In the 18th century, there was a man who struggled with intense bouts of depression. When he was just six years old, he lost his mother. In his early adulthood, his relationship with the woman he loved ended. Shortly thereafter, His best friend unexpectedly died by drowning. And for several years, he despaired under the weight of his sin. But by the kind providence of God, he was eventually brought to an asylum where he could read the Bible. And upon reading these words from Romans 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood…” this man was converted to Christ!

This man’s name was William Cowper, the author of several songs we sing in public worship, such as God Moves in a Mysterious Way, and more. But from the opening words of our text, Cowper authored his most well-known hymn: There is a Fountain Filled with Blood. As a believer, Cowper would continue to struggle with depression and his remaining sin. But Zechariah 13 brought him comfort because it pointed him back to that fountain where sinners lose their guilty stains.

As we consider Zechariah 13 in this blog, I hope you will experientially know something of this comfort that Cowper received under the gospel fountain. I further hope this gospel fountain will lead you to evangelical obedience towards Christ and deepen your dependence upon Him.

A Fountain for Cleansing: Zech. 13:1

A. This Fountain Flows from Him Whom They Have Pierced. Zech. 12:10

The words On that day at the beginning of this verse point us to the day Christ died to save sinners. We know this because this text is directly related to its preceding text, Zechariah 12:10. On that day, God said He would pour out His Spirit of Grace, causing sinners to look upon the pierced Messiah and mourn on account of their sins committed against Him. And our text is still referring to that same day.

The same audience is mentioned in both texts: the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, which is simply Old Testament language for “believers.” The same problem is addressed in both texts, namely, sin committed against God. But the comforting connection between these verses is this: Those who look upon the Pierced One by faith and mourn with repentance—these people are not left without hope! Although crucifying the Lord of glory was a heinous crime, in God’s plan of redemption, this act has also resulted in the greatest news of all time! When Christ was killed on the cross, a fountain of mercy came flowing forth from Him who they have pierced. So, Cowper is right to note that this is no ordinary fountain. This is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins.

B. Purpose of this gospel fountain.

And consider now the purpose of this fountain. The main emphasis of this fountain is not to quench thirst, but to provide cleansing. When people get themselves dirty, fountain water is needed to help them to wash and be cleansed. We can illustrate this purpose by considering children who play outside in the mud. When they’re done playing in the mud, and they want to come inside, what must they do before their mother lets them come in? They must rinse their bodies with the garden hose and cleanse themselves, so they don’t track mud all over the house. The hose, or the fountain, is used for the purpose of cleansing. And in this illustration, the fifth mud points us to how sin makes us unclean. But the fountain points us to how we can have our sins removed! Similarly to how a fountain cleanses our dirty bodies, the gospel fountain cleanses our sins!

And this is only possible because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners. We cannot remove our sins by our attempts at obedience. That is like rolling around in the mud for cleansing… But Jesus offered Himself up to God without blemish to take away our sins. (Jn. 1:29). Jesus shed His blood so that God would forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. (1 Jn. 1:9). So, when we trust in Him alone for our salvation, we discover the good news that John writes about in His first letter: the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 Jn. 1:7). Though our sin makes us dirty, Jesus’ blood washes us and makes us whiter than snow. (Ps. 51:7; Is. 1:18).

C. Continually Existing in the Status of Being Open. מָקֹ֣ור נִפְתָּ֔ח

And the good news this morning is that this fountain is open right now! This is not a fountain that was once opened but is now sealed or closed. If we were being overly literal with our translation of the original, we could translate verse 1: “On that day there will be a fountain opened that will continue to exist in the status of being open!” This fountain wasn’t just for the post-exilic Jews or the first-century disciples. This fountain continues to be open, even now, for sinners like us. Which leads us to our first application for unbelievers.

Unbelievers: You must come under this fountain for salvation.

By nature, you are unclean and unacceptable in the eyes of God. And you have committed filthy acts which make you unworthy of salvation or heaven. Your sins deserve hell, and you cannot clean yourselves up by your own goodness. So, you must come to the fountain of Christ by faith for cleansing. Only His blood can take away your sins.

Obj. #1. But perhaps you have some objections to why you won’t come to Christ to receive this cleansing. Perhaps you’re thinking: “I’m not ready to come to Christ yet, because I don’t have my life in order. I need to be a better person, and then I’ll become a Christian.” Or maybe you’re thinking: “I need to feel a deeper hatred of my sins; I need to sense some preparatory work of God moving in my soul, before I have some merit to go to Christ.” Friend, if this is how you are thinking, then you are reading this text backwards! We don’t clean ourselves up to come to Christ! No, we come to Christ with our sins! We come to Him confessing that we are defiled and that we cannot clean ourselves! So, don’t wait until you think you’re better to come to Christ. Come, ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall! If you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all. Come to Christ with your sin, and He will cleanse you.

Obj. #2. Perhaps your mental objection to resisting the gospel is something like this: This passage says that this cleansing is for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—and I don’t know if that is me. I don’t know if I’m numbered among the elect. I don’t know if this promise belongs to me. Friend, if this is your objection, then you must look to the cross before you would find any evidence of your election. You don’t try to find out if you’re elect before you close with Christ. No amount of introspection will reveal whether you are elect or not. You come to Christ first for cleansing and discover that whoever comes to Him, he will never cast out. (Jn. 6:37). Then, and only then, do you learn that those who come to the Son were those given to Him by the Father in eternity. (Jn. 6:37). So don’t gaze at your navel to discover if you’re elect before coming to Jesus. Come to the fountain of Christ first, and then the rest of His gospel promises will become precious to you. A second application for believers is this:

Believers: You must continually live under this fountain opened by Christ.

You must remain under this fountain because you still have remaining sin. Martin Luther rightly taught us that the entire life of believers should be one of repentance. You don’t just repent when you first come to Christ. You must continue to confess your remaining sins to God. And when you do, you can trust that this fountain is still open for your remaining corruptions.

You must also remain under this fountain to avoid despair. As a Christian, you have been justified through the blood of Christ. (Rom. 5:9). God objectively approves of you and considers you no longer guilty. And Jesus shed His blood to remove your guilt from you. Indeed, His blood has been sprinkled on your conscience to purify your conscience, so that when you trust in Him, you don’t have to live in despair for what you’ve previously done. Similarly to how the goat was sent into the wilderness on the day of atonement, Christ shed His blood to make expiation on your behalf, so you could “lose all your guilty stains.” (Cowper).

You must further stay under this fountain for the enjoyment of your assurance. Our confession rightly teaches that our assurance is founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ. (2LCF 18:2). Yes, good works improve our assurance. And yes, the testimony of the Holy Spirit grows our assurance. But if you try to look at these alone, completely detached from Christ’s shed blood, you will struggle with assurance—because these three grounds are like a three-legged chair. If you lose one of them, your assurance will fall over and diminish… The objective reason that God approves of you is that Christ shed His blood for you. The only reason you can see fruit in your life as a believer is because Christ shed His blood to change you. And the Holy Spirit takes His Word, and bears witness with your spirit that Christ’s blood was shed for you. There is no assurance without the precious blood of Christ. So, look to Christ.

And then lastly, you must stay under this fountain for strength to live the Christian life. The relief of sins forgiven motivates us to work by love in obedience to God. As the Scottish Preacher Ralph Erskine wrote: The gospel gives us wings to actually live for God’s glory. So, don’t take Jesus’ shed blood as your license to sin. Receive the blessing of spiritual cleansing and walk in the purity that Christ’s blood purchased.

Conclusion