"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.
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God."
Zechariah 13:6-9
I was reading in Mark today, and in Mark 14:27, Christ refers to verse 7 in this selection. The chapter heading talks about it referring to the Second Coming, but it obviously also refers to things that happened the first time. :) A lot of prophecies seem to be like that, with layers of meaning, and symbolic repetition (probably so that we catch on at some point).
One thing I love about these verses is that, whichever layer of meaning you are looking at, there is also the prophecy of hope. Tragedy strikes, but God holds some in reserve to endure, and to renew God's covenants with his people.
Today, whatever tragedy we face, let's focus on the hope that is always also there, and which persists in spite of death and suffering. Let's turn to the Lord and pray for help in figuring things out and choosing to do good and help others. Let's be part of God's solution.
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