THE LIVING WATERS (Zechariah 14:8)

Today’s Reading: Zechariah 13-14

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

As you enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher you can climb a set of stone stairs on the right. This stairway, according to tradition, leads to Calvary and contains a huge rock which is believed to have been split when Jesus uttered the words, “It is finished!” The rock can be seen under glass on both sides of the altar, and beneath the altar there is a hole said to be the place where the foot of the cross was lodged. Due to the significance of this, it is the most visited site in the Holy Sepulchre church. A friend of my son Ron is Greek, and he says the words on the front of the communion table say, “I SEE YOUR GARMENTS ARE EMPTY, ALMIGHTY CHRIST,” referring to His burial clothes which remained in the tomb after HIS RESURRECTION!!!

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Zechariah 13:1, 6

In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness... And one will say to him, “What are these wounds in your hands?” Then he will answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”

Zechariah 12:10 tells us that the Messiah will be pierced, and those who look on Him shall grieve deeply. In today’s reading we learn that this piercing is the source of a fountain for cleansing, “For sin and for uncleanness.” The redemptive work of Jesus on the Cross gave rise to a new and purified people of God, a spiritual Israel wherein there is no idolatry and no false worship. These are difficult words to understand in this chapter: “The sword against My Shepherd.” Read Isaiah 53:10-12 for another statement as to why the sword was turned against the Messiah Shepherd. What love!!! “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” How can our limited human minds grasp this?

The final chapter of Zechariah appears to describe the terrible atrocities that will happen just prior to the coming of Jesus Christ in power and glory. He will cut short those days of terror. Zechariah 14:12, “…flesh dissolving while they stand on their feet,” is as close as one can come to describing what happens to the human body within the detonation area of a nuclear bomb. The animals present will suffer the same fate (14:15). The Lord will put the final period to the book of human history. In three more days, our readings move into the Revelation, the Apocalypse. The final victory over evil, and the eternal establishment of good is coming!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Keep me faithful, Lord God, I pray! Give me the clarity of thought to be able to understand as much of these challenging Scriptures as my mind and Your Spirit can enable me to grasp. I rejoice in the promise of Your first coming when You opened a fountain for cleansing from sin. I also rejoice in the promise that reveals that You are coming again to rule and reign. In the Name of Jesus I approach You with “HOLINESS TO THE LORD!!!” Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

When Jesus, resurrected out from among the dead, made His second appearance to the disciples in Jerusalem, Thomas, who doubted Jesus’ resurrection, was present. Jesus said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side” (John 20:27). Immediately, Thomas believed and testified to the fact that Jesus is 100% God. He said, “My Lord and my God!” The Scripture found in Luke 24:33-43 expands on Jesus’ appearances after His resurrection. Jesus says, “‘Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I, Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet!” There were many appearances of Jesus, one time to over 500 people. I find it remarkable that the “Mishna,” minutes of the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious council for Judaism appointed by the Romans, did not in any way record a refutation of the claims of Jesus’ appearances. It was politically impossible, as thousands had seen the resurrected Christ (Messiah). Approximately 5,000 Jewish men, including many priests, believed in Jesus after Peter’s message in the Temple court. Read Peter’s preaching…Acts 3:12 to Acts 4:4. In Acts 6:7 we read, “And the Word of the Lord spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” These Jewish priests, now followers of Jesus, continued to function in the Temple for almost 40 more years. The tradition of priests in the Church evolved directly from these priests who had experienced, through Jesus, the Fountain opened in the house of David “for sin and for uncleanness.”

Yours, looking forward to that day when “His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives” once again (Zechariah 14:4). Jesus changes everything!!!

David