Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feasts of the Resurrection of the Lord and of the Holy Fathers (that is, all of the Old Testament saints), as well as with the forefeast of the Nativity of Christ!

Today let’s continue to study the Old Testament prophets and briefly discuss the Holy Prophet of God Zechariah. St. Zechariah was a contemporary of the prophet Haggai. He lived and preached at the end of the 6th century B.C. at the time when the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity to the Promised Land. Like Haggai, he was anxious for the Jews to mend their ways and build a new temple. He was from the priestly tribe and therefore this topic was close to his heart. The Holy Prophet Zechariah wrote quite a large book, which is made up of fourteen chapters. It can be divided into two main parts. The first contains eight visions as well as their explanation. This first part of the book is more concerned with the question of the restoration of the temple and with events of that time. The second part of the book is written in a poetic style and is full of prophecies about the Messiah.

It is interesting to note that many places from the Book of Zechariah are quoted directly in the Gospels and that images used by the prophet are borrowed by the Saviour in His addresses. The words “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zech. 9: 9) we find in the narrative of the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem in the Gospels of both Matthew and John. The words “And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was priсed at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord” (Zech. 11: 13) foretell the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas. The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew notes this prophecy. St. John the Theologian, while describing the crucifixion of our Saviour in his Gospel, remembers the following words of the Prophet Zechariah: “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, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zech. 12: 10). The evangelists Matthew and Mark remembered the following words of the prophet when they wrote about the fear that gripped the apostles when the Lord was arrested: “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” (Zech. 13: 7).

Our Lord Jesus Christ more than once calls Himself a shepherd. There are even icons on which He is depicted as a good shepherd. This image was not thought up by Christ Himself, but was borrowed from the Old Testament and partly from the prophecy of St. Zechariah. In such a way, Christ, in a most delicate way, is as if saying to the Jews: You know and love the Holy Scriptures; therefore, remember the prophet of God Zechariah, remember his words about the shepherd and see in Me the fulfillment of that ancient prophecy!

Let’s read the Old Testament not simply as a textbook of ancient history, or like ancient literature, or even as a receptacle of moral wisdom, but instead, let’s read these divine books so as to learn about Christ, to strengthen our weak faith in the incarnate God-Man Jesus Christ who suffered on the cross and arose from the dead.

Priest Alexis