Zechariah 12:10 – They Shall Look Upon Me Whom They Have Pierced
The Zechariah 12:10 pierced prophecy points to one of the most significant revelations about Christ in the Old Testament. “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son” (Zechariah 12:10). Five centuries before Christ, Zechariah recorded one of the most remarkable prophecies in Scripture—God Himself declaring that He would be pierced, and Israel would mourn over the One they wounded.
The Speaker and the Pierced
The context makes clear who is speaking. Zechariah 12:1 declares “the burden of the word of the LORD for Israel.” This is Yahweh speaking. Then in verse 10, this same LORD says, “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” God declares that He Himself would be pierced.
How can God be pierced? Only if God takes human form—if deity inhabits flesh that can be wounded. The prophecy requires the incarnation to make sense. The eternal God must become man so that He can be pierced, yet remain God so that it is genuinely Him being pierced.
John’s Gospel confirms the fulfillment: “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water… For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced” (John 19:34, 36-37). The apostle identifies Jesus’ piercing as fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy.
The Piercing at Calvary
Jesus was pierced repeatedly—nails through hands and feet, thorns pressed into His brow, and finally the spear thrust into His side after death. The physical piercing was real, bloody, and brutal. The eternal Word made flesh experienced the violation of that flesh.
But the deeper piercing was spiritual. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). Every sin of every believer who would ever trust Him pierced the Son of God. Our rebellion wounded Him. Our guilt crushed Him. We pierced Him with our transgressions.
The piercing was done by Jewish hands calling for crucifixion and Roman hands wielding nails and spear. But ultimately, it was all humanity that pierced Christ. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Everyone’s sin contributed to His wounds.
Exploring the Zechariah 12:10 pierced prophecy helps us see how every detail of the Old Testament points to Christ.
The Looking and the Mourning
Zechariah prophesied that Israel would eventually “look upon” the one they pierced. This looking is more than physical sight—it is recognition, realization, understanding. They would finally see who they had killed. The scales would fall from their eyes.
The mourning would follow. “They shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10). This is grief of the deepest kind—the anguish of losing an only child, the devastation of recognizing a terrible wrong.
This mourning has been partially fulfilled whenever Jews have come to Christ through the centuries. When they recognize Jesus as their Messiah, they realize their nation rejected and killed Him. The grief is real, but it leads to repentance and faith. Looking produces mourning; mourning produces salvation.
The National Fulfillment
Many believe Zechariah describes a future national conversion of Israel. Paul wrote, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:26). A day may come when Israel as a nation looks on their pierced Messiah and mourns.
Zechariah’s broader context supports this. He describes a time when the nations gather against Jerusalem, when the LORD defends the city, when a fountain is opened for sin and uncleanness (Zechariah 12-14). The looking and mourning occur in an eschatological framework—events still future from our perspective.
When Christ returns, “every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him” (Revelation 1:7). The piercing at the first coming will be recognized at the second coming. Those who pierced will look and mourn—some unto salvation, others unto judgment.
The Spirit of Grace
The looking does not happen automatically. God must pour out “the spirit of grace and of supplications” before Israel looks and mourns. The recognition is enabled by divine grace; the repentance is empowered by the Spirit’s work. Even the mourning is a gift.
“And I will pour upon the house of David…” God takes the initiative. He pours out His Spirit. He opens blind eyes. He softens hard hearts. The looking and mourning that lead to salvation are responses to divine enabling, not products of human effort.
This is true for all conversion. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44). We cannot look to Christ savingly until God enables us. We cannot mourn for sin until the Spirit convicts us. Grace precedes and enables our response.
The Fountain Opened
The verses following Zechariah 12:10 reveal what the mourning produces: “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1). The looking and mourning lead to cleansing. A fountain flows from the pierced one.
When the soldier pierced Jesus’ side, blood and water came out (John 19:34). Blood for atonement; water for cleansing. The piercing opened a fountain. The wound that killed Him brings life to all who look to Him. His death is our deliverance.
The great hymn captures it: “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” The fountain flows from the piercing. The cure comes from the wound. Life springs from death.
Our Piercing
We are among those who pierced Christ. Our sins drove the nails. Our rebellion wielded the spear. We cannot distance ourselves from the crucifiers; we are the crucifiers. Every human being who has ever sinned contributed to Calvary’s wounds.
Have you looked upon the One you pierced? Have you recognized that your sin put Him there? Have you mourned for what you did to the Son of God? This is not morbid introspection but essential repentance. We must see our part in His death before we can receive its benefits.
But the mourning leads to joy. The looking leads to salvation. The One we pierced became the One who saves. “By his stripes we are healed.” The wounds we inflicted become the wounds that heal us. We look at the pierced Christ and find not condemnation but cleansing.
The Invitation
Look to Him today—the One whom our sins pierced. See the nails, the thorns, the spear wound. Mourn for what your rebellion required. Then receive the grace that flows from those wounds. The fountain is open; the blood cleanses; the salvation is free.
One day, every eye will look upon the pierced One. For those who have already looked in faith, that day will bring reunion and rejoicing. For those who refused to look, that day will bring only terror. The time to look is now, while grace is poured out, while the Spirit convicts, while the fountain flows.
“And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” Let these words draw you to Christ. Let His wounds soften your heart. Let His piercing produce your salvation. Look and live.