These are my people

 

They will call upon my name, and I will answer them.  I will say, "They are my people", and they will say, "The Lord is my God."  --Zechariah 13:9b

 It always amazes me how patient a teacher Jesus is.

Have you ever been in a lecture hall or a church and the professor or pastor starts reciting a familiar passage?  When that happened, did you zone out, because you had heard it so many times before?  If a teacher or preacher starts reciting a familiar nursery rhyme, something like "Mary had a little lamb," I am prone to let my mind wander.  As a result, I often miss whatever point the speaker is trying to make.

I wonder if that's how the disciples reacted to Jesus when He would quote Old Testament scripture to them.  They had probably heard it so often that their minds would go into neutral, keeping them from hearing what He was trying to say.  That's got to be frustrating for any teacher.  Thank God Jesus is patient with us.

Let's look at our passage in Mark 14.  Jesus had just completed the Last Supper, where He had given new meaning to the Jewish Seder.  He identified His body with the bread that was broken and consumed, and He identified His blood with the wine, which was poured out and then drunk.  In hindsight, we now know that He was showing them (and us) a picture of His sacrificial death on the cross, where His body would be broken and his life-blood poured out.  We can further extrapolate the appropriate response to this metaphor--we must use the bread and wine as a memorial of Him every time we take it, but we must also incorporate Him into our lives in order to enjoy his blessing.  The hungry man will only be nourished if he eats; the thirsty will only be satisfied if he drinks.  It is possible for a man to starve to death in the presence of food if he does not eat, or to be dehydrated to the point of death if he refuses drink.

Now we see Jesus pointing to an Old Testament prophecy and applying it to Himself.  Unfortunately, the disciples don't immediately understand.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away, for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not."  And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he (Peter) said emphatically, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you."  And they all said the same.  --Mark 14:26-31

Now, with our post-resurrection eyes, we know that Jesus was prophesying about His death and resurrection.  He also prophesied that Peter would deny Him three times.  We all know the story.  What I want to focus on here is the passage Jesus referred to when He said, "It is written."  He was quoting Zechariah 13.  I want us to read a bit of that chapter to get some context.

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me, declares the Lord of hosts.  Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.  In the whole land, declares the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.  And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.  They will call upon my name, and I will answer them.  I will say, "they are my people"; and they will say, "The Lord is my God."  --Zechariah 13:7-9

 I want to make three points here about what Jesus was trying to teach them in light of the passage He quoted from Zechariah.

Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered

This is the line that Jesus quoted, and that Peter and the other disciples took literally.  While Peter and the other disciples all vehemently denied that they would ever fall away, Jesus knew God's word would not return void.  He knew that the entire passage pointed to Himself.

Awake, O sword

Jesus was not a victim of circumstances.  Yes, He had enemies:  The Romans controlled His people, the Jews, with a heavy hand, but they would not have crucified Him if it had not been God's plan all along.  The Jewish religious leaders hated Him because He called out their hypocrisy, and because His teaching did not always line up with their own; but they would not have arrested Jesus if it had not been God's will for them to do it.

When the time was right, God spoke.  He awakened the sword.  He set things in motion so that Jesus would be arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death--not for breaking the law, but to fulfill it.  The disciples did not understand this at the time, so they vowed to defend Jesus to the death.  Eventually, they would be called upon to die for Him, but not now.  It was God's will.  He called out the sword for His own Son, not for the eleven disciples who learned from Him.

Strike the Shepherd

Jesus is called the Good Shepherd, because He laid down His life for His sheep.  The prophecy of Zechariah was being fulfilled this very day, because God was calling out the sword.  People forget the nature of God: He is holy.  He requires a sacrifice for sin.  We are not holy.  We are in need of a sacrifice in order to call on Him and not have God turn His back on us.

Prevailing religious teaching today is that God is love.  This is a half-truth, and if it is our sole view of God, then it is heresy.  One cannot appreciate or love mercy if he does not first understand God's wrath or justice.  If we sugar-coat the gospel, then it is no gospel at all.

The sheep will be scattered

God knew before time began that the disciples would run like scared rabbits once Jesus was arrested and crucified.  He also knew that Jesus would be resurrected.  Jesus knew He would be raised up from the dead, and that's why He told the disciples to meet Him in Galilee.

Dispersion is a common theme throughout religious history.  When men decided to build a tower in Babylon that would reach the heavens, God confused their language and dispersed them throughout the world.  Both Jews and Christians have gone through a diaspora on several occasions, so that the message of the Gospel could be heard throughout the world.  We would do well to remember that it all plays into God's hand, so that His will and purpose can be fulfilled.

Two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive

There is a particular heresy that is being preached in the Church today, and that is that God will not allow anyone to go to hell.  This is derived from the whole "God is love" cult.  The teaching, even among evangelicals, goes something like this: if grace exists, then it exists for all.  Therefore God would not, could  not, allow any of His creation to experience something as bad as hell.  The conclusion is that even if those who reject God all their lives and never repent from their sins go through "judgement", eventually they will all end up in heaven anyway, because we are all God's children.

This cannot be further from the truth.  "Enter through the narrow gate," says Matthew 7:13-14.  "For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the way and narrow is the gate that leads to life, and only a few find it."  Zechariah mentions a mathematical formula--two thirds will go the way of destruction, and only one third will follow the truth.  I am not sure of the numbers, but it is clear that a majority of people will reject Christ and suffer judgment, and a minority of people will follow Christ and be shown grace and mercy.  Grace for all is not grace at all, because it does not take into account God's wrath from which we are saved.  Said a different way, our natural state is sinful, and justice demands that we receive punishment for our sins, or at least separation from a holy God; grace is God overlooking our sin and granting us mercy and pardon for our sins.  The Bible clearly teaches that the minority of people will receive grace and mercy.

And I will put this third into the fire

Grace does not mean we will be able to do as we please.  God will accomplish His purpose in us.

And refine them as one refines silver

If you go see a silversmith, you will see that the ore is melted, and when it turns into a liquid state, the craftsman will skim off the dross.  In other words, whatever is not pure will be scraped off the top and thrown away, until only pure silver is left.  Then, when it is still heated and in liquid form, the metalworker will pour the pure silver into a mold that was set up in his shop already.  The final product is shaped into eating utensils or ornate jewelry or whatever the silversmith had willed it to be beforehand.

This is how God uses us.  He will increase the heat until our very nature is changed and we are ready to be poured out, then He will pour us out into whatever shape He purposes for us according to His will.  Only after this process are we useful or beautiful or valuable.

(I will) test them as gold is tested

A goldsmith will scrape a tiny amount of the gold item on a touchstone, and put a drop of nitric acid onto it.  Gold is the only metal that is dissolved by this acid.  Nitric acid reacts when brushed onto real gold and you will see fizzing if the gold is genuine.

In 1 John 4 we are told, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.  By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God...by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." (1 John 4:1-3a, 6b).  When Paul preached to the Jews at Berea, we are told, "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." (Acts 17:11).

They will call upon my name and I will answer them

This, then, is our hope of glory.  When we see the wrath of God poured out we will seek Him with all of our hearts and minds and soul and strength.  We will be tried and tested, and if we are found faithful we will call on the name of the Lord and He will answer us.

This, too, is a recurring theme in Scripture.  The people of God are identified as His when they confess Him.  

For He said, "Surely they are my people, children who will no deal falsely."  And He became their Savior.  In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old." (Isaiah 63:8-9)

 Psalm 95:6-7 says, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.  For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.  Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."  In our passage in Mark, Peter hardened his heart and stiffened his neck at the Lord's words, but because he was called by Jesus he was forgiven and shown mercy.  Peter later used that grace to become a church father, an Apostle and preacher of the Gospel.  He was purified by fire and poured out into a vessel used by God for His glory.  Let us endure testing and show ourselves faithful, so that we can say He is our God, and He will say to us that we are His.