Welcome back to our study of Christ's life and God's promise fulfilled of sending His Son, Jesus, as we take another look at the Old Testament to tell the story of His life as it would happen much later. These things prove that Jesus was the promised Messiah and that because of this, we have eternal life through his fulfilment of prophecy. Last time we looked at the Christmas story and how every detail of that moment was long since foretold. This time we'll take a look at Christ's life as it occurs throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament verses that coincide.
For a god among men, Jesus, true God, true Man lived a pretty unassuming life. The Hebrew people of the Old Testament up through Jesus' life and ascension back into Heaven had quite a different idea of how things were going to go once their God decided to live among them. They were under the impression that God would return and restore His chosen people to power. The oppression they knew, be it the Babylonians or the Romans, was going to be a distant memory. They would probably point you to verses from Psalm 24, "7Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10Who is this King of glory? The LORD Almighty-- he is the King of glory." A strong and mighty King, powerful on the battlefield.
But we know that's not the kind of king Jesus was. However Jesus is a king, infact 1 Timothy 6:15b says, "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords," No one has authority over Jesus, but He rules in our hearts from His throne at the right hand of the Father until the last day. But once again, there were really no surprises as far as Jesus' life went. The fact that He spent time as more of a minister than a king was told in Deuteronomy. Moses wrote in chapter 18, "15The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him." John tells us in his Gospel, chapter 7, that when people had heard Jesus speak, confusion spread among them, "40On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." 41Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee?" Some thought due to the way He spoke, He was the prophet, John the Baptist, but even John confessed that Jesus was greater than he.
In Acts 3, Luke quotes Deuteronomy and further explains how Jesus was this prophecy fulfilled and how it applies to Christians from then-forward, "18But this is how God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus. 21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.' 24"Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' 26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.""
Even the circumstances that lead Jesus to His ministry had been foretold. Isaiah explains how in chapter 9, "1Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-- 2The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." In Matthew, Jesus finds out that John the Baptist had been jailed and shortly there after begins his ministry. In chapter 4, Matthew writes, "12When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. 13Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali-- 14to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15"Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- 16the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." 17From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Jesus life wasn't all talk though. Time and time again we see the Savior perform miraculous acts that prove His Godliness. Some of these miracles were in and of themselves fulfillments of God's promise to us and once again make an even more solid case that this is the true Messiah. Looking back at the Hebrew people again, you can't help but be excited with them, in fact, the argument could be made, what they were looking forward to was very much like what we are looking forward to on the last day and the eternity to follow. One other cause for their great excitement was the miracles promised by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 35, "5Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert." In Matthew 11, Jesus confirms who He is by explaining to John the Baptist's disciples, "2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" 4Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
Going back to the Jews, imagine, this news of a prophecy fulfilling Savior is starting to spread and you find out He is coming to Jerusalem, and much like instructed in Isaiah, they begin to prepare the way for their new king. That first Palm Sunday, Jesus was treated like the exalted king He really is. They laid out palm branches and laid their cloaks on the road. They prepared the entrance for Him much like they would when any other beloved king or government official. How did they know that their king was to enter Jerusalem in this way. The prophet Zechariah explains in his book in chapter 9, "9Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." There are accounts of this event in Matthew, Luke and John, John chapter 12 states, "12The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! " "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!" 14Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, 15"Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt.""
Upon arriving at the temple in Jerusalem, this mighty king did exactly what He promised to do; restore His Father's glory. Malachi prophecies in chapter 3, "1"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty." The first thing Jesus does is go to His Father's home, the Holy Temple, but all is not as it should be. Luke goes on from his account in chapter 19 of Palm Sunday to tell us in the very same chapter what happened when he arrived at the Temple. "45Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling."
Some may say this was the beginning of the end of His Earthly Kingdom, one not actually promised to the Jews. As time went on and the Pharisees and Sadducees started to influence the crowds over the next week the Hebrews lost some of that the zeal they had on Sunday. However, to Him, this was of no surprise, just a further fulfillment of the promise He gave to His believers while they waited for Him. The Psalmist writes in 118, "22The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 23the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Again and again throughout the New Testament this imagery is reused to let us know that Jesus was the promised Lord. That He came here to save us from an eternity apart from Him. Jesus Himself even uses the imagery in Matthew 21. "42Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: " 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes' ? 43"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit."
The meaning behind this imagery is one that resonated with anyone who built a structure in those times. In those days you found a good sturdy stone to build your home on. Once the stone was laid, the builder would build out from this "corner" stone and the entire home would be built on its foundation and structural integrity, should you chose a lousy stone, your home may not provide the proper shelter or safety necessary. Jesus is a sturdy foundation. His church is built on Him. Ephesians 2 says, "20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." Peter writes in his first Epistle in chapter 2, "6For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, " 8and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for."
Luckily today we know that Christ is a solid foundation that we build our faith on, but as we'll find out in our next lesson, the people who rejected Him would first have to put Him to death. However, once again, we'll see that His suffering was of no surprise, especially not to Jesus who understood that that is what He came here to do. We thank God, who gave us His Word so that through it we would come to know Him and have a solid and lasting foundation in which to build our relationship upon.
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