Messianic Prophecies Continued
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He was forsaken by His disciples. |
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Prophecy given in the Old Testament: |
Fulfilled prophecy in the New Testament: |
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Zech 13 (v. 7) .... Says the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.... |
Mark 14 (v. 48) Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?” (v. 49) “I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” (v. 50) Then they all forsook Him and fled. |
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Matt 26 (v. 54) How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus? (v. 55) In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. (v. 56) But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled. |
Laetsch says Zechariah 13:7 is "a clear prophecy of the offense taken by the disciples when Christ was smitten"....Yet the Lord would not forsake the sheep....His despondent, terrified disciples (Luke 24:4,11,17, 37); These weaklings and deserters became the courageous, invincible heralds of the Messiah's kingdom.[1]
Luke 24 (v. 4) And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this.... (v. 5) Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (v. 6) He is not here, but is risen! (v. 11) And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. (v. 17) And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” (v. 37) But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. (v. 38) And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
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When accused, He did not open His mouth. |
He was falsely accused by false witnesses. |
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Prophecy given in the Old Testament: |
Fulfilled prophecy in the New Testament: |
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Isa 53 (v. 7) He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.. |
Matt 27 (v. 12) And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. (v. 13) Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” (v. 14) But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly. |
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Psm 35 (v. 11) Fierce witnesses rise up; they ask me things that I do not know. (v. 12) They reward me evil for good, to the sorrow of my soul. |
Matt 26 (v. 59) Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, (v. 60) but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. |
A bodily wound: not mere mental sorrow; Mecholal, from chalal─literally pierced; minutely appropriate to Messiah, whose hands, feet, and side were pierced (Ps 22:16).[2]
Psm 22 (v. 16) For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; (v. 17) I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
"....But from the crown of the head, which was crowned with thorns, to the soles of his feet, which were nailed to the cross, nothing appeared but wounds and bruises."[3]
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He was mocked,... smitten and spit upon,... |
bruised and wounded,... shook their heads. |
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Prophecy given in the Old Testament: |
Fulfilled prophecy in the New Testament: |
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Psm 22 (v. 6) ....A reproach of men, and despised by the people. (v. 7) All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, (v. 8) “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!” Psm 109 (v. 25) I also have become a reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake their heads. Isa 53 (v. 3) He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. (v. 4) Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. (v. 5) 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. (v. 6) ....And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. |
Matt 27 (v. 28) And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. (v. 29) When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (v. 30) Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. (v. 31) And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. Matt 27 (v. 39) And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads (v. 40) and saying, “....save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (v. 41) Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, (v. 42) “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. (v. 43) He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” |
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Isa 50 (v. 6) I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. Zech 13 (v. 6) And one will say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?” Then he will answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”
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Matt 26 (v. 67) Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, (v. 68) saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?” Luke 22 (v. 63) Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. (v. 64) And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?” (v. 65) And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him. |
Jewish source: "Targum Isaiah" on Isaiah 50:6 says, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that pluck out the hair; I hid not my face from humiliation and spitting."[4]
Henry states, "In this submission, He resigned Himself, (1.) To be scourged;....(2.) To be buffeted;....(3.) To be spit upon;....All this Christ underwent for us, and voluntarily, to convince us of His willingness to save us."[5]
Shook their heads─A gesture implying that there is no hope for the sufferer, at whom they contemptuously sneer. As though it was all over with me: and I and my cause were irretrievably ruined.[6]
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His hands and feet were pierced....His bones |
were not broken and His side was pierced. |
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Prophecy given in the Old Testament: |
Fulfilled prophecy in the New Testament: |
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Psm 22 (v. 14) ….all My bones are out of joint…. (v. 16) ....the assembly of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; (v. 17) I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
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John 20 (v. 25) The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Luke 23 (v. 33) And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him.... |
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Psm 34
(v. 19) Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. (v. 20) He guards all his bones; Zech 12 (v. 10) “And I will pour on....the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. |
John 19 (v. 32) Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. (v. 33) But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. (v. 34) But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. (v. 35) And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. |
Blinzler states, “Crucifixion was unknown in Jewish criminal law. The hanging on a gibbet, which was prescribed by Jewish law for idolaters and blasphemers who had been stoned, was not a death penalty, but an additional punishment after death designed to brand the executed person as one accursed of God, in accordance with (Deut 21:23)….The Jews applied these words also to one who had been crucified. If crucifixion was the most shameful and degrading death penalty even in the eyes of the pagan world, the Jews in the time of Jesus regarded a person so executed as being, over and above, accursed of God.[7]
Deut 21 (v. 22) If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, (v. 23) his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.
References:
1. Theodore Laetsch, (1970). Bible Commentary: The Minor Prophets, p.491-492, Concordia Publishing House.
2. A.R. Fausset, (1961). A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical on the Old and New Testaments (vol.III), p.730.
3. Matthew Henry, (1972). Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (vols.I&II), p.826, Sovereign Grace Publishers.
4. J.F. Stenning, (1949). The Targum of Isaiah, p.170, Clarendon Press.
5. Matthew Henry, (1972). Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (vols.I&II), p.816, Sovereign Grace Publishers.
6. J.W. Ethridge, (1968). The Targums of Onkelos and Johathan Ben Ussiel on the Pentateuch, (vol.1&2), p.148&345.
7. Josef Blinzler, (1959). The Trial of Jesus. Translated by Isabel and Florence McHugh, p.247-248.
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