Zechariah 13:7 prophesies concerning Christ as the smitten shepherd: “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.” This verse speaks of a man who is the Lord’s fellow, the companion of the Lord of hosts. This man is Christ, for He is equal to God as His fellow. When Christ came as a man to be the Shepherd, He was rejected, betrayed, and sold for thirty pieces of silver. However, not only was He rejected and betrayed by men, but He was even smitten by God. Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver by men, but following that He was smitten on the cross by God Himself.
The fulfillment of Zechariah 13:7 is found in Matthew 26:31: “Then Jesus says to them, You will all be stumbled in Me this night, for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.” This verse is part of a warning given by the Lord to His disciples. The Lord was the Shepherd, and the disciples were the sheep who were to be scattered. However, all the disciples said that they would not deny Him. All, especially Peter, had the assurance and the confidence that they would follow the Lord to the end, no matter what the pathway might be. Eventually, what they did was the reverse (Matt. 26:56b, 69-75).
Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” This prophecy is fulfilled in Matthew 26:62 and 63a: “The high priest stood up and said to Him, Do you answer nothing? What are these testifying against you? But Jesus remained silent.” The Lord, standing before the Sanhedrin like a sheep before its shearers, would not say a word to vindicate Himself, fulfilling Isaiah 53:7.
The Lord Jesus is the One who was executed with two criminals. Isaiah 53:12c tells us that “he was numbered with the trangressors,” and verse 9a, that “he made his grave with the wicked.” As the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 53, Luke 23:32 and 33 say, “Two others also, who were criminals, were led with Him to be executed. And when they came to the place called Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.” The fact that Christ was executed with two criminals indicates that the Roman authorities considered Him a criminal. This was done under God’s sovereignty that the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Christ’s execution might be fulfilled.
In Isaiah 53:12 it is prophesied that Christ would make “intercession for the transgressors.” According to Luke 23:34, the fulfillment of this prophecy, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” While He was on the cross the Lord made intercession for the transgressors, mainly for the Jews. He interceded for them regarding the evil of the transgressors, the result of their ignorance, a trespass that He prayed would be forgiven by God.
In Psalm 22:18 there is the prophecy that the crucified Christ would be robbed of His garments: “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” In fulfillment of this prophecy, Matthew 27:35 says, “When they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among them, casting lots.” Here we see that the Lord suffered the sinners’ robbery to the uttermost. According to John 19:23 and 24, “The soldiers then, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, a part for each soldier, and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was not of the soldiers but was of God’s sovereignty. It happened that the prophecy of Psalm 22:18 might be fulfilled. The soldiers did exactly what was prophesied. By this we see that the Lord’s death was sovereignly planned. If God had not planned it, no one could have put Christ to death. All the fulfilled prophecies prove that the Lord’s death was not of man but of God’s sovereignty.
Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” First Peter 2:24b says, “By whose bruise you were healed.” Here the word “bruise” is a suffering that resulted in death. According to Genesis 3:15, the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent, and the serpent would bruise the heel of the woman’s seed. The bruise in Genesis 3:15 is related to the bruise in 1 Peter 2:24.
According to 1 Peter 2:24, we have been healed by Christ’s bruise. This is the healing of death. We were dead (Eph. 2:1), but Christ’s suffering of death healed our death so that we may live in His resurrection.