Knowing Jesus Through His Prophecies
"Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what
John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did
was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah
(that is, the Christ)'...Philip found Nathanael and told him, 'We have
found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets
also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' " (John 1:40-41, 45)
God, through the prophets, had drawn a picture of the coming Messiah. Every Jew who heard readings from the Old Testament knew parts of this picture well. When Andrew and Philip met Jesus they began to see ways in which Jesus fit the prophetic picture. Believing Jews had waited centuries for this very moment. This kind of good news had to be shared! Philip soon told his friend, "We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote."
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THE NATION OF THE MESSIAH
PROMISES TO ADAM AND ABRAHAM
Moses, in about 1500 B.C., was the opening writer of the Old Testament. He recorded God's first promise of hope for the sinful human family. God said to the snake:
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His
heel" (Genesis 3:15).
>From the beginning, the prophecies pointed to a male "offspring," a male child. He would crush or destroy the snake, Satan (note Revelation 12:9). Satan would also give Him much pain.
Later, God spoke again of an "offspring" or "seed." God chose Abraham, and God promised him,
"Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you
have obeyed Me" (Genesis 22:18).
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THE PROMISE TO ISRAEL
God repeated this promise to Abraham's son Isaac (Genesis 21:12; 26:4).
God then repeated the promise to Isaac's son Jacob (Genesis 28:14). Jacob was also called Israel, as we can read in Genesis 32:24-28. Israel had twelve sons.
Which one of these twelve would God choose to carry on the promise of the blessing? Just before his death, Israel gave God's blessings to each of his sons. Israel said to his son Judah:
"The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between
his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the
nations is His." (Genesis 49:10)
Israel's son, Judah, would be the family line that would have the "scepter," the stick of royal authority. Kings would come from the line of Judah. Many years after Genesis had been written, this prophecy came true. The kings of Israel did come from the tribe of Judah. Yet there was more to the prophecy. "He would come" - the One to whom that ruler's rod really belongs. He would be more than just Israel's King, for He would be over "the nations."
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THE FAMILY OF THE MESSIAH
The first king from Judah's line was David, in about 1000 B.C. God made amazing promises to King David (2 Samuel 7:8-29; Psalm 89:3-37; Psalm 132). These promises were repeated by the prophets (Isaiah 11:1; Amos 9: 11; Ezekiel 37:24-28). Jeremiah, for example, foretold,
"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a
righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and
right in the land" (Jeremiah 23:5).
The New Testament was written over 600 years after Jeremiah. The book of Matthew begins:
"A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of
Abraham." (Matthew 1:1)
It is due to the fact that Israel's laws about owning property that caused Jews to keep strict records of each genealogy. Therefore it was well-known among the Jews that Jesus was from David's family (Matthew 9:27; 15:22; Acts 2:22-36). Was it just by chance that Jesus came into that one nation, that one tribe, and that single family that had been predicted by God?
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THE BIRTH PLACE OF THE MESSIAH
The number of places in the world is beyond counting. Who could foretell the exact place of the Messiah's birth? Yet the prophet Micah made an amazing promise: The great Ruler would come from the home village (1 Samuel 16) of His forefather David.
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans
of Judah, out of you will come for Me One who will be Ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Micah 5:2).
The mother of Jesus lived in Nazareth. Government rules forced her to travel many miles to Bethlehem. Her male child was born there, in the very village marked 500 years earlier by Micah (Matthew 2; Luke 2; John 7:42). Did this also happen by chance?
Andrew and Philip knew that only God could foretell and fulfill in such exact ways. They understood enough of the prophecies to be able to say, "We have found the Messiah."
However, some prophecies were more difficult to understand and accept.
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| THE NATION OF ISRAEL |
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|______________________ |
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| | THE TRIBE OF JUDAH | |
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| | | FAMILY OF | | |
| | | DAVID | | |
| | | __________ | | |
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| | | | JESUS | | | |
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| | | |______ | | | |
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MANY JEWS EXPECTED AN EARTHLY KING
Many Jews thought that the Messiah would be like other kings. They reasoned that if the Messiah would rule all nations, He would do so by armed force. So they looked for One to lead them in battle against their nation's enemy, Rome (Acts 5:36-37). Seeing the great powers of Jesus, they wanted to force Jesus to become their king (John 6:15). They expected earthly Jerusalem to be His capital city. Later, when Jesus came to Jerusalem, large crowds shouted their greetings:
"Hosanna to the Son of David." (Matthew 21:9)
"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David." (Mark 11:10)
"Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord." (Luke 19:38)
The crowds were soon disappointed. Instead of joining in their happiness, Jesus wept over the city (Luke 19:43-44). He warned that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed by the Romans (Luke 21:5-24). Instead of marching against the Roman rulers, Jesus came before them as an accused criminal on trial (Luke 23). Many who had welcomed Him began to call for His death. Nails were driven into His hands and feet to hold him onto the raised wood of the cross. There He was left to die slowly, in great pain.
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THE SUFFERING OF THE MESSIAH
Neither the followers of Jesus, nor His enemies, expected that the Messiah would suffer in such ways. Great kings are supposed to be accepted by their people; Jesus was rejected by His people. Great kings have honor and respect; Jesus died in shame. Great kings defeat their enemies; Jesus was crucified by His enemies. His friends were confused and sad. They said,
"But we had hoped that He was the One who was going to redeem Israel."
(Luke 24:21)
If they had looked more closely at the Old Testament prophecies, they would have realized that it foretold that the Messiah would be rejected. Before He died, Jesus often predicted that He would be killed by the Jewish and Roman leaders (Luke 17:25; 18:31-33; 20:9-15). In proof of this He quoted Psalm 118:22, which spoke of Israel's leaders rejecting God's chosen One. The prophet Isaiah (53:3) had also shown that God's chosen One would be "despised and rejected."
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HOW THE MESSIAH WOULD SUFFER AND RISE
The Old Testament prophecies did not stop there. They went on to show exact ways in which the Messiah would be hurt. Here are a few, linked with passages in the New Testament:
* A close friend would turn against Him, betraying Him to His enemies
(Psalm 41:9; Luke 22:47-48).
* The price to be paid for this betrayal was thirty pieces of silver
(Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 26:14-15).
* His own followers would scatter, leaving Him alone (Zechariah 13:7;
Mark 14:49-50).
* People would strike Him and spit on Him (Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67).
* While treated in the most shameful way, He would endure it in silence
(Isaiah 53:7; Mark 14:61; 15:5).
* He would be falsely judged and punished with criminals (Psalm 35:19;
Isaiah 53:8,12; John 15:24-25; 19:18).
* He would be pierced, even in His hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; Zechariah
12:10; John 19:18, 37; 20:27).
* Those who pierced Him would also gamble for his clothes (Psalm 22:18;
John 19:23-24).
* He would be killed - "cut off from the land of the living" (Isaiah 53:8;
John 19:25-37).
* His death would be the "guilt offering" for removing the sins of us all
(Isaiah 53:10-12; 1 Peter 2:24).
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THE PROPHECIES FROM ISAIAH
Old Testament laws allowed only animals to be used as "guilt offerings." Isaiah wrote in about 700 B.C. and he followed those laws. How then could Isaiah speak of this Human as the "guilt offering"? Isaiah 53 said other surprising things. It showed that after His suffering He would enjoy great satisfaction as a result of that suffering. It showed that after His death He would again "see the light of life" (Isaiah 53:10-11).
Some might ask, "Did Christians later write into Isaiah 53 their own ideas about the Christ?" No, this did not come from Christians. Remember that all the Old Testament was translated into the Greek language in about 250 B.C. Long before Jesus' birth Isaiah 53 was already being read in many lands.
OLD MANUSCRIPTS OF ISAIAH
The oldest known Hebrew copy of Isaiah is one of the "Dead Sea Scrolls." It was found in 1947 at Qumran near the Dead Sea, and has been kept in Jerusalem. Scientists have examined this Isaiah scroll. They date this scroll as having been penned over 100 years before the coming of Jesus. Yet this very ancient Isaiah scroll says the same thing in Isaiah 53 as your Bible says today. There is no doubt at all - Isaiah's description of One dying for the sins of others, and then living again, was written long before Christianity began.
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JESUS CLAIMED TO FULFILL PROPHECY
None of us chooses our own family line and place of birth. None of us can choose to return to life after dying. Yet Jesus boldly claimed to fulfill all Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. To His own followers Jesus said,
"How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and
then enter His glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He
explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself
... He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you:
Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses,
the Prophets and the Psalms" (Luke 24:25-27, 44).
To the leading Jews He said,
"These are the Scriptures that testify about Me...If you believed Moses,
you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me" (John 5:39,46).
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THE MESSAGE OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS
The message that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies about the Messiah continued to be the message of the early Christians:
"Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have
foretold these days" (Acts 3:24). (See also Acts 10:43; 13:32; 26:22-23).
Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.
"This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said (Acts 17:2-3).
Monday, June 9, 2008
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