There are many times that Jesus asks the religious leaders of His time, "Have ye never read?"
Did you ever wonder why He would ask them that? They had the writings of Moses, the prophets, the chronicles of the kings of Judah and Israel. So, why would He ask if they had ever read the Scriptures?
It's because they weren't reading just the Scriptures. They were reading rabbinical discussions regarding the Scriptures instead of studying the actual Tanakh- the Torah (Teaching/Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings- Psalms, Proverbs, etc).
Had they studied the actual Scriptures, they would have found many prophecies relating to God coming in the flesh and His death and His resurrection.
I Corinthians 15:1-4- Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
"According to the Scriptures" is in there twice because Paul is pointing out that His death was prophesied in the Scriptures and His resurrection was prophesied in the Scriptures.
It is important to note that God did not send an angel to die for mankind. He sent a member of the Trinity. The word of God made flesh. The son of God born as a human.
I Tim 3:16- And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. Anyone who denies that is considered a devil in the book of I John.
Galatians 4:4- But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Jesus Christ was made of a woman. That wording is significant. It means that all His human DNA came from Mary. He was 100% God and 100% human. And He came to live under the Old Testament Law.
Isaiah 7:14-16- Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
God had Isaiah prophesy that a virgin would conceive supernaturally and birth a son. Isaiah's prophecy included that both the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Samaria would be no more- forsaken of both her kings. They would once again be one nation of Israel, albeit they would once again be in subjection to foreign occupation.
Matthew quotes the first part of this prophecy in his telling of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 1:23- Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
One of the portions of Scripture that Jesus Christ uses against the religious leaders comes from Psalms and it was regarding His divine humanity.
Psalm 2:7- I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
No Jewish father would call his son Lord unless that son was something extraordinary. Jehovah is declaring that He will have a begotten son.
Beget means to bring into existence by the process of reproduction. For this person to be God's begotten He had to have God's DNA. And we are told that Jesus Christ is the only begotten of God.
John 3:16- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The only way to obtain everlasting life is to believe in the only begotten Son of God. By doing that you become an adopted son of God (Romans 8), but Jesus is the only one who can claim to have been begotten by God.
Isaiah 9:6- For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The child that Isaiah is referencing here is called a son who is also the mighty God and the everlasting Father. He could only have those titles if He was born of God's seed.
Psalm 110:1- The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Again, Jehovah is calling someone Lord. He wouldn't call just any mere human Lord. But, He would call His only begotten Son that!
Jesus brings this up to the religious leaders of His day and they couldn't answer it.
Matthew 22:41-46- While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
This question shut the religious leaders mouths. They couldn't answer why a king would call his son by the title of lord. The KJV translators used "LORD" (in all caps) to represent the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (YHWH), following the Septuagint and New Testament practice, but occasionally used "IEHOVAH" (Jehovah) when the context demanded it.
No wonder the religious leaders wouldn't answer the question. They'd have to admit that the promised king from the lineage of David was more than just a human descendant!
Proverbs 30:4-5- Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Agur prophecies in Proverbs and asks What is the creator's name and what is His son's name? And then he answers those questions in the very next verse without realizing it!
John 1:1-3, 14- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus Christ has always been, He just didn't always have a body. Before His incarnation He was the Word of God. He helped God create the heavens and the earth!
Even King Nebuchadnezzar knew enough of the Jewish prophecies to understand that God had a son!
Daniel 3:24-25- Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Moses prophesied the incarnation of God.
Deuteronomy 18:15-19- The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
The Israelites in the wilderness only saw the effects of God on the mountain. When they heard His voice they lost all composure. They begged Moses to speak to God on their behalf, and God accepted that. Then God told Moses that He would send a prophet like Moses- one that would speak with God face to face and tell the people what God expected of them. But those religious leaders weren't reading Moses, or they would have listened and obeyed!
They weren't reading the Psalms or they would have noticed when they were fulfilling them while Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross!
Psalm 22:1, 7-8, 16-18- My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
They should have been able to hear and see what was happening, but they were blind because they didn't really search the Scriptures.
Matthew 27:35-43- And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
They weren't reading the Prophets or they would have understood who Jesus Christ was and why He was there.
Isaiah 53:3-5, 7-9,11- He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
He had to die. He was prophesied to bear their iniquities. Yet they couldn't see it!
Isaiah 52:13-15- Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
Simon Peter pointed this out in his epistle.
I Peter 2:24- Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Mark 15:16-19- And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.
These men were mocking Jesus Christ as the king of the Jews, but they didn't realize they were fulfilling prophecy.
Even Jesus' death was prophesied. The Jews would stone people to death; the crucifixion was a Roman punishment, and yet it was prophesied that He would be pierced outside of Jerusalem.
Zechariah 12:10- And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zechariah prophesied that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would look upon the person they pierced.
Isaiah 49:16- Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Jesus Christ's hands were pierced by nails when He was secured to the cross.
Zechariah also prophesied about how much Jesus Christ would be betrayed for.
Zechariah 11:12- And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
Matthew 26:14-16- Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
Shouldn't the chief priest, the one who was suppose to study and teach the Scriptures, have recognized something eerily familiar was going on?
Zechariah 13:6- And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
The religious leaders knew just enough to be used of God to unwittingly prophecy.
Mark 15:31- Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
Jesus Christ could not save Himself, because if He did He wouldn't be able to save others. The plan was always for God to provide a perfect sacrifice for the sin of mankind! Abraham, himself, prophesied this.
Genesis 22:7-8- And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Abraham told Isaac that God would provide Himself a lamb to be used for the sacrifice, but the wording also means that God would provide Himself AS the lamb to be sacrificed for the sin of the whole world.
The author of the book of Hebrews made the point that the Old Testament priesthood was flawed. They were sinful men offering subpar sacrifices that could only cover the sin. There needed to be a perfect priest who could offer a perfect sacrifice which could completely FORGIVE sin!
Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, and He laid His life down willingly as a perfect priest to become the perfect sacrifice.
Hebrews 9:11-14, 22, 24-28- But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 7:22-27- By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
The author shows us that Jesus didn't stay dead. Because He had no sin, He wasn't subject to the wages of sin. He was able to resurrect from the dead and take His blood to heaven and, as a prefect priest, to present it before the throne of God for the sin of the world.
John 1:29b- Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Revelation 1:18- I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
The lamb of God that was prophesied by Abraham came to die as promised. He suffered the death that was prophesied throughout the Prophets. And He came back to life with a glorified body to await the second part of the prophecy- He will reign on the throne of David forever.
Psalm 2:6-12- Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Isaiah 9:7- Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Jeremiah 23:5- Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Micah 4:7b- and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
So what should you do with this prophecy?
Acts 13:38-39- Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
You can accept His sacrifice as the payment for your sin. The Old Testament gave many commands for which sacrifices to bring for what trespass. But there was no sacrifice that could cover adultery and murder- those required the punishment of death.
Jesus Christ's blood, however, is more powerful than those Old Testament sacrifices because it can REMOVE the penalty of sin on the human soul. The only question that remains is the same exact one that Pilate asked from the judgment seat, "What will YOU do with Jesus Christ?"
Proverbs 8:35-36- For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
There is no other way to be FORGIVEN. God will not accept anyone else's attempt to pay for their sin.
Acts 4:12- Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
