God loves us very much. It’s a central theme in the New Testament. The most famous verse is John 3:16. It says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” Many people can recite this by heart. But the Old Testament records God’s love as well. In Psalm 103:17, we read, “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting…” Jeremiah the Prophet concurs with the Psalmist and says in Jeremiah 31:3 that God loves us with everlasting love. Zechariah is about the depth of that love. In response to God’s love for us, we’re called to return to him from our wayward ways. We’re called to trust Him, obey Him, Worship Him, and, above all, recognize Him. In Chapter 9, verse 9, we read, “Look, your King is coming to you…riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey’s colt.” Can you think of a less threatening figure?
But they did not recognize Him. Rather, they executed Him. Chapter 12, verse 10 says, “I will pour out…a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced…they will mourn as one mourns for an only son.” These prophetic passages from Zechariah are clearly references to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. There is no greater expression of God’s Love than that which we see expressed on Calvary. God pours out his grace through Christ upon all who will receive it. Jesus lifted up the “plea for mercy” for us when he said to the Father, “forgive them, for they know not what they do.” It’s all about the depth of God’s love for us. Jon Courson writes, “God doesn’t tell His people that He will love them with an everlasting love once they learn their lesson in Babylon and put away their idols. He says He loved them all along and that His love would have no end. The steadfast, everlasting love of God is truly unfathomable. After all, it wasn’t when we were broken and humble before Him but while we were sinners that Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Paul prayed that we might know the breadth, length, depth, and height of the love of God. But even as he wrote, he realized this prayer can’t truly be answered because the incredible, steadfast, everlasting love of God is more than we can ever understand (Ephesians 3:18, 19).”
Billy Graham wrote, “God’s love provides the plan and way of redemption for sinful man. God’s love is the cross of Jesus, by which man can have forgiveness and cleansing. It was the love of God that sent Jesus Christ to the cross! Never question God’s great love, for it is as unchangeable a part of God as His holiness. No matter how terrible your sins, God loves you. Were it not for the love of God, none of us would ever have a chance in the future life. But God is Love, and his love for us is everlasting!”