4 One Life Changed the World
The Significance of Jesus: A Life that Transformed the World
This post is based on the transcript of my YouTube video. I want to thank Michaele Hamilton for proofreading and editing it.
You can access the PDF of our study guide here.
Hello, and thank you for joining us once again for our Prophecies of Hope series. We are studying the Bible. The Bible is our main source of information for this series. I hope you have a Bible and can follow along with me.
This time we are focusing on one life that transformed the world. We are talking about Jesus.
The Book of Revelation begins with the following statements, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John
The book of Revelation is all about Jesus. Sometimes we study prophecy and we talk about dragons and the antichrist and the mark of the beast and the end of the world, but we miss Jesus, who should be the focus of the whole thing.
We have been talking about Jesus so far, but this episode we will focus specifically on Jesus and learn some new things. If we understand Jesus, then everything else will make sense. If we misunderstand Jesus, if we don't get Jesus, it'll be hard to understand anything else in the Bible.
Before we jump in, let's bow our heads and pray. Father in heaven, I pray that you would lift up Jesus. That You would reveal Him to us through the scriptures as we go through this study. Bless us, Father, as we spend these moments studying Your word, seeking to better understand Jesus. Reveal Him to us through Your spirit. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
I hope you have your Bibles with you. Thank you for joining me. This is episode four.
I want to start with a question.
Who has had a positive influence in your life? Is there someone that you can think of? Maybe a teacher, maybe a family member, a grandfather, a parent, a sibling, a friend that you had, a mentor, someone who had a profound impact in your life. Think about that for a bit. I know I can think of a few people in my life.
It's interesting when we think about this. What makes someone have an impact in your life? What is it that they do? Why did this person that you're thinking about, why did they have such an impact in your life? What is it that they did?
As we think about history and we think about the world, it's interesting. We have a life that changed history, that split history into two.
I looked into this a little bit. We currently have what's called a Gregorian calendar. This is the global standard for measurement of dates, and despite it originating in Western Christian tradition its use has spread throughout the world and now transcends religious, cultural and linguistic boundaries.
It's interesting that people argue over BC and AD, so before Christ and Anno Domini, or the year of our Lord. Before Christ, things that happened before Jesus was born, and AD for things that happened since the birth of Jesus. Then there is also CE / BCE or common era and before the common era. You might have seen both used in history books and textbooks and other places.
The idea of counting the years from the birth of Jesus was first proposed in the year 525 by Dionysius Exiguus, a Christian monk. It standardized under the Julian and Gregorian calendars, a system that spread throughout Europe and the Christian world during the centuries that followed.
AD stands for Anno Domini, Latin for the year of the Lord while BC stands for before Christ. CE stands for common or current era while BCE stands for, before the common or current era. These abbreviations have shorter history than BC and AD, although they still date from at least as early as the 17 hundreds. They have been in frequent use by Jewish academics for more than a hundred years but became more widespread in the later part of the 20th century, replacing BC and AD in a number of fields, notably science and academia. I will leave links to this in the video description and maybe have a blog post on that, but it's interesting.
People want to take Jesus out of the calendar, so they'll say, oh, we use common era and before, common era. My question to them is, what happened that created the switch between the common era (CE) and before the common era (BCE)? What was the event that split CE and BCE? They would have to say, the supposed birth date of Jesus Christ. Whether you believe in Him or don't believe in Him, agree or disagree, the birth of Jesus has affected how we count dates, whether you like it or not. That's the way it is in the whole world. People are aware that something happened and what happened changed the calendar and the way that we keep track of time.
Who was this Jesus? Why is He so important? What did He do that impacted the world? How many great men and women have lived throughout history? What makes Jesus so special that the whole world goes by that calendar?
Now, there's a lot of different theories out there, I'm sure you have your own, but it is interesting that the birth of Jesus, out of all the events in the world, is the one that affects how we count the years. Something to think about.
Let's look in Luke chapter 24 as we begin our study. I think this is a story that really helps us tackle the questions, who was Jesus? How can we know if He was really the Messiah? How can we be sure?
As I mentioned earlier in video number 2 in our series, prophecy has a few different functions. When Jesus is asked about the end of the world by the disciples in Matthew Chapter 24, the first thing that He says regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and when these things would happen, and what are the signs of the end of the age, Jesus says, be careful that no one deceives you. There will be false christs. It's good for us to know the true Christ, because the better we know Him, the easier it is to spot a fake. It's good to know what our faith is based on and founded on. That is of course, Jesus Christ.
Let’s go to the Bible to the book of Luke. It's worth noting that in Luke 23, when Jesus is killed, crucified and then chapter 24 is when He rises from the dead. In verse 13, Jesus has risen from the dead, He has shown up to a few people, the apostles haven't seen Him yet. The apostles are still arguing whether or not He rose from the dead or what happened.
Luke 24 starting at verse 13 says, Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
These men are talking about Jesus. They're on the road. It's a seven-mile hike. That can take a while. I've done some seven-mile hikes. I guess they were used to walking that far back then, but it's a good long walk. It's a long journey on foot. Jesus joins them and the text tells us that they did not recognize Jesus from His appearance.
This is intentional. Their eyes were restrained so they did not know him. They didn't recognize Him from appearance. Oh, yeah. You look like Jesus. That's not what happened. They're talking amongst themselves, He joins in, they don't know Him, and then He starts talking to them.
Verse 17, And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
They're sad, they're clearly upset, they're not happy. Something terrible has happened. It's not a good thing.
Verse 18. Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
Like, where have you been? Have you been under a rock? Everybody knows what's happened here in Jerusalem these days.
And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.
When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”
According to these men, and especially Cleopas who's answering this question, there was a mighty prophet among them, they were hoping He was the Messiah who was going to come to deliver them, but now they're not so sure. So it is with history. There are many people who believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but there's some who were not so sure. I'm not sure which camp you fall into as you watch this video.
They were hoping it was Jesus, but there were things that happened. They were just confused. He's dead, but He's not in the tomb. Some women said they saw Angels, said that He's alive, some of the guys went there and they didn't see Him.
Just a side note, I don't think that the Bible is against women. These events took place in a culture that regarded women in a way that's very different than we do right now in the western world. The women had a gospel message to preach that the Savior was risen. God gave them that message. They were the first ones to run to the tomb. They're the ones who got to witness that Jesus had risen from the dead, however, the men did not believe them. So, then the question becomes, is it that the women should not have been sharing the good news and it's wrong for them to do so? Or is it that the women had the news, they were sharing the news, they were speaking gospel truth, but because of the culture, people were not willing to listen to them. Something for us to think about as you go on with this study.
Verse 25, and this is what we are going to be focusing on in this study. Then He (Jesus) said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”
Is prophecy important? Yes. Jesus is saying you are foolish and you're slow to believe in everything that the prophets have spoken.
Jesus is not saying, didn't you see the miracles the Messiah performed? didn't you see all the things that I did? No, He does not refer to miracles, signs and wonders. This is important. Matthew 24, like we talked about in our second video, Jesus says there will be false christ and false prophets. They will perform signs and wonders. Don't follow just signs and wonders. Anybody could do those. Satan has a limited amount of power, but he can perform signs and wonders.
But listen to what Jesus says. You're slow to believe in what the prophets have spoken. The way you spot the Messiah is by understanding prophecy and what the prophets have said.
Verse 26, “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Jesus was able to go through the whole Bible and teach these men all the things concerning Him and the evidence of Jesus being the Messiah. It's not that He only healed the sick and rose the dead and turned the water into wine and walked on water and cast out demons and healed people. Yes, those things happened and yes, that is part of the testimony, but that's not what Jesus refers to. He refers to prophecy. If someone comes and does these signs and wonders but they do not fulfill prophecy or they contradict what the Bible says about the character of God and with the things prophecy says will happen, then we should be warned that this is not someone that is from God.
So I'm going to continue reading verse 28. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.
This is a principle we see in scriptures. Hospitality. Without knowing, people have stayed with Angels and here they invite Jesus to stay with them, not because they knew He was Jesus. They were just being hospitable. They were being kind to this stranger who had joined them on the journey. Because of their kindness, look at what is going to happen.
Verse 30, Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Jesus gave us the proper approach to finding out if He is the Messiah. Look through the Old Testament and you will know. Look at what the prophets have said. This is why I worry when people want to throw out the Old Testament. If you throw out the Old Testament, how do you understand the ministry of Jesus? How do you understand the plan of God? It only makes sense in the context of the things that happened before Jesus spoke to those men to prove and to explain to them that these things were supposed to happen.
He had to go back and talk about what the prophets had said and the writings, the Bible and the law. We call it the Old Testament and they call it the prophets and the testimony.
Let's go back to Genesis 3. We talked about it last time. It's the fall, the fall of humanity. Genesis 1 and 2, we have the creation account. The world is perfect. There is a warning regarding this one tree, don't eat from it. Then Adam and Eve are tempted by Satan who shows up in the form of a serpent, they fall into sinning, and then there's judgment that takes place towards the end of chapter 3 when God confronts them about what they did.
Genesis 3:15 is a passage that has been referred to as the protoevangelium, the first gospel. In Genesis 3, in the context of judgment, God shows up and humanity has rebelled against Him. God is judging the serpent and man and woman because of their choices, because of their rebellion. At the heart of this judgment, we have a promise. We have the gospel.
Genesis 3:15, God is speaking. He says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
It's interesting. The word used for bruise here in the original Hebrew is smash, destroy. The emphasis is on crushing, bruising. The only difference here is the location. The serpent will bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, and the seed of the woman will bruise or crush the head of the serpent. The injury to the heel is not fatal, but the injury to the head is fatal. Is this a foreshadow of what was going to happen?
From this point on, humanity was waiting for the Messiah to be born, the seed of the woman that would crush the serpent, and yet He would have his heel bruised. Many interpret this, and I agree with this interpretation, this a reference to the crucifixion.
You can say, well, but He died. Yes, He did. But He was victorious. He was not defeated. But when He rose from the dead, Satan was defeated. We talked about this on the previous video. His angels and his followers will be ultimately destroyed, and then the earth will be made new.
This is the first prophecy about the Messiah. The seed of the woman. That's why in biblical times, a woman who couldn't have children was considered cursed and why the firstborn was dedicated to the Lord in a special way. It's because, with every child that was born, it was the possibility of the Messiah, the Savior.
It starts in Genesis, this notion that someone is coming to defeat the enemy. The gospel is not something new that begins in the New Testament. The gospel has been there from the very beginning. It's God's plan that someone would come to rescue us. The law was never meant to save us. We were never meant to save ourselves. Our obedience was never meant to save us. We were always meant to be delivered by the seed of the woman who would come to crush the head of the serpent. And that is talking about Jesus.
Now, in case you're not convinced, let's go to Genesis chapter 22. There is a story in Genesis 22 that is really powerful. It's referred to as nesah, the Hebrew word for testing. It's when Abraham is tested by God to see if he would be willing to offer his son as a sacrifice. I believe this was a way of teaching Abraham, and those who would hear the story later, how God called for him to sacrifice his son, the one whom he loved. Later we find out that Jesus is God's Son in whom He's well pleased. The Son that He loves.
Ultimately, God made the sacrifice. Abraham did not have to. You can read that story in Genesis 22. For the sake of time, we will not go through the whole chapter. We know from the beginning this is a test. God doesn't really mean for Abraham to sacrifice his son. This is a test. Abraham didn't know this, but we know this as we read this story.
Genesis 22:1, Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” I guess Abraham talked to God enough that he's familiar with God and he hears the voice of God. He knows it's God. He says, here I am.
Then He (God speaking to Abraham) said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
God does not want human sacrifices. You could do a whole sermon on this. There are all kinds of things going on here. God told Abraham, you are going to sacrifice your son, offer him as a burnt offering. Then we skip forward to verses seven and eight of the same chapter.
But Isaac spoke to Abraham, so Isaac is his son, the one that he loves, the one that he's bringing with him up the mountain. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
You see, Isaac did not understand what was going on. They're going to offer a sacrifice, that's obvious. They're bringing the wood. They're bringing the fire. They are missing the lamb. Isn't that kind of an important thing? Aren't we missing something? You get the feeling we are missing something? Where's the lamb to offer as the burn offering?
Verse eight. And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
The two of them went together. Abraham answers by saying, God will provide for himself a lamb for the offering. I have a personal view on this. I believe at this point the Holy Spirit inspired Abraham, and I don't think he was even aware of this, but he prophesied that God would provide for Himself a lamb. Maybe Abraham was just remembering the story and how God told Adam and Eve that the seed of the woman would one day crush the serpent’s. Maybe he had this understanding that someone was coming to rescue.
It's interesting as you read the story and come to verse 13. It says Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
This is what we refer to as substitutionary atonement. A fancy word to say somebody else dies to atone for my sin. Somebody else dies to deal with the separation that sin causes between me and God. The atonement. Brings us back together, but I don't atone for my sins. Somebody else atone for my sins.
The lamb and all those sacrifices were pointing forward to Jesus. These sacrifices were not enough. If they had been enough, Jesus would not have needed to die on the cross. We could just continue to offer animal sacrifices, which is a lot cheaper than the son of God. That price is way too high to pay if there was another option.
Isaac asked about the lamb. Abraham says God will provide for Himself a lamb. If you look closely at verse 13, it says a ram was present. A lamb or ram has the same meaning here.
Verse 14, And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
God would provide for Himself a lamb. This prophecy does not get fulfilled until we come to John 1.
We move from Genesis all the way over to John in the New Testament. John 1:29. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This is John the Baptist, who is preaching and baptizing.
I believe the Holy Spirit inspired John. He understood that this was the fulfillment of the words that Abraham had spoken to Isaac, his son. God will provide for Himself a lamb. He looks at Jesus and he says, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This means John the Baptist understood the ministry of Jesus.
Jesus’ disciple should have understood His ministry. They should not have been surprised that He died but here is what happened. When we fail to study prophecy and scriptures and to allow scriptures to challenge our views, we impose our views into the scriptures and we see what we want to see, and we disregard the parts that challenge our views.
We're going to see as we go through this study that there were prophecies that the Messiah was supposed to suffer and to die. But there were also prophecies about His power and His kingdom would last forever, the reign that would not end. The religious leaders of the time held onto the parts that they liked, the kingdom that would have no end, and they disregarded the parts about the substitutionary atonement. Somebody had to die for their sins. The sacrifice of bulls and lambs and rams and sheep was not enough.
Another prophecy that took place is found in Micah 5:2:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
Here we find out that Jesus was supposed to be born in Bethlehem. Now this is important because when we go to the New Testament, Luke 2:1, we have the story of the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:1-7 says, And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Notice, there was a decree that caused them to move and all this commotion, but in the end, prophecy was fulfilled. Jesus was born not in Nazareth, not in Galilee, but in Judea, in Bethlehem, just like prophecy had foretold.
If we go back once again to the Old Testament, Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
Then if we jump back to the New Testament, I want to show you the prophecy and then the fulfillment. Matthew 1, starting with verse 18, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Verse 22, So 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, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
Where Jesus had to be born, the fact that He was going to be born from a virgin, this was prophesied and fulfilled.
Genesis also has this interesting thing. In Genesis 49, Jacob is about to die. He has his last words for his son. In these blessings, he also prophesized when he's talking to his son Judah.
Genesis 49:8-10
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”
We understand this to be a prophecy about Jesus, who is also called the lion of Judah. We know that He'll be a descendant of Judah. This also is true when David comes into power. David is a descendant of Judah, and we know that Jesus would also be a descendant of David. All of this was prophesied way back in Genesis 49:8-10.
We go forward to Luke 1 again, Old Testament, New Testament, making sure these things match up. Luke 1:30-32:
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. (David, once again, a reference back to the prophecy.) And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
This is what the children of Israel will looking forward to. A king whose kingdom would have no end. They're expecting this to happen during the first coming of Jesus when He was born but actually this will happen when Jesus comes again the second time. He will establish His kingdom, as we saw a little bit in Revelation, how the whole thing ends. The prophecy is true, it was just the timing they misunderstood. Jesus will establish that kingdom. He didn't establish it at that time.
He was born a descendant of David, from the prophesized lineage. Luke 3:31-38, that's the genealogy of Jesus and it mentions it there. You can also compare this to Genesis 3:15, which talks about the seed crushing the head of the serpent.
If we go back to the Old Testament to the book of Numbers, chapter 24, although the book of Numbers is not a prophetic book of the Bible, there is a really interesting story there about Balaam. Balaam is a prophet for hire from the east. He's not Jewish and he's not from the children of Israel. It's a story about how his donkey talks to him, and there's an angel that was going to destroy him. You should really read the whole story in Numbers 24 if you're not familiar with it.
Balaam is paid by a different king, an enemy of Israel, to curse Israel, but he can only speak the words that God gives him to speak, so he ends up prophesying. The God of Israel used this prophet Balaam, who's not even a prophet from the children of Israel, to prophesy the following words. Number 24:17:
“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
A Star shall come out of Jacob;
A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of tumult.”
It is the opposite of what the king wanted him to do. He wanted to curse Israel and he's saying, actually Israel will be victorious over everything. This is ultimately pointing to the Messiah and the kingdom of peace that will have no end when Jesus comes the second time.
It is very interesting. It mentions a star coming out of Jacob. There are some who have connected this to the wise men who come after Jesus was born. What prophecy did they look at? It could have been the prophecy of Balaam. They followed the star and came all the way to Jerusalem. There is a possible connection.
Let's go to Matthew chapter two and look at that. By now you are getting good at going back and forth in the Bible.
Matthew 2:1-2, it says: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
How did they know? They probably had access to other prophecies also, but I would like to believe, this was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Balaam. The book of Psalm, I think specifically of Psalm 22, also contains prophecies even though it is not a prophetic book in the Bible, but it does seem to fit or function in a prophetic manner.
It is interesting that though there are prophetic books in the Bible, prophecies are not only found in the prophetic books. The law and the prophets and the testimony is a reference to the Old Testament in general. The more you understand the Old Testament, the easier it is to identify the true Messiah or Jesus. I'm just hitting the highlights. There is a lot more. We could spend a lifetime studying everything in the Old Testament that was fulfilled in Jesus and pointed to Jesus.
Join me in Psalm 22 and let's see what this has to say. Psalm 22:1:
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
Jesus quoted this part, “My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me” in Matthew 27:46.
Psalm 22:16:
For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
You can compare this with Luke 23:33, Luke 24:39, John 20:20, 25 and 27. Jesus' hand and feet were pierced. When He came back from the dead and rose from the grave, when He was seen by his disciples, He said, “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see.” They could see that really, it was Him. We know that He was pierced because there were scars there for others to see.
We see in Psalm 22:18, this was predicted regarding the Messiah.
They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.
You can compare this with Matthew 27:35 and John 19:23-24. We can see that these things happen, just like Jesus said they would happen.
Another interesting thing some have mentioned, and it makes sense to me, when Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, pointed directly to Psalm 22:1 which talks about the suffering of the Messiah, and would have been known by the Jewish religious leaders of the time. Any good Jew was familiar with the Old Testament. They had these scriptures and would have been familiar with Psalm 22 and its reference to the Messiah. When Jesus quoted “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”out loud as He hung on the cross, He is calling for those who were there to remember the Psalm and realize it is being fulfilled in front of their eyes. The piercing of His hands and side, the garments being split and lots being cast over them, all of these things happening, Jesus is saying, look, prophecy is being fulfilled.
If Jesus was killed some other way, it wouldn't have been fulfilled. If Jesus had died from food poisoning, or pushed off a cliff, or stoned, or stabbed with a sword, none of this would have been fulfilled. But these things were fulfilled, down to His garments being divided and lots being cast.
Interesting, right? It's a lot to be just a coincidence.
Let's look at a few more. Isaiah 53. This is a well-known prophecy about the Messiah and the suffering of the Messiah. Isaiah 53:4-7:
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Our sin, our iniquity, was laid on Jesus who was perfect. Do you see the substitutionary atonement? He substituted us. He took our place and suffered what we were supposed to suffer. Death. Jesus died for us. This is what makes Him the Messiah. Not just the miracles, even though He did the miracles, but that's not the most important thing that He did. The most important thing that He did was to take our sins upon Himself and die in our place.
This is the important thing we cannot miss about Jesus. His teachings are important. His miracles are incredible. His death on the cross and His resurrection and the promise that He is coming again, this is what we cannot possibly miss about the ministry of Jesus.
We can compare this with John 1:29, Acts 8:32-35, Revelation 5:6. Reference these. It's talking about Jesus as a lamb to the slaughter. As we discussed earlier, God will provide for Himself a lamb. Someone who's innocent, dying for the sins of someone else. Substitutionary atonement. Because of His death we are brought close with God. We are God's children because Jesus has given us that privilege.
Isaiah 53:9:
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Jesus was crucified in the middle of two other wicked men that were being crucified yet He was buried in a rich man’s grave. Really interesting to see this fulfilled as well. Matthew 27:57-60, we see that Jesus was buried in a rich men's grave even though He was crucified between two sinners.
If you would like to go deeper, look up Zechariah 11:12-13 and compare with Matthew 27:3-9. It talks about 30 pieces of silver used to buy a potter's field. This refers to Judas betraying Jesus.
Isaiah 61:1-3, compare with Luke 4:16-21, talks about the ministry of Jesus. Jesus did what was predicted.
Psalm 34:20 compared with John 19:31-36. We see that none of Jesus's bones were broken. They would break the legs of people who were hung on the cross and take them down so they wouldn't be crucified during the Sabbath but then they can't escape. Others have said they broke their legs so they would die a little bit faster. People could hang on the cross for a long time. But Jesus' legs were never broken. By Friday evening, He had already died. They thrust a spear through His side to make sure that He was dead. You can read about that in the passages that I mentioned.
What do you think? Do you think that Jesus is the Messiah?
I believe there is overwhelming evidence that yes, Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
Who do you believe that Jesus is and how will you live your life as a result?
If you've never considered this before, I would encourage you to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. All you have to do is pray to Him and invite Him into your heart. Confess your sins. Salvation can be yours.
If you want to learn more about this, please leave a comment below. I will reach out to you and we can talk. I can take you through the steps and find you a local person to help you with Bible studies and baptism. If you are in the Boise area, come and visit us!
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I hope that this series has been a blessing to you so far. We do have more coming up in our next video. It's going to be “What Happened to Right and Wrong in God's Everlasting Law?”
Thank you for joining me for this video all about Jesus as the Messiah. I hope this has been helpful and I look forward to interacting with you again next time. Until then, may God bless you.
