Is Zechariah 12:10 a prophecy about Christ being crucified or about His return to Earth at the second coming?
“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 mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
When Israel failed to recognize Jesus as their Messiah on the first Palm Sunday, He said that knowledge of Him would henceforth be hidden from their eyes. Zechariah 12:10 is a prophecy that tells us when their spiritual blindness will be lifted.
The first step in the process will happen at the conclusion of the battle of Ezekiel 38, when Israel’s supernatural victory will awaken them to God’s presence in their national life (Ezek. 39:22). This will result in the reinstatement of their Old Covenant relationship with Him, and will usher in Daniel’s 70th Week.
Then, near the end of the Great Tribulation, when Israel is on the brink of defeat and destruction, God will finally open their eyes to the realization that Jesus has been their Messiah all along. It will cause great mourning among the believers in Israel and bring about the final stage in their reconciliation with God, allowing Him come to their rescue again, and to say, “Their blood guilt which I have not pardoned, I will pardon” (Joel 3:21).