Joy of the Promised King (Pt. 2)
When we look carefully at the Bible as a whole, we see Jesus as a figure who has emerged out of the shadows of Old Testament prophecy. By saying he emerged ‘from the shadows,’ I don’t mean that he previously dwelt in darkness—in fact, before coming to earth, he dwelt heavenly ‘in unapproachable light’ (1 Tim. 6:16)—but I mean that as a mystery is metaphorically shrouded in darkness, awaiting to be revealed, so the reality of Jesus arrival on earth was vaguely predicted and yet to be fully understood.
I say ‘vaguely predicted’ because this style is essential to prophecy itself. Prophets of the Old Testament were men God called to receive inexpressible mysteries from God, often given to them in visions, dreams, or words from God, which unveiled a measure of God’s divine will without disclosing details that had to remain hidden until an elected time. We see the apostle Paul express this in his letters about Jesus, saying:
“...by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:25-27)
Similarly, passages like Ephesians 3:9 say that the good news about Jesus’ work on earth was a 'mystery hidden for ages in God’ to be revealed in the witness of Christ on earth. In other words, the true meaning of Jesus’ arrival on earth was something God’s people understood vaguely as a mystery before Jesus came to reveal it by his very presence.
To gain a sense of the excited anticipation (discussed in the previous article) God’s people must have felt as they awaited the Messiah, and to understand the glory of prophecy as a miracle from God, it is worth mentioning that there are arguably over three hundred prophecies that point to Jesus in the Old Testament. Miraculously, they also start at the very beginning of Scripture. Genesis 3:15 points to the offspring of Eve eventually crushing the head of the talking snake, seen to depict Satan, in the Garden of Eden. Since only Jesus fully defeated Satan’s power over humanity by his death and resurrection, this verse is seen as the first prediction of the gospel.
Passages like Isaiah chapters 7 and 53, Zechariah 9:9, and Hosea 11:1 predict key details of Jesus life and death. For instance, it’s foretold that he would be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), that he would ride a donkey into Jerusalem (Zech. 9:9), and that he would be called from Egypt, where his parents fled King Herod (Hos. 11:1). Isaiah 53 also predicts the shameful death of Jesus, details of his clothes being cast for lots, and that his death functioned as God’s means to pay for the sinful debt of many. Isaiah 53:5-6 says:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”
But prophecy goes even further than this, even to hinting at Jesus’ divine identity. Passages like Daniel 7:13-14 and 2 Samuel 7:11-16 say that the Messiah, who would be a descendant from King David, was to have a kingdom that would be established and then last for eternity. Even if we’re still not convinced this couldn’t be a mortal earthly king, passages like Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 23:5-6 explicitly say that this figure is God himself. Titles like ‘Mighty God’ and ‘The Lord’ hint strongly that God himself would appear to save his people, even if they didn’t understand how this would occur.
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
(Isaiah 9:6)
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.”
(Jeremiah 23:5-6)
And these prophecies of Jesus not only foretell his identity but also the nature of his mission. Jesus came to 'save’ people, but from what? We’ll see in Mark that Jesus fails the expectations of many Jews because he doesn’t share the violent ambitions of comic book superheroes to save people from corrupt human powers. No, Jesus is a hero of cosmic proportions who seeks to free us from powers of sin, death, and Satan by powers of love and sacrifice. Jesus came both as a Messiah (which describes an ‘anointed king’) and God himself to save us from the consequences of our sin, which have destroyed our relationship with Him and God the Father. Jesus came to save us from being enemies of God into terms of a new and restored relationship with himself and God the Father through his death. Just as God originally made a ‘covenant’, which were the terms of relationship between God and Israel in the Old Testament, so Jesus came to create a new covenant and terms of a new relationship between God and all people who would believe in Him throughout the world (both Jews and non-Jews).
Because of this, even though Gentiles (non-Jews) weren’t trained to eagerly anticipate the arrival of Jesus by understanding Scripture, all people can joyfully anticipate the work of Jesus as the fulfilment of their deepest needs for love and eternal belonging. Jesus came to earth to invite us into a new relationship with a God who loves us so deeply he would send his only Son to die, and by doing this to pay the spiritual debt for our sins, so that there would be nothing standing in the way of his eternal love for us. The perfect being who created us, who can bless and fulfil our lives in no greater way than by giving us loving relationship with himself forever, has made every sacrificial provision that we would have riches in relationship with Him because of Christ.
If relationship with God through Christ is something you’d like to accept, please reach out to me to learn more about how to welcome God into your life. Or you can keep investigating the claims of Jesus either by reading Mark yourself or subscribing to learn more about the message of the gospel.