Zechariah 13:7 - Forsaken by his Disciples

This is yet another example of seeing an event in the New Testament and looking for a verb that matches to make it a prophecy that was fulfilled.

In Mark 14:49-50, we have the soldiers arresting Jesus, who complains and then says that it must be done to fulfill scripture (whatever that means!) and all of the apostles ran away.

Here’s the KJV version:

Jesus: “I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.” And they all forsook him and fled.

The claim is that this fulfills Zechariah 13:7.

So, prior to 13:7, in verse 11:15, God gives over His flock to the foolish shepherd, which is a metaphor for the Jews being exiled or captured into another nation. Some say that this was Edom, and others have their own ideas. But then when it’s time to free them, God says in Zechariah 13:7:

“Sword! Rouse yourself against My shepherd, upon the man who I had dealings with””, says YHVH of Hosts. Strike down the shepherd and let the flock disperse, and I will return My hand upon the young ones.”

As we see, the “shepherd” is not the Messiah, but someone that was foolish, dominating His flock, and who, in the end, was commanded by God to be executed so that His people could flee. The weren’t dispersing because they were afraid that they would be next, but they were dispersing towards home, freedom.

There is no equivalence here. The problem is interpreting “shepherd” as always being a kindly metaphor, when the other side of that coin, he is the one who keeps them from leaving, which is how it is being used in this verse, which is why God wants him dead.

The apostles running away was not fulfilling a messianic prophecy. Jesus wasn’t killed and they weren’t running back to Israel after being kept away against their will.

It’s a forced narrative, like so many of the “Prophecies that Jesus literally fulfilled”.