I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

 

I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

 

Matthew 26:31-32 Then Jesus said to them, 'This very night you will all fall away because of me, for it is written: 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.'

Zechariah 13:7-9 "Thus says the LORD Almighty: 'Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man my fellow. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, but I will stretch out my hand on the little ones. Two-thirds will perish from all the land,' says the LORD, 'but a third will be left there. I will bring that third through the fire and refine it as silver is refined and tested as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them; I will say, 'This is my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"

Regarding God striking the shepherd, it shows that God struck Israel, who had fallen into idolatry, through foreign nations, so that the temple was burned and the people were scattered and taken away. However, this situation is the same as Jesus dying on the cross. Jesus, the shepherd, dying on the cross is God judging people who had fallen into sin and idolatry. That is why the disciples were also scattered.

However, the disciples resolved not to abandon Jesus, and Peter even confidently said that he would protect Jesus with his life even if the other disciples abandoned him. As Jesus prophesied, Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. God tells us that when God strikes the shepherd, the sheep have no choice but to run away.

"But after I am raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee." After Jesus' resurrection, there were about five hundred disciples gathered in addition to the twelve disciples. When Jesus was resurrected and ascended, only this small number of disciples witnessed the ascension. Therefore, when Jesus died on the cross, many more followed Jesus through his signs.

In the book of Zechariah, God said, “When the shepherd is struck, the sheep will be scattered, but I will lay my hand on the little ones.” The little ones refer to those who were taken to foreign countries and scattered among the people at that time and returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple. In the time of Jesus, the core disciples were from Galilee. Jesus considered them as the little ones, the remnant.

The little ones of Israel are represented as one third. Those who tried to rebuild the temple faced opposition and difficulties. Those who hindered the rebuilding of the temple were not foreigners, but people of the same nation. In Ezra 4:16, "Then the command was made to search, and it was found that this city had been rebellious against kings from the beginning, and had always done rebellious and rebellious things within it." The Samaritans were people of northern Israel, but they were born as a result of the mixed-blood policy at the time of the Assyrian conquest, so they were treated as foreigners. They were the main ones who hindered the rebuilding of the temple.

When Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected, the little ones were the disciples. Jesus' death on the cross signifies the fall of the temple. Rebuilding this fallen temple is none other than the work of building the temple in the hearts of the saints through the resurrection life.

“He will refine you like silver and test you like gold.” Jesus told his disciples to take up their crosses. You may hear him say, “Die like me,” but he is not. He is saying, “Let your fleshly body die on the cross.” Dying in union with the cross on which Jesus died is taking up your own cross and being refined in the fire. The death of the fleshly self in the hearts of believers is the death of the old man, and the emergence of the new man means the coming of the kingdom of God. The new temple can be built only when the old man (the old temple) dies.

Ephesians 4:22-24 “That you put off, concerning your former conduct, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new self, which after God is created in true righteousness and holiness.” The new self is likened to a new temple. God gave everyone a temple in their hearts, but because of sin, the temple became a ruin, turned into a temple of idols, and eventually collapsed. Therefore, the temple must be rebuilt, not a temple built with a physical body, but a temple built with a spiritual body.

The new temple is established by God in the hearts of the saints. That is why the saints are called the temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

When a temple is established in the hearts of the saints, it is said to become the temple of the Holy Spirit. The temple of the Holy Spirit is the temple of God the Father and the temple of Christ. The Trinity means that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the saints become one through the Holy Spirit. When a temple is established in the hearts of the saints, the Word, Christ, comes in and dwells. That is why the second coming of Christ is realized in the saints.

The establishment of the new temple is another word for resurrection life. Only those who have received resurrection life can establish the new temple. In order to receive resurrection life, one must become one who has died in union with Jesus’ death on the cross. Therefore, the resurrected Jesus Christ gave this command to his disciples before his ascension. Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus told his disciples to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Are there any church communities today that baptize in the Holy Spirit? Probably not. Acts 19:1-5 says, "While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus. Finding some disciples, he said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' They said to him, 'No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.' Paul said to them, 'Into what then were you baptized?' They answered, 'Into John's baptism.' But Paul said, 'John verily baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.' When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Here, being baptized in the name of Jesus means the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:16-17 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet he had fallen on none of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Here, baptism in the name of Jesus is water baptism.

To summarize, the water baptism given by John the Baptist was a ritual to wash away sins. However, all baptisms received in the name of Jesus without knowing the baptism of the Holy Spirit are water baptisms that die to sin. Knowing the meaning of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and receiving it is the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. Most church communities today baptize in the name of Jesus. This baptism is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but the baptism of water. This is because they do not know the meaning of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Water baptism is to die together with Jesus on the cross, and those who receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit are united with the resurrection of Christ, and the saints are also those who have received the life of resurrection. Those who have received the life of resurrection are those who rebuild the new temple. We must keep in mind the words that we are born again of water and the Holy Spirit.