Zechariah 12:11 Commentary and Bible Study

The mourning in verse 10 is then expanded on. It is that mourning which leads to life and which is comforted. It is the mourning of repentance. All who come to salvation, both Jew and Gentile, will mourn at what their sins have done to their Saviour. They mourn when they come under conviction of sin. They do not mourn in the sense that they wish Calvary had never happened, but they mourn because their sin caused Christ to offer himself up as a sacrifice for them. It is a deep mourning like the mourning that took place at Hadadrimmon, a town near Megiddo where Josiah was slain when he went out to fight against Pharaohnechoh (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chronicles 35:24). Josiah was a good king and made this tragic error at the end of life resulting in the loss of his life, and this caused great anguish for the nation. But here is a more intimate cause for mourning which will affect all who find Christ as their Saviour, for without mourning, there cannot be rejoicing in salvation. Nevertheless, those who mourn in faith have their mourning turned to rejoicing. All classes of society are represented by this. In that day true religion will not be state religion but individual religion. The description of every family mourning apart means that God will not deal with them as a nation anymore. He will deal with people family by family, one by one. The prophecy indicates that it is individuals who repent and who enter the kingdom of heaven. Husbands and wives are treated separately, because each one is accountable for God for themselves alone (Luke 17:34).