"And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.”
Zechariah 12:10
This Messianic text was written about 500 years before the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. It is a marvelous description of what would come after the death, burial, resurrection, appearing, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Before Jesus ascended He had commanded the Apostles who believed to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high.
We read in Acts 2 that, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they (Apostles) were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.” (Acts 2:1-6)
We see that the Apostles spoke of the mighty deeds of God. That they preached of Jesus of Nazareth. That they spoke of prophecy of old being fulfilled. They convicted the listeners of crucifying Jesus the Christ the son of God. They spoke the gospel and forgiveness of sins. They continued to proclaim repentance in Jesus’ name! They did all of this by the Spirit of Grace - The Holy Spirit - that brought the most gracious message ever delivered to mankind - forgiveness of sins and salvation from death. What greater grace can there be?
The phrase “I will pour out” means to “reveal (a word/message)”. Consider some Hebrews examples:
"Turn to my (Wisdom - Personified (given “person” traits)) reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you. (Proverbs 1:23)
These phrases are parallel and define one another through Hebrew parallelism
"As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the LORD:
"My Spirit which is upon you,
and My words which I have put in your mouth
shall not depart from your mouth"
nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever." (Isaiah 59:21)
The Spirit was only poured out once… but the word revealed was for every subsequent generation.
"It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-29)
The (knowledge and grace of the) Spirit was poured out to all through those who prophesied by receiving the Spirit directly from the Lord. This is the fulfillment on Pentecost.
When considering how this phrase “I will pour out” in relation to the Holy Spirit is used throughout scripture, I think it becomes more clear that in Zechariah’s prophecy, “the Spirit of grace” was given to all mankind, and to all future generations, through the Apostles’ Holy Spirit-inspired preaching and teaching of the gracious gospel of Jesus Christ.
Do I have the Spirit of grace today? I believe I do. I believe we all do. It is our Holy Spirit God-breathed New Testament that teaches us the mighty deeds of God, His amazing love, His wondrous grace, His magnificent mercy, and His priceless sacrifice. Every time you pick up your Bible you are holding in your very hands the blessing of the Spirit of grace. You would not know God without it. You would not know yourself without it. You would not know Jesus without it. You would not know heaven without it. You would not know salvation without it. What a gracious gift indeed!
The Spirit of grace being “poured out” resulted in people “seeing” who was pierced through for their transgressions. The message the Spirit of grace brought, brought people to their knees as their heart was pierced to the quick. The Spirit of grace convicted hearts that mourned and turned in penitence to the Savior that died for them. The Spirit of grace still does all of that through the gospel. And ultimately, the Spirit of grace brought grace to all 3,000 who believed and repented of sin and were baptized for forgiveness according to the message from the Spirit of grace. He still does. Nothing has changed. The prophesied gospel 500 years earlier was fulfilled 500 years later on Pentecost and is still the same powerful soul-saving gospel these 2000 years later!
Praise and honor and glory to God our Father, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of grace! Amen.
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