“The Lord Remembers”

Sunday, August 16, 2020

The Old Testament is full of types of Christ.  This is a strange idea to us, but refers to an impression, a stamp—as in type-writer.  These people serve to foreshadow much of God’s overall plan that he established before the foundation of the world, and they also create a useful contrast between the shadow, and the reality.

One of these types is an obscure high priest in the early 8^th century BC, named Zechariah.  He is not to be confused with Zechariah, the slightly later king of Israel to the north, or Zechariah, the literary prophet in the post-exile period, or Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, or any of the other several, lesser known men of the same name.  The Israelites clearly liked this name, and who can blame them?  It means the Lord remembers, which is certainly a thought worth repeating from time to time.  But this particular Zechariah holds the distinction of being the only one specifically mentioned by Jesus, when he told the Pharisees that the blood of all the persecuted prophets, “from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary,” would “be required of this generation” (Lk 11.51).  That should spark our interest.  How did he come to be killed within the temple?

Let’s start with the backstory, which is long and confusing, but I’ll give you a condensed version of the story told in 2 Kings 8-12 and 2 Chronicles 18-24.  The king of Judah during Zechariah’s lifetime was Joash.  Joash had been the target of a political purge when he was just a baby.  His grandmother, Athaliah, saw a power vacuum when her son, King Ahaziah, was assassinated.  Not wanting to be passed over and lose her position as queen mother, she murdered the entire royal family.  But one member of that family, a sister of the dead king, managed to sneak baby Joash out of the royal palace and over to the Temple, to her husband—the high priest Jehoiada.  They kept him hidden away for six years, while Athaliah ruled the kingdom.  When Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada staged an uprising to oust the usurper Athaliah and put the rightful king on his throne.  They succeeded, and Jehoiada, who’d already acted as the adoptive father to young Joash, also served as the new king’s most trusted adviser until his death.

Now comes the story of Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah.  While Joash is generally remembered as a good king, he went downhill in his later years.  With Jehoiada no longer around to advise him and keep him on the straight and narrow, he listened to bad advisors, and

they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols.  And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.  Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord.  These testified against them, but they would not pay attention. (2Ch 24.18-19)

One of these prophets was Zechariah.  You might expect that the son of his beloved adoptive father, mentor, and trusted advisor would gain the king’s ear, but that’s not what happened.  Instead, “they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord” (2Ch 24.21).  How telling, that King Joash, who had been sheltered from his grandmother’s wrath in that very Temple, didn’t let it serve as a shelter against his own wrath directed at his adoptive brother, Zechariah.

Of course, the chief sin here is against the victim, Zechariah; but the chronicler ties it to the previous generation, as well:

“Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, ‘May the Lord see and avenge!’” (2Ch 24.22)

Joash did not remember the good deeds of the past, or act in ways that were appropriate as a result.  But God does remember.  We’re reminded of this by the name of the martyr, but if that wasn’t enough, he himself appeals to God to remember this injustice and visit wrath upon those responsible—a request God swiftly granted, in the next part of the story.

So, how is this guy a type of Christ?  Well, let’s list some of the details again: he was the high priest.  His father established a king on Zion.  He was sent by God to speak against civil authorities that were blatantly disregarding God’s will.  He was betrayed by someone close, and a conspiracy of elites led to a gross injustice right there in God’s holy city.  All of these things would be repeated in Jesus, and that was pretty much Jesus’ point when he brought up Zechariah in the context of Luke 11.

But there’s a big difference in the ending.  While Zechariah’s dying utterance was, “May the Lord see and avenge,” Jesus said “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23.34).  On one hand, the Lord remembers is a comforting thought, because it means he won’t forget us, and will visit us in our affliction and rescue us from the dangers of this world, and more importantly, the next.  On the other hand, it’s a terrifying thought, because it means he won’t forget our deeds, including the awful sins of which we are all guilty.  And, without Jesus to intercede, that’s exactly right.  Thank God, for sending us his Son, to usher in a new covenant, in which he would remember our sin no more.

Jeremy Nettles

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