Bob Marcaurelle homeorchurchbiblestudy.com
JESUS CHRIST IN PROPHECY
Luke 24:44
“Everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44)
One foundation pillar of the Christian faith is that the Bible is the Word of God. Written by men, it is a divine human Book. This is a mystery we cannot explain but we rest on the claim of 2 Peter 1:21, “ ... no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
A second foundation pillar is that Jesus is God in human form. He is fully man and fully God, the divine human Savior. This too is a mystery we cannot explain but we rest on His claim, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9).
How do we know this is true? Be experience and by faith. We come by faith to the Bible and find that its truths feed our souls like sunshine feeds flowers. We come by faith to Jesus and find that He alone can do the works of God in and for us. He pays for our sins, pardons us and gives us power, peace and purpose. Our theme is:
“I know not how that Bethlehem’s Babe / Could in the God-head be / I only know that manger Child /Has brought God’s love to me.”
This however does not mean we exercise blind faith and leap into complete darkness when we embrace Christianity. The Bible says the resurrected Jesus “showed Himself with many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3).
How do we know the Book we love is the Word of God and the Jesus we love is the Son of God? We cannot prove it. Arguments for the skeptic are unconvincing and for the believer are unnecessary.
We can however put forth strong, valid arguments for the truth of Christianity. There are many such arguments.
The absence of obvious errors in the Bible; its impact upon man and the profundity of its content all point to a divine hand behind it.
Concerning our Lord there is His moral grandeur, His exalted wisdom, His impact on the world and His resurrection which produced His church.
One of the greatest arguments, one used repeatedly by the Bible writers is the proof of prophecy. Time after time the Bible writers prove that Jesus is the Messiah because He fulfilled prophecy. For 1500 years the Old Testament writers had been promising a Savior and giving numerous details about Him. Jesus claimed to be this Person and fulfilled the ancient prophecies.
We must remember that “Christ” is not a name but a title. It is the Greek form of the Hebrew word “Messiah” which means “anointed one.” The Hebrews looked for a Messiah who would be prophet, priest and king.
The New Testament echoes the words of Andrew, when he said to his brother Peter, “We have found the Christ.” The disciples followed Him because He was the Messiah. The Jews put Him to death because He claimed to be the Messiah.
There are an estimated 333 prophecies about the Messiah. In Matthew’s gospel alone Jesus is pictured as fulfilling 106 of these.
To convince the Jews, Matthew wrote his gospel to the Jews and his main theme was “Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies.”
Our Lord used the same approach. The phrase, “That the scripture might be fulfilled,” was a constant refrain from His lips. He said, “Search the scriptures for they testify of Me.” He said, “Moses wrote of Me.” He said, “The Son of man goes as it was written of Him.”
The evidential value of fulfilled prophecy was realized by the Apostles. They bore witness to the Christ of prophecy. Peter, preaching the gospel at Caesarea, said, “To Him all the prophets bear witness.”
When the learned, eloquent preacher Apollos preached at Ephesus, we read, “he mightily convinced the Jews ... showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ” (Acts 18:28). Paul said, ”Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures ... was buried and the third day He rose again according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:1,4).
Go back with me thousands of years to the Garden of Eden. When the human race fell into sin God promised One born of woman’s seed Who would do battle with the devil, received a wound and deal a death blow.
God promised Satan in gen. 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between her seed and your seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.”
This strange champion would be from the Tribe of Judah. Jacob, blessing his sons at his death, said, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes” (Gen. 49:10).
He would not only be from the tribe of Judah but from the family of Jesse and David. Isaiah predicted, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse ... and the spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him” (Is. 11:1,2).
This One would also be virgin born (Isa. 7:14) and his name would be Emanuel “God with us” and the “mighty God” and the “Everlasting Father.” (Isa. 9:6)
His birthplace would be the tiny little town of Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2).
It took a national census to get Joseph and Mary out of Nazareth and into Bethlehem but God moved a nation to fulfill prophecy (Lk. 2:1-4).
The strangest prophecies concerned His SUFFERINGS. The first prophecy (Gen. 3:15) spoke of His bruised heel and Isaiah elaborated on this. Hundreds of years before crucifixion he said he would be led like a lamb to the slaughter.
He would be a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. The Lord would lay on Him the sins of us all. He would be numbered with the transgressors.
With His stripes we would be healed and in spite of all this He will live to see the fruits of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Many will be made righteous by letting Him suffer and bearing their iniquities (Isa. 53).
The prophet Zechariah said He would be sold for 30 pieces of silver (11:12) and spoke of wounds in his hands (13:6).
The psalmist spoke of His enemies circling Him, casting lots for His clothes, and piercing His hands and feet (Ps. 22:12-18).
The amazing thing about this is the historical fact that crucifixion was the invention of the Phoenicians and was not practiced until hundreds of years after these eight prophecies. Eight hundred years before crucifixion was ever introduced to Israel by the Romans, the Old Testament prophets spoke of a crucified Messiah.
From Genesis 3:15 to Mal. 4:5 the Old Testament gives at least 333 predictions about the One we know as Jesus.
I. THE MIRACLE OF THESE PROPHECIES
There have been isolated examples of people who have predicted an event and it came to pass. But here we have dozens of men and women, separated by thousands of years, making detailed predictions about one Person.
Blaise Paschal, one of the greatest scientific minds of all time, said, “The greatest of the proofs of Jesus Christ are the prophecies ... the event which has fulfilled them is a miracle of God.”
Hundreds of years before this, in the earliest days of church history, Justin Martyr said, “To declare a thing shall come to pass, long before it is in being, and then to bring it to pass, this or nothing is the work of God.”
Now this is a miracle. It is a unique phenomenon of the Christian faith and the word of God. In no other faith do you find the true prophet. In no other religious book do you find true prophecies. This Bible which foretells the future thousands of times is the Word of God. This Jesus, whose life fulfills hundreds of prophecies is the Son of God.
II. THE MYSTERY OF THESE PROPHECIES
Think second of the mystery. When we examine these Old Testament prophecies regarding the Christ we encounter a mysterious puzzle.
They appear to be CONTRADICTORY. It seems impossible that any one Person could fulfill them all.
The Jews, baffled by the witness, actually came up with the doctrine of two Messiahs. How could one be God and yet suffer? How could one come in both shame and glory?
Look at the contradictions regarding the MESSIAH. He would do no evil but would die as a criminal. He would give His life but would live forever.
He would be numbered with sinners but be buried in a rich man’s tomb.
He would be executed but not one of His bones would be broken. He would be born in Bethlehem but called out of Egypt. He would be despised and forsaken but would be the desire of all nations.
Only in Jesus is the puzzle unraveled. In Him mystery makes sense.
III. THE MESSAGE OF THESE PROPHECIES
Think third of the message of these prophecies. If God’s Book uses them in proclaiming Jesus then they must have a message for us. They speak to us of two things:
1. They Speak To Us of Faith.
God has made belief in Christ a reasonable decision. Faith is not merely a “leap into the dark.” It is not, as one little boy said, “Believing what you know ain’t so.”
Our God appeals to our minds as well as our hearts. Through Isaiah He said, “Come let us reason together” (Isa. 1). For different kinds of minds God has given different kinds of evidence.
Some are drawn by the power of Christianity to change lives; others by Christianity’s answers to puzzling problems or by its global impact.
One of God’s greatest arguments is fulfilled prophecy. The New Testament writers and our Lord Himself put it right at the top.
God has worked miracle after miracle, in Old Testament prophecies, in the life of our Lord, and in the lives of those around us. He has done this to get us to believe, to yield our lives and our sins by faith to His Son and our Savior.
The miracle of fulfilled prophecy, like a church bell, gets our attention and brings us to the place where we can listen to the gospel of the Son of God.
Clarence McCartney says God has made the way of unbelief the most difficult of all roads to travel. How tragic and unspeakably terrible it is when we refuse to listen and to believe. Our God is the great lover of sinners.
He forgives the vilest of the vile. He lifts the lowest of the low and seats them in heaven’s places of honor as His dear children. A fallen woman and a dying thief find forgiveness.
But listen to this, “He that believeth not is condemned already” (Jn. 3:18). Unbelief is the sin that slams the door in God’s face and opens the door to hell.
God, through hundreds of fulfilled prophecies and millions of changed lives, says to us what He said at Jesus’ transfiguration, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him” (Mt. 17:5)
2. They Speak To Us of the Future
Prophecies concerning our Lord are not confined to the Old Testament, to Palestine in the First Century, or to His first coming in the long ago.
Another group of prophecies, found in the Old Testament, upon the lips of our Lord and in the writing of the Apostles - the New Testament prophets, speak of His coming again.
There is one tremendous theme that runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In the ancient days of Israel it was proclaimed in this way, “There is Someone who is coming.” Then, in the days of His incarnation and earth walk, it was answered, “He has come! He is here.”
Finally, after His ascension and down through the centuries of the church, we read the apocalyptic cry, “He is coming again.” The Old Testament prophets pointed to His Second Coming. Zechariah said He would be “king over all the earth” (14:9). Jesus predicted it.
He said, “When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations” (Matt. 25:31-32).
The Apostles predicted it. Paul said, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven” (1 Th. 4:16). Hundreds of prophecies predict His first coming.
And just as surely as Jesus was born of a virgin in Bethlehem and died and rose according to the scriptures, so will He come again.
I ask you one question. Are you ready for the Return? Is His coming to be a time of terror or joy? Will you be lifted up to be with Him forever?
Or will you die in the flames that purge this earth (2 Pet. 3:10)? Will you cry for the mountains to hide you (Rev. 6:16)? Will you stand lost and doomed at the Judgment (Rev. 20:15)? Will you go away to eternal punishment, banished forever from good and from God?
Oh my loving brother, When the world is on fire/
You will need my Jesus/ To be your Savior.
