Zechariah’s Messiah

One commentator calls the book of Zechariah “the most Messianic, the most truly apocalyptic and eschatological, of all the writings of the OT.”  The New Testament evidently also recognizes it as being heavily Messianic because there are 41 quotations or allusions from the book of Zechariah in the New Testament.  And Zechariah 9-14 is the most quoted section from the prophets in the Passion account of Christ.

How ironic that a book that is so saturated with Christ as Messiah is so infrequently studied:  one commentator has said, “One of the great ironies concerning the book of Zechariah is its relative obscurity to the modern church contrasted with its profound significance to the early church. Unfortunately, students of the Bible rarely study Zechariah today.” [Klein]

That is part of the reason we have ventured into a study of this book on Sunday mornings — we want to know and understand the splendor of the Messiah and the hope that is coming through Him.

What is revealed about the Messiah in this book?  Consider some of these truths about the coming King…

• the Servant’s deity (3:4; 13:7)
• the Lord’s Servant, the Branch (3:8)
• the Man, the Branch (6:12), His first advent in lowliness
• His priesthood (6:13)
• His kingship (6:13; 9:9; 14:9, 16)
• the True Shepherd (11:4-11)
• the Shepherd’s rejection and betrayal for 30 pieces of silver (11:12-13)
• the True shepherd vs. the false shepherd — the Antichrist (13:7)
• the betrayal of the Good Shepherd (11:12-13)
• His crucifixion (12:10)
• His sufferings, being struck by the Lord’s sword (13:7)
• His second advent in glory (14:4)
• His building of the Lord’s Temple (6:12-13)
• His reign (9:10, 14)
• His establishment of eternal peace and prosperity (3:10; 9:9-10)