(REFLECTIONS ON Zechariah 10:1-12)

In John 10:11, we read,

11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

Jesus is the good shepherd, and what makes Him good? That He is willing to lay down His life for the sheep. And that is what Jesus did on the cross. He laid down His life for you, me, and the world. If only we would receive Him, believe in Him, then He would know us, and we would know Him.

Why did God send Jesus, His Son, to earth and die on the cross? Why did Jesus need to be the good shepherd after all these “shepherds” came to lead His people? Because one shepherd after another ultimately failed to faithfully shepherd God’s people. Although there were some who did what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, no one before Christ was capable of shepherding God’s people perfectly and forever.

In today’s Scripture, we again read of those who were supposed to lead Israel, but in the end led them to a path of destruction.

2 For the teraphim (household idols) speak iniquity,
And the diviners see lying visions
And tell false dreams;
They comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep,
They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

Iniquity, lying visions, false dreams, and comfort in vain were what Israel was surrounded with. It is also what we are so often surrounded with in our life of faith. We too are often times afflicted, because there is no shepherd, or the shepherds we have are not the good shepherd.

The hope for Israel then is not in their ability to return, not in their ability to raise up good shepherds, but is in the compassion of the Lord.

6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah,
And I will save the house of Joseph,
And I will bring them back,
Because I have had compassion on them;
And they will be as though I had not rejected them,
For I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.

Israel will be strengthened, saved, brought back, not because of their great faithfulness, but because of the Lord’s compassion on them. The Lord will make it as though He had not rejected them. That is what we have in Christ Jesus. As we believe in the faithfulness of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are united to Christ. Our sin is not counted against us, because Christ has taken our sins upon Himself, and we are clothed in His righteousness.

12 “And I will strengthen them in the Lord,
And in His name they will walk,” declares the Lord.

That Israel can walk in His name, is because it is the Lord that strengthens them. That we can walk in the Lord, is because it is Christ that saves us, feeds us, leads us, and strengthens us. Jesus is the good shepherd and so let us rejoice in the grace poured upon us by our Lord, respond with humility and an attitude to use our life for Him because our life was bought at the price of His Son, and find peace, wholeness, and purpose in Him.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Zechariah 10