Zechariah 13:6 And one shall say to him, What are these wounds in your hands? Then he shall answer… The wounds of Jesus speak more eloquently than words. I. OF WHAT DO THEY SPEAK TO US? 1. Of the love of God. How full the Bible is of messages of God's love. 2. Of sin. 3. Of forgiveness, intercession, and atonement. II. TO WHOM DO THESE WOUNDS SPEAK? 1. To the children of God. To the advanced Christian ripe for glory. To him they speak of the heavenly perfection to which the Captain of our salvation attained through the suffering of which they are the sign. To those just starting out in the Christian life. To such they point to the path of suffering for His sake; that by the fellowship of suffering we may also be united with Him in His glory. To those who have been unfaithful and neglectful of duty. To these they speak reproach, that they have wounded the Lord afresh, and the voice of tender appeal that they may repent and return to Him. 2. To the doubting, trembling inquirer who has not yet accepted the Lord as his Saviour, and to the hardened unbeliever. III. BY WHOM INFLICTED? The text says they were received in the "house of His friends." You ask how the friends of Christ may wound Him? 1. By indifference. The present indifference of the Church greatly wounds the Divine heart of our Lord. 2. By opposition. Many things that are being done by His professed followers are out of harmony with His desires, and therefore must wound Him. 3. By preferring other persons and other things to Him. He wants the first place in the hearts of all His disciples, and not to give it to Him wounds Him. (J. I. Blackburn, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. |
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