Day 18 of 24 · The Prophets
The One They Pierced
Zechariah 12:10
'They will look on me, on him whom they have pierced' — the LORD speaking, yet pierced.
Read the verse in full at Blue Letter Bible (ESV).
The Springs
The first taste — one dip, the whole day.
No prophet supplies more Passion-week detail than Zechariah: the king arriving humble on a donkey; the shepherd's wage of thirty pieces of silver thrown to the potter in the house of the LORD; the shepherd struck and the sheep scattered; the Branch who unites crown and priesthood on one throne; and the verse where grammar carries mystery — the LORD himself saying 'they will look on me, on him whom they have pierced.' John stood at the cross and cited it as eyewitness.
The Wells
Promise and fulfillment — every claim linked for verification.
Palm Sunday, Judas's price, Gethsemane's scattering, the spear — all within one small book's final chapters, all landed within one week.
The man whose name is the Branch will build the temple of the LORD — and be a priest on his throne.
Fulfilled —
Hebrews 8:1; John 2:19–21. King and priest in one person — forbidden under the old order, promised here, fulfilled at the right hand of the Majesty.
“Behold, your king is coming to you… humble and mounted on a donkey.”
Fulfilled —
Matthew 21:4–5; John 12:14–15 — Palm Sunday, one week before Emmaus.
The shepherd's wage: thirty pieces of silver, thrown to the potter in the house of the LORD.
Fulfilled —
Matthew 26:15; 27:3–10. Judas's price, Judas's remorse, the silver on the temple floor, the potter's field — each detail lands.
“They will look on me, on him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn.”
Fulfilled —
John 19:34–37; Revelation 1:7. The LORD speaking — “look on
me” — yet pierced. The mystery of the incarnation hides in a pronoun.
“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”
Fulfilled —
Matthew 26:31, 56. Jesus quoted it on the way to Gethsemane; by midnight, every disciple had fled.
Word from the Well
דָּקַר dāqar
'To pierce, thrust through' — a weapon-word, not a metaphor. John cites it of the spear (John 19:37); Revelation 1:7 carries it forward: the piercing is history, the looking is still unfolding.
Blue Letter Bible · Strong's H1856 Bible Hub
The Aquifer
Deepest water — where the passage meets your week.
Zechariah 12:10 joins piercing to pouring: 'I will pour out... a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy' on those who look at what they did. Real conviction of sin is not God's rejection; it is his grace arriving. The mourning the verse describes ends not in despair but in the fountain opened 'for sin and uncleanness' one verse later (13:1). Looking at the pierced One wounds — and then washes.
Five Questions
- Trace each Zechariah detail to its Passion fulfillment: 9:9, 11:12–13, 13:7, 12:10. Which lands hardest?
- 'Look on me... whom they have pierced.' What must be true of the speaker for both halves to hold?
- Why does mourning over the pierced One lead to a fountain (13:1) rather than to condemnation?
- Priest on a throne (6:13) was forbidden under the old order. Why does Messiah require both offices?
- Revelation 1:7 says every eye will see him, 'even those who pierced him.' How should the church await that looking?
The Day's Practice
MORNING — Read Zechariah 12:10–13:1. Let conviction and cleansing arrive in that order.
MID-DAY — Look deliberately at the cross at midday — one minute, no words — and receive the poured-out grace.
EVENING — Read John 19:31–37. An eyewitness kept these receipts for you.