1)
Last
Sunday night we studied together some prophecies about
Jesus.
2)
We saw
specific predictions made hundreds of years in advance.
3)
Men
wrote down specific prophecies about Jesus having a
predecessor.
4)
Detailed
predictions were made about Jesus’ lineage (family history) as well as His
birth.
5)
As
amazing as these predictions are, they are just the
beginning.
6)
Predictions were also made about the Lord’s
life.
7)
As we
begin, we need to pause to think about the significance of what is being
studied.
8)
Imagine
that 700 years in advance someone predicts that a person will be
born.
9)
Specific
details about the person’s birth are made and all the forecasts are right in
every way.
10)
Other
specific predictions about the person’s live are also
made.
11)
This is
what we find with the life of Jesus Christ.
12)
Tonight
we want to look at three areas of Jesus’ life in His adult
year.
13)
These
areas will be His anointing, His temptations, and His ministry.
14)
In Isa.
61:1-3 we find a prophecy.
15)
The
“Spirit of the Lord” was to one day be upon someone to “preach good tidings unto
the meek.”
16)
Isaiah
also this person would come to “bind up the
brokenhearted.”
17)
There
would be “captives” and this person would be involved with liberating
them.
18)
This
same individual would “proclaim the acceptable year of the
Lord.”
19)
Jews
were surely familiar with this prophecy.
Jesus knew it too.
20)
We find
that He read this section of scripture on one occasion.
21)
Luke
records this in Lk. 4:16-21 – READ
22)
Jesus
said to those who heard, “this passage refers to me. I am the
fulfillment.”
23)
It is
one thing to make a claim; it is another to prove it to be true.
24)
The
records of Jesus’ life show that He did exactly what Isaiah promised. This was not all.
25)
Isaiah
also claimed the “Spirit” would be put upon someone (Isa.
42:1).
26)
He
further said this person would bring “justice to the
Gentiles.”
27)
Matthew
(12:16-18) says this incredible prophecy was fulfilled in
Jesus.
28)
In verse
17 of Mt. 12 the Bible says Jesus “fulfilled” this
prophecy.
29)
Jesus
Christ of Nazareth was the one anointed (commissioned) by
heaven.
30)
700
years in advance God made these predictions and they were dead
right.
31)
These
prophecies can be stacked on all the previous ones from last week.
32)
Most
familiar with the gospels will remember that Jesus was
tempted.
33)
Do we
know the temptations are related to prophecy?
34)
We are
familiar with Mt. 4:3-4. Satan
suggested the Lord turn stones into bread.
35)
Jesus
said man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from
God.
36)
Did
Jesus come up with this nifty expression on His own, or is it part of the Old
Testament?
37)
It is
part of the Old Testament – Deut. 8:3.
38)
Is it
not interesting how this Old Testament expression perfectly fit the Lord’s
situation?
39)
Someone
might say, “It was just luck. It
just happened to work out really well.”
40)
If it
were luck, Jesus was lucky three times in a row. What was another of the
temptations?
41)
Mt.
4:5-7 continues with Satan suggesting Jesus throw Himself off the
temple.
42)
Satan
said if Jesus did that, angels would show up to rescue
Him.
43)
Satan
took this passage from the Old Testament (Ps. 91:11-12).
44)
The
devil cited a text, but he did not properly apply it.
45)
Satan
had at his disposal an excellent temptation and he used
it.
46)
How interesting that Jesus
was to be tempted and the perfect temptation just happened to be
available.
47)
When we
look at Jesus’ life, the so-called coincidences just keep
mounting.
48)
The
third recorded temptation was the temptation to accept worldly fame and power
(Mt. 4:8-9).
49)
Satan
said the only thing he wanted in return was “worship” from the
Lord.
50)
Jesus
said, “it is written” (He quoted an Old Testament verse about worship—Deut.
6:13).
51)
How
convenient it was to have just the right passage to respond to just the right
temptation.
52)
Thousands of years in advance just the right
passage had been inserted in the Bible.
53)
THE
ANNOINTING OF JESUS AND THE TEMPTATIONS RECEIVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF ATTENTION IN
THE BIBLE, BUT BOTH ARE MOST ASSUREDLY TIED TO PREDICTIVE PROPHECY.
54)
Even
more attention is given to the adult life of Jesus (His
ministry).
55)
To
appreciate this part of predictive prophecy, we only need look at our world.
56)
How many
of us have seen someone hired for a job and heard a prediction about
them?
57)
A boss
might have said, “I think this is going to be one of the best employees we have
ever had.”
58)
Six
months later, it is determined that the prospective employee of the year is a
thief.
59)
A person
might be hired and we think he will be the worst employee the company has ever
hired.
60)
It turns
out the man is not only a good employee, he is one of the best
employees.
61)
A person
might be hired and we think we will get along great with him or will not like
him.
62)
Time
passes and we see just how wrong we were.
63)
As human
beings we have first hand experience with being bad
predictors.
64)
We may
buy a car thinking it is a gem and it turns out to be a
lemon.
65)
We may
spend a small amount of money on what we think is a junk car and it is a
gem.
66)
When we
start predicting things, we run a great risk of being
wrong.
67) The
Bible made lots of specific predictions about Christ, and it got them all
right.
68)
I want
to turn back to the book of Jeremiah.
69)
This is
a passage I have never used at Goshen.
The exact text we want is Jer. 30:21.
70)
Jeremiah
said Southern Israel (Judah) would go into Babylonian captivity for 70
years.
71)
After
almost 2 generations had passed the Jews would be released; they could go back
home.
72)
This
prophecy is amazing in and of itself.
How could captivity be predicated?
73)
How
could someone know exactly how long the captivity would
last?
74) Jeremiah
was very specific and he was exactly right in every respect.
75)
This
part of the prophecy is not the focus of our study; we want to look at something
else.
a)
Jeremiah
looked beyond the time when Jews being restored to their
land.
b)
He
predicted a restoration, and that prediction also came true.
76)
This man
also looked forward to the time of Christ – Jer. 30:21 – READ
77)
Notice
these points from this prophecy:
78)
The Jews
would have a “ruler.”
79)
This
prophecy had to be fulfilled within a period of 650 years.
80)
Today
people talk about “the Jews.” We do
not know who the Jews are.
81)
In 70 AD
Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem; all the records were
destroyed.
82)
There is
no way for a person to trace back their lineage and say they are a child of
Abraham.
83)
Jeremiah’s prophecy had be fulfilled after
the captivity and at a time close to the first century.
84)
If he were just making a
guess, his best shot at getting it right would have been to use a foreign
power.
85)
In this
day and time the odds of a ruler among the Jews would have been a foreign
power.
86)
Jeremiah
said this ruler would not be a foreigner.
87)
If
Jeremiah were making guesses, a second good guess would have been a ruler from
royalty.
88)
Royal
blood is typically the place where rulers came from.
89)
Notice
the prophecy: This “prince” was to
“be of themselves.”
90)
A ruler
would come, and He would be from the common people.
91)
This is
about as unlikely to come true as aliens showing up at the white house tomorrow
morning.
92)
Mark has
something to say about this in Mk. 6:1-4.
93)
He does
not cite the actual prophecy from Jeremiah.
94)
He does
provide information that shows Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled –
READ
95)
Jesus
was not a foreigner. He was a
common man. He became king of the
Jews.
96)
This was
put on His cross: the king of the
Jews.
97)
He did
not become an earthly, physical king.
He created a spiritual kingdom.
98)
Once
again we are impressed at how a prediction was made and how it was
fulfilled.
99)
Time and
time again in the Old Testament there are prophecies.
100)
Another
one related to Jesus’ ministry is found in Isa. 9:1-2.
101)
Isaiah
said two things would happen in the future.
102)
People
would be “walking in darkness” and there would be a “great
light.”
103)
In the
Bible “walk” has the sense of live.”
104)
People
would be off course and someone would help set things
right.
105)
The
person who would come would not be just anyone.
106)
He is
referred to as a “great light.”
This is the same person Jeremiah spoke of in Jer. 30.
107)
Today a
person may be a “great light” quite easily.
108)
With a
computer one person can make a big impact on the world.
109)
How easy
was it to be a “great light” in ancient times?
110)
Matthew
(4:12-17) says Jesus fulfilled this prophecy.
111)
People
were walking in darkness. There
were deviations from the Old Testament law.
112)
Religious tradition had confused and misled
the people.
113)
There
was more concern about politics than religion.
114)
Jesus
came along and He was like a great light.
He taught as people never before
had taught.
115)
He cured
people the doctors could not cure.
He put an immediate end to things like leprosy.
116)
He even
raised the dead. Jesus was not only
a light, the record presents Him as a great light.
117)
Isaiah
said 700 years in advance that this would happen and it
did.
118)
If this
were his only prophecy, we might be able to somehow dismiss
it.
119)
This
prophecy is one of more than three hundred made hundreds or thousands of years
in advance.
120)
Another
prophecy is found in Ps. 78:2-4.
121)
It was
said someone would “speak in parables.”
122)
He would
“talk about the past” (Israel’s history).
123)
Jesus
specifically fulfilled this prophecy as well (Mt. 13:34-35); the gospels record
this as occurring.
124)
Some may think that Jesus
was just a really clever fellow and made all these things somehow work
out.
125)
For such
a person we might refer them back to the book of Psalms, Ps.
8.
126)
The writer spoke of children
praising someone. Small children
would say noteworthy things about a person.
127)
Guess
who was praised by children in the very way the Psalmist
described?
128)
It was
Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
129)
I want
to read the fulfillment of this from Mt. 21 and take things step by step.
130)
Mt.
21:15 – READ
131)
Small
children were praising Jesus. When
religious officials heard this they were angry.
132)
If these
officials could have stopped the children, they would have surely done
it.
133)
These
men realized that what was happening was not orchestrated; it was
spontaneous.
134)
This was
not a situation that Jesus was somehow able to manipulate.
135)
Now the
first part of verse 16 – READ
136)
This part of the verse
indicates that was being done was unprompted; Jesus had nothing to do with
it.
137)
Jesus
did, however have something to say about it – 16b – READ
138)
These
religious officials were reminded of Ps. 8; Jesus also fulfilled this
passage.
139)
Predictive prophecy reminds us that He is who
the Bible says He is.
140)
He is
the Lord of the living and the dead.
He knows if we are one of His people.
141)
We also
know if we are one of His sheep.