John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 13:1

"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 (ASV)

From this verse we learn again that Zechariah promised the spirit of repentance to the Jews, so that they would find God still favorable to them, even when their circumstances were brought to the verge of despair. For it would not have been enough for them to feel sorrow, unless God Himself became favorable and merciful to them.

He had indeed said that the Spirit of grace and of mercies would be poured out; but he had not yet taught clearly what he now adds regarding remission and pardon. After declaring then that the Jews would feel the bitterest sorrow, because they had, as it were, pierced God, he now mentions the fruit of this repentance.

And thus also appears what Paul means by sorrow not to be repented of, for it produces repentance leading to salvation. When, then, our sorrow is blessed by the Lord, the outcome must be considered, for our hearts are thereby raised up to joy. But the result of repentance, as Zechariah declares here, is cleansing; and he alludes to the rites of the law when he says,

A fountain shall be opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We know that previously under the law many washings were prescribed for the Jews; and when anyone had become defiled, washing himself was the remedy. It is certain that water was of no value to cleanse the heart; but the sins of men, we know, are expiated by the death of Christ, so that true cleansing is by the blood which He shed for us. Therefore, the types of the law should undoubtedly be referred to this blood.

The meaning is that God would be reconciled to the Jews when they were touched with sincere sorrow, and that reconciliation would be ready for them, for the Lord would cleanse them from every defilement.

He speaks of a fountain opened; and he undoubtedly intimates here a difference between the law and the gospel. Water was brought daily to the temple, but it was, we know, for private washings. But Zechariah promises here a perpetual stream of cleansing water, as if he had said, “Cleansing will be free to all, when God will again receive His people into favor.”

Although remission of sins was previously offered under the law, it is now much more easily obtained by us; not that God grants a license to sin, but that the way in which our filth is cleansed has become more evident since the coming of Christ.

For the forefathers under the law were indeed fully assured that God was so favorable as not to impute sins; but where was the pledge of cleansing? It was in the sprinkling of blood, and that blood was the blood of a calf or a lamb. Now that we know that we have been redeemed by Christ, and that our souls are sprinkled with His blood by the hidden power of the Holy Spirit, it is undoubtedly the same as if God had not only set our cleansing before our eyes, but also placed it, as it were, in our hands, while for the forefathers it was more obscure or shown to them from a distance.

And he says, To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He had previously restricted God’s favor to that city, so that he might spur the Jews, who had preferred their external gratifications to such great happiness. For they thought themselves happy in their exile, because they inhabited a pleasant and fruitful country, and enjoyed tranquility and peace; and thus it happened that they despised the deliverance offered to them.

Therefore, the Prophet promises here to the citizens of Jerusalem and to the royal family a fountain in which they could wash away their filth; for from Zion was the law to go forth, and from Jerusalem the word of the Lord (Isaiah 2:2). And we know that from there were taken the first-fruits of the new Church.

What we have previously seen regarding God’s favor being extended further is no objection, for both events were fulfilled in their proper order, as God blessed the tribe of Judah, who trusted in His promises and returned to their own country, and afterwards extended His favor wider, and gathered into one body those who had been dispersed throughout distant parts of the world.

He adds, For sin and for uncleanness, or as some read, “for sprinkling,” which is by no means suitable, unless the word “sin” is taken as expiation. The word is derived from נדד, nedad, but it often means sprinkling, sometimes uncleanness, and sometimes the uncleanness of women, and so some translate it here. The verb signifies to remove or to separate; and hence נדה, nede, is the removal of a woman from her husband during her uncleanness, but it is applied to designate any uncleanness. It might indeed be taken here for the uncleanness of women, as an instance of a part for the whole; but I am led by the context to translate it as uncleanness. Now if we translate חטאת, chathat, as sin, then נדה, nede, must be translated as uncleanness; but if the first is expiation, then the second may be sprinkling: and this meaning I am inclined to take, for under the law sins were cleansed by sacrifices as well as by washings.

The meaning of the whole then is this: that although the Jews had defiled themselves in various ways, so that they had become filthy before God, and their uncleanness was abominable, yet a fountain would be prepared for them, by which they could cleanse themselves, so as to come before God pure and clean.

We therefore see that it was the Prophet’s purpose to show that the repentance of which he had spoken would not be useless, for there would be a sure result when God favored the Jews, showed Himself favorable to them, and already pacified, and even provided for them a cleansing by the blood of His only-begotten Son. This was so that no filth could prevent them from calling on Him boldly and in confidence. For instead of the rites of the law there would be the reality, as their hearts would be sprinkled by the Spirit, so that they would be purified by faith, and would thus cast away all their filth.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since You have been pleased to adopt us as Your people, and from being Your enemies, profane and reprobate, to make us the children of Abraham, that we might be to You a holy heritage — O grant, that through the whole course of our life we may so repent as to attain Your mercy, which is daily set before us in Your gospel, and of which You have given us a sure pledge in the death of Your only Son; so that we may become more and more humble before You, and labor to form our life according to the rule of righteousness, and so loathe ourselves that we may at the same time be drawn by the sweetness of Your goodness to call upon You, and that being thus united to You, we may be confirmed in the faith, until we reach that blessed rest which has been procured for us by the blood of Your Son Jesus Christ. — Amen.