Fulfilling the Prophets
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Matthew 5:9-12
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
“Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets who were before you in the same way.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse(s) is(are):
Romans 6:22-23
“Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Today we will be reading from Luke 4:14-30
Last week we took a look at first part of Matthew 5:17a where it says …
“Do not think I have come to abolish the Law … but to fulfill (it).”
And we saw that the Jews had taken the Law and turned it upside down. Instead of a natural obedience to the Law driven by a relationship of love for the Lord, they had inverted the Law and made it a “ladder” that needed to be ascended to get TO the Lord.
They had taken a relationship-driven passion for pleasing the Lord and turned it into a dry, bitter legalism with no true hope for eternal life.
But for today let’s look at the part of Matthew 5:17a where it says …
“Do not think I have come to abolish the … prophets … but to fulfill (them).”
As we prepare for this endeavor let’s read of Jesus Himself reading one of the prophecies about Himself and declaring that it had been fulfilled!
This great account is found in Luke 4:14-30
(Prayer for help)
Matthew 5:17a where it says …
“Do not think I have come to abolish the … (writings or teachings of the) prophets … but to fulfill (them).”
There are some prophecies fulfilled by Jesus that we take a look at every year. Some we look at during the Advent season and others we look at during the Easter season.
And then, there are still others we look at nearly every time we remember the Lord’s sacrifice with communion.
Here are the most common ones we see at Christmastime
Isaiah 7:14
“The LORD himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel.”
And we see the fulfillment of this prophecy in the very first chapter of the New Testament where it says in Matthew 1:18,
“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”
Now, it seems that quite a few translations render the phrase, “before they came together” as “before they were married” or “before they lived together”. Both of those translations cloud the idea that Mary was still a virgin when she was found to be pregnant. All of the texts, however, do have say something like, “she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”
In spite of this, her virginity is confirmed in Matthew 1:25 where it says, “(Joseph) did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.”
Other prophecies that were fulfilled regarding Jesus’ arrival on earth are: That He,
- Would be born in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2)
- Would come out of Egypt. (Hosea 11:1 / Matthew 2:13-21)
- Would be raised in Nazareth (Isaiah 11:1)
- That He would be divine “God with Us” (Isaiah 9:6)
And, of course, we know about the main prophecies of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin
- Isaiah 53
- Psalm 22
- The thirty pieces of silver for Judas (Zechariah 11:12)
- The Passover Lamb (Isaiah 53:7)
- Scourging and mocking (Isaiah 50:6)
- Jesus mutilated (Isaiah 52:14)
- Mocking – Psalm 22:8 – “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue Him. Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him.”
- Etc.
OK. That has to do with Jesus’ arrival on earth and His great sacrifice for us. But, Jesus came for much more than to just fulfill prophecies. He had work to do and He accomplished it, or, most of it!
Why do I say most of it? Am I saying that there was something Jesus SHOULD have done but didn’t do? No, He accomplished everything He was supposed to do but there were some things He was to do later.
Let’s read again Luke 4:16-21
“On the Sabbath day (Jesus) went into the synagogue, as was His custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
“Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him. He began by saying to them, “Today this Scripture (prophecy) is fulfilled in your hearing.”
So, here we see Jesus reading from Scripture that was written by the prophet Isaiah over 700 years before His birth.
Here’s what Jesus was sent to do according to the prophecy of the Lord given through Isaiah, He was to …
- proclaim good news to the poor
- proclaim freedom for the prisoners
- recover the sight of the blind
- to set the oppressed free
- to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
Let’s try to remember those, OK?
One day when John the Baptist was in prison he sent his disciples to Jesus with a question. He wanted to be assured that Jesus REALLY WAS the Messiah …
Here is what Jesus said as it is recorded in Luke 7:22-23
“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.”
What Jesus didn’t list for John were two things:
- freedom for the prisoners
- setting the oppressed free
But, prophecies Jesus DID fulfill on the cross of Calvary.
- Those who were imprisoned by sin were able to be set free from slavery to sin by placing their faith and trust in Jesus
- Those oppressed and enslaved to the Law of the Old Testament were set free by the Law of Love for one another which is the fulfillment of the Law.
So, we see that Jesus accomplished PERFECTLY everything prophesied about Him in the Old Testament that He was SUPPOSED to accomplish during His time on earth.
This is important to understand. There were some prophecies about Jesus that were NOT to be fulfilled until Jesus’ return.
What other things have been prophesied about Jesus?
Let’s take a look at the Scripture from Isaiah that Jesus was reading in the Synagogue in Nazareth 20 centuries ago.
Isaiah 61:1-2a
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor …
THAT is where Jesus stopped His reading on that day in the Synagogue in Nazareth 20 centuries ago. Why did He stop there? What did He leave out?
Isaiah 61:2b-3
“ …and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
When Jesus was first here HE proclaimed and initiated the year of the Lord’s favor. It was at that time when He set into motion the time of grace and mercy. It was, and is, a time of grace and mercy that was provided by His substitutionary death on the cross for us. It was when He took the wrath of God for our sin upon Himself. That was the initiation of the “year of the Lord’s favor”.
But, when Jesus returns, the year of the Lord’s favor will end, and the day of the vengeance of our God will commence. The Lord’s vengeance will be poured out on all who hate Him and all who have rejected His grace and mercy.
Jesus, Himself, spoke about this time of vengeance as it is recorded in Luke 21:5-28.
In Luke 21:20-22 Jesus says,
“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment (vengeance) in fulfillment of all that has been written.”
When Jesus speaks about Jerusalem being surrounded by armies He is not speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple that took place in A.D. 70 because He says there will be armies and not just the one, Roman army.
When Jesus returns He WILL fulfill that prophecy.
And, following that Jesus will bring peace and healing and the praise of Yahweh to Zion once again and that prophecy will be fulfilled.
There is so much more that could be said about Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. But, given this small sampling of prophecies we need to ask ourselves some questions …
Regarding the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus and His incarnation; His arrival on earth as the Son of God and the Son of Man? What do you believe?
- Do you really believe that Jesus’ life was predicted hundreds and even thousands of years in advance?
- Was He really born of a virgin?
- Was He really born in Bethlehem, the city of David?
- Did Joseph really take Jesus and His mother to Egypt for protection at the urging of an angel from God?
- Did Joseph really settle in Nazareth and by doing so did he fulfill the prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazarene?
Do you believe those and other prophecies about Jesus coming to earth are true? What is your answer to those questions?
Regarding the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus, His time on earth and what He did for us in the fulfillment of those prophecies; do you believe them?
- Did Jesus really proclaim the good news to the poor?
- Did Jesus really proclaim freedom for the prisoners?
- Did Jesus really live a sinless life?
- Did Jesus really, actually, heal the blind, give hearing to the deaf, heal lepers and people who were unable to walk?
- Did Jesus really cast our demons?
- Did Jesus really raise the dead?
- Did Jesus really take the wrath of God that was intended for our sins upon Himself when He died on the cross of Calvary?
- Did Jesus really physically rise from the dead three days later?
- Did Jesus really physically ascend back to the Father in heaven?
- Did Jesus really provide freedom for those imprisoned by slavery to sin?
- Did Jesus really provide deliverance for those who were under oppression by the evil one?
Do you really believe those to be true?
If so, does your life show it?
Only you know the spiritual condition of your heart!
Do you live in Christ and Christ in you or is He like a piece of clothing you put on to go to church and leave in the closet the rest of the week?
Your true spiritual condition will be enormously important when Jesus returns and He fulfills the final two prophecies from Isaiah 61.
As we said earlier, when Jesus returns, the year of the Lord’s favor will end, and the day of the vengeance of our God will commence. The Lord’s vengeance will be poured out on all who hate Him and all who have rejected His grace and mercy.
If you find yourself to be a recipient of the vengeance of our God it will be a terrible thing. Beyond imagination!
On the other hand, the reward for the righteous will be that Jesus will bring peace and healing and the worship of Yahweh to Zion once again and that prophecy will be fulfilled.
You know, people toy with the Bible. They say, I believe this part but not that part and they make God in the image they want Him to be.
Well, the prophecies will all be realized just as they are written and the person who picks and chooses the parts of the Bible they like or don’t like will be found suffering the vengeance of God on that day.
God is not to be trifled with! He has given us over 6,000 years of warning.
Oh, and that reminds me. What was the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible? It was after sin had entered into the world and judgment was being pronounced and a prophecy was being made regarding the day of vengeance against the evil one.
Genesis 3:15 in the AMP Bible says it this way,
“And I will put enmity (open hostility) between you and the woman, and between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, and you shall [only] bruise His heel.”
We are all either spiritual offspring of the devil or if Christ.
Now, we need to understand that it is the Lord’s will that you turn to Him and so that you do NOT have to endure the day of the Lord’s vengeance! THAT IS NOT HIS WILL.
Jesus came to provide a way for all who will come to Him and believe in Him by faith, repent of their sin and turning to Him for salvation. God wants you to be saved! It is not His will for you to endure everlasting punishment reserved for the devil and his angels and all who hate and reject the grace of God.
Come to God! Be saved!
Final thoughts and prayer
