DAY 17: Fulfilling Prophecy
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet” – Matthew 1:22 ESV
My Thoughts:
The Apostle Matthew, the former tax collector, in his writings was very focused on detailing Christ’s genealogy and how events in Christ’s life fulfilled specific prophecies spoken of Him long ago by God. Matthew would say many times the above quote. Because many aspects of Christ’s birth, as well as aspects of His life, death and resurrection are foretold in the Old Testament. These prophecies were to be used to signify He was the Messiah. A great number of the most prominent prophecies surround Christ’s birth and death. For example, it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isa 7:14) … in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) … to a descendant of David (Isa 9:6).
The Messiah would also come while the Temple in Jerusalem still stood, according to Malachi 3:1, (it was destroyed in 70 A.D.). And the Messiah would come before Israel lost her right to judge her own people or as Genesis says, “the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen 49:10 NKJV). According to the historian Josephus, the Sanhedrin of Israel lost the right to truly judge the Jews when they lost the right to pass death penalties in 11 A.D. This means that Jesus was born before ‘the scepter passed,’ but He was crucified after the changing of the guard. It was customary for blasphemers to be stoned, according to Jewish custom. But Jesus was crucified according to the Roman custom (being after 11 A.D.). This also fulfills the prophecy of Psalm 22 of pierced hands and feet and Psalm 34 that He will have no broken bones, just as a sacrificial Passover Lamb would not. Considering crucifixion was not even invented at the time of these writings (some 400 or more years earlier)—that is amazing indeed.
There are many more scriptural fulfillments that take place over the course of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. For example, Jesus enters Jerusalem for Passover riding on a donkey to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. And that Jesus’ garments would be divided among the soldiers and they would cast lots for his clothing is prophesied in Psalm 22:18. Jesus is despised and rejected, pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities as Isaiah foretold (Isa 53). And in dying for our sins as our Savior and Messiah, Jesus has redeemed us from Satan’s work and the power of sin. Jesus has ‘bruised his [Satan’s] head” (Gen 3:15), which is a death blow, just as God told Adam and Eve He would.
Road to Emmaus by Greg Olsen
There are also many parallels with Old Testament events. For instance, after Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, He is tempted by Satan in the Wilderness for 40 days, invoking memories of the Wilderness Wanderings for 40 years. And Jesus will choose 12 disciples—a powerful symbol of the 12 tribes of Israel. And Jesus will rise from the dead after 3 days, much like Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days.
Christ himself speaks of these biblical prophecies regarding Himself in a conversation with two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. And if I could be a fly on a wall for any conversation in history, this would be the one I’d choose to hear. The two men meet Jesus, but don’t recognize Him. And they tell Him all that has happened in Jerusalem—of the trial and crucifixion and how the women found an empty tomb. “And he [Jesus] said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24: 25-27 ESV).
All this to say, that what God has promised, He delivers.
Prayer (from the Book of Common Prayer):
O GOD, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thine only Son Jesus Christ; Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our Judge, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world with out end. Amen.
