Jesus and His Bible, Part 19

 The Suffering Shepherd

The story in Mark moves from the argument about the perfume to the oncoming disaster. Judas met with the religious leaders and offered to betray Jesus. Then as Passover began, Jesus and his disciples observed the first night of Passover with a supper. Jesus told them that one of them would betray him, to that man’s harm. He blessed the bread and broke it, and said, “Take it, this is my body." Then he gave thanks for the wine, and said, “This is My blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many.” Then they sang a hymn.

On their way to the Mount of Olives, Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered” (Mark 14:27). He added, “After I have been raised, I will meet you in Galilee.” But Peter and the others insisted they would stay with him.

The scripture Jesus quoted is Zechariah 13:7: “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man my associate, declares the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.”

The historical context of Zechariah is after the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem under Cyrus the Persian and the rebuilding of the temple in the 6th century BCE (Robert Alter, “Prophets,” The Hebrew Bible, A Translation with Commentary, 1193). This quotation comes midway in a prophecy that begins with Zech. 12:1. In that prophecy, Zechariah reverses the oracles against Israel to describe Israel as a bowl of poison, a burdensome stone, and a flaming torch to annihilate any invaders. God will destroy the nations coming against Jerusalem, and after that will pour out “grace and graciousness” upon David’s house and those who live in Jerusalem (Alter, “Prophets,” 1380.)  Chapter 13 goes on to promise cleansing for Israel’s offenses and impurities, the demise of false idols, and the punishing of false prophets. 

However, it pivots to this poem, which is what Jesus quotes: “Sword, rouse against My shepherd, against My companion man—said the Lord of Armies. Strike the shepherd and let the sheep be scattered, and I will bring My hand back against the shepherd lads” (Alter, “Prophets,” 1382-83).  The chapter ends with the apocalyptic vision that two-thirds of the population will die and the remaining third will be purified as if by fire, until they call out for God and say that the Lord is their God.  

This particular quotation continues Jesus’s theme of apocalypse, perhaps intensified by his foresight that he will soon suffer and die. Indeed, Christians from early times have seen in Zechariah 12:10 and 13:1 predictions about the Jews in relation to Jesus. “They will look on the one whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for him, as one mourns for an only son…in that day a fountain will be opened for sin and for impurity.” Understandably, the Jewish commentators see Zech. 12:10 as directly following from the battles and sieges foreseen early in the chapter; thus this mourning is for all their countryfolk who have died in the battle. Intriguingly, the Hebrew can be translated as singular or plural: “they shall lament to Me about those who are slain, wailing over them as over a favorite son and showing bitter grief as over a first-born” (Berlin and Brettler, eds., The Jewish Study Bible, 1264). 

The way Jesus uses Zech. 13:7 not only references apocalyptic cleansing, but also invokes the promise of reconciliation that comes before and after this passage, so that even though a disaster is coming upon his followers, the result will be their longer-term spiritual good.