Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Matthew 5:17–18
In our lectureship we are going to be listening to the voices of the Old Testament prophets, faithful men pointed Israel and Judah back to the God whom they so often abandoned. These servants also sustained the captives and the oppressed during times of trouble, and ultimately they pointed to the one who would deliver them from the eternal consequence of sin––Jesus Christ the Messiah. In Jesus we find the fulfillment of their greatest prophecies.
Jesus fulfilled Scripture throughout His mortal existence. As the prophets had foretold, the Messiah was heralded by God’s messenger, whom Jesus identified as John (Matt. 11:10; cf. Mal. 3:1; 4:6). When Matthew recounts the events leading up to Christ’s birth, He says, “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son’” (vv 22–23a; cf. Isa. 7:14). When Herod asked the scribes where Christ would be born, they directed him to Micah’s prophecy and to Bethlehem (Matt. 2:5–6; cf. Mic. 5:2). Herod’s plans to exterminate the new king were thwarted, however, by God’s omniscience, for another prophecy was fulfilled when Joseph took Jesus and Mary to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath (v 15; cf. Hos. 11:1). When Joseph took them to live in Nazareth, another prophecy was fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene” (v 23; cf. Isa. 11:1–2). Matthew also tells us that when Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum, this was fulfillment of Isaiah’s words (Matt. 4:14–16; cf. Isa. 9:1–2).
Jesus fulfilled Scripture in His teaching. Instead of publicly proclaiming His identity immediately, Jesus often tried to silence those who would have exposed it (Matt. 8:4; 9:30; 12:16–21; 16:17; cf. Isa. 42:1–4). Instead of teaching about the kingdom directly, Jesus did so in parables (Matt. 13:14–15), just as the prophets had predicted (Isa. 6:9–10). As the prophets had said, He came with compassion for the sick, both physically (Matt. 8:16–17; cf. Isa. 53:4) and spiritually (Matt. 9:12–13; cf. Hos. 6:6). He brought controversy and division (Matt. 10:34–36; cf. Mic. 7:6), and when He condemned the false teachers of His day, Jesus rebuked them with the words of the prophets (Matt. 15:7–9; cf. Isa. 29:13).
Jesus fulfilled Scripture in His death. He entered Jerusalem in a humble fashion (on a donkey), but among the praises of the people (Matt. 21:4–5; cf. Zech. 9:9) who shouted, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 21:9; cf. Ps. 118:25–26). He was abandoned by His disciples, just as Jesus had said when He quoted Zechariah: “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” (Matt. 26:31; cf. Zech. 13:7). When Judas betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver but later tried to return the blood money, Matthew tells of the transaction that followed and writes, “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of -the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me’” (Matt. 27:9–10; cf. Zech. 11:12–13). Even in His death Jesus was fulfilling God’s word.
Invite others to join us next week as we look at the compelling witness from the prophets that leaves us with no doubt that Jesus is indeed “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16)!