly even sheep. We hardly even need a shepherd. And so the Lord strikes Jesus in order to show them just how quickly they will scatter without him. just how much they need him. Verse seven says, Think, wow, first the father's striking the shepherd, now he's turning his hand, oppressing those little sheep. Why is he doing that? To show them how much they need the shepherd. To show them that they're not able to survive without him, that they're not big, strong shepherds on their own, that they are little ones. They are little, helpless sheep who need him. And the disciples were shown that, weren't they? Peter denied Jesus three times. Thomas, after Jesus rose from the dead, he said, I won't believe it. I will never believe it. The Lord was showing them just how much they needed him to shepherd them. And that's exactly what Jesus was doing. We read in verses eight and nine, This will take place in the whole land, declares the Lord. Two thirds of those who remain in it will be cut off and perish, but one third will be left. I will put that third into the fire and I will refine them as silver is refined and I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer them. I will say, this is my people. And they will say, the Lord is my God. The Lord is always going through this refining process for his people, for his sheep, to bring them back, to restore their faith, to show them that they are just Jesus' little lamb, and yet they can be ever glad at heart because they have such a good shepherd. And Peter learned this. When Jesus returned to Peter after he was sifted through these flames, he didn't show up to him and say, Peter? No, he showed up and said, You are mine. This is my people. Peace be with you. And they responded, This is our God, our shepherd. He's back to save us. Peter went through quite the trial but that refined him. When Jesus was struck on the cross, so many fell away. So many said, How could I follow a shepherd like that? Two-thirds, Zechariah says. And that was true. So many in Jerusalem wandered away from Jesus, never to return. And yet, God used this to bring back some wandering sheep. A third, a few who would hear the shepherd's voice and hold on to him. It's not easy to keep wandering sheep like us in the faith. But that's what the good shepherd does through trials. And Peter learned this so well and he talked about it in his letter. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 7 says that we go through trials so that the proven character of your faith, which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. The shepherd brings us through these trials, refines us so that we can praise him. When you think about Thomas, the disciple Thomas, doubting Thomas, he almost fell away. But the shepherd kept coming back to him and when Jesus revealed himself again and said, Thomas, here's the wounds. I'm the shepherd. I was struck for you. But willingly, Thomas said, my Lord and my God. Exactly what Zechariah said would happen. Jesus says, here's my sheep. This is my people. And Thomas says, my Lord and my God. And this is what Jesus is doing for us. Sometimes it seems like we are being struck. Because of Jesus, for Jesus' name, Jesus can make our lives more difficult. It's hard to do the things Jesus says to do, avoid the things that Jesus wants us to avoid. It can make life difficult. And when Jesus makes life difficult for us, what is he doing? He's refining us. He's calling us back to himself, showing, yes, that we are little ones, we are little lambs, and we need our Savior. But we can be glad at heart because we have a good shepherd. So, why was the shepherd struck? Well, the shepherd was struck for us. And the shepherd was struck so that he could gather his wandering sheep back to himself forever. Amen.

Zechariah 13 · chapter mention Zechariah 13 · chapter mention Zechariah 13:7 John 10 · chapter mention Zechariah 13 · chapter mention 1 Peter 1:7