The Prophecies of Jesus Christ’s 1st Coming (continued)

THE MESSIAH WOULD MAGNIFY THE LAW

Isaiah 42:21, “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.” Did Jesus magnify the Law, bringing it to its spiritual intent? Let’s see. Matthew 5:17-48, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass [cf. Rev. 21:1], one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. [So did Jesus fulfill all at his first coming? Obviously not. All will not be fulfilled by Jesus till Revelation 21:1, when the first heavens and earth do pass away, melted down and remade in glory and splendor-to receive the New Jerusalem, the very throne of God the Father, coming down to what is now Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2-17)! But that’s stuff for another study, later maybe sometime.] Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. [This sort of destroys the warped concept of grace being a license to sin or continue to live in sin, doesn’t it? If you doubt that, read on, as Jesus magnifies the Old Covenant Law to its lofty spiritual intent.] Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. It hath been said, Whosoever shall put his away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife [or husband], saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all: neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: nor by earth: for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain [two], give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans [tax collectors] the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” As many new covenant Christians understand the Sabbath/Holy day commandments which were a part of the Ten Commandments were transformed to their spiritual intent as described by Paul in the book of Hebrews. But Jesus right here does the same thing with some of the other Ten Commandments. Adultery is taken to its thought level of lusting, murder is taken to its thought level of hating. Jesus did magnify the Law, bringing it to the thought level, far beyond the action level. Actions start in the mind. Jesus went right to the heart of the matter. So we see Isaiah 42:21 was most definitely fulfilled by Jesus.

THE MESSIAH WOULD COME THE FIRST TIME, LOWLY RIDING UPON AN ASS

Zechariah 9:9-17, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, by the blood of the covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; when I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with the whirlwinds of the south.” [This part definitely is 2nd coming, suggesting the time of the Last Trumpet blast heralding Jesus Christ’s 2nd coming in power and glory.] “The Lord of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.” Again see the two separate elements of this prophecy. The bolded section was definitely fulfilled by Jesus at his first coming, the second unbolded part is yet to be fulfilled at his second coming which you can read about in the companion study about his second coming.

Matthew 21:1-9, “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, ‘Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, ‘The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.’ All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.’ And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.’”

John 12:15, “On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.’ These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.”

An interesting point about what they were singing. They were singing the Hallel taken from the 118 Psalm, and they were singing it to Jesus. This was customarily sung in the temple at this time of year throughout the Passover season by the temple singers. But it was not sung outside the temple toward any individual. This showed that the people, common folk, were recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, the promised King of Israel. The cutting and strawing of palm branches in the road came from the custom of cutting palm branches during the Feast of Tabernacles which pointed toward the Messianic kingdom being established on earth in Jewish teaching. [The Jews believe the Feast of Tabernacles symbolically represents and points to the Messianic kingdom of God that the Messiah will establish at his coming. This is commonly understood by many Bible scholars and historians as well as being a part of the Jewish tradition in 1st century.]. The common Jewish people were indicating by these actions that they recognized Jesus as the Messianic King of Israel, and they wanted him to establish the Messianic kingdom then and there. If for no other reason, this in itself would have stirred anger and jealousy in the ruling party of Scribes and Pharisees enough to want to see Jesus dead. Jesus, the Messiah, as proved by the prophecies outlined in this very study, will yet come again to establish this Messianic kingdom on planet earth. The companion study to this one is proof of that. But for an interesting parallel to riding on an ass, and the colt of an ass, turn to Revelation 19:11-16. Revelation 19:11-16, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God [cf. John 1:1-11]. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean [this is us, the saints! Read verses 7-10 of Rev. 19]. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

PRICE OF JESUS’ BETRAYAL FORETOLD

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. And the Lord said unto me, ‘Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that was prized at them.’ And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.” Psalm 41:9, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” John 13:18, “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.’” Matthew 26:14-15, “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot [Heb. Ish Keriot: Man of Keriot], 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.” Matthew 27:3-10, “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.’ And they said, ‘What is that to us? See thou to that.’ And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, ‘It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called the field of blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.”