Matthew 5:17Matthew 5:17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The Law of Moses
17 Don't suppose that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. u the Law and the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament. I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning.
WP-Bible plugin: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
This is a lot to think about, but every Old Testament prophecy that was ever made about a coming Messiah was fulfilled in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, and even more mind-blowing is the truth that, as far as God is concerned, Calvary has always existed. From His perspective, Golgotha came before Creation, the Flood, the Exodus, and even before you. You see, as surely as there has never been a time when God did not exist, so there was never a time when it wasn’t the intent and delight of our munificent God to bestow upon us the gift of His Son! Colossians 1:17Colossians 1:17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
17 God's Son was before all else,
and by him everything
is held together.
WP-Bible plugin says, “He is before all things, and in him (meaning Jesus) all things hold together.”
The birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Savior is God’s once-and-for-all act of glorious liberation for the human race. In Jesus, we are free from all of our sin, humanity is once again reconciled to God. The Messiah, the Redeemer has come. There is nothing more that needs to be done than has already been done. As God gave His Son to the world, to redeem us from our sins and unworthiness, everything that needed to be done to restore our fellowship with Almighty God was done. There is nothing more that God needed to do.
All we need to do is accept that Jesus is the Messiah and believe that He was and is the fulfillment of prophecy and of God’s plan to bring about our personal salvation and our reconciliation to God. Those who were alive when Jesus was walking the earth and preaching in the synagogues were confronted with a call to believe as well:
He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:15-30Luke 4:15-30
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
15 He taught in the Jewish meeting places, and everyone praised him. The People of Nazareth Turn against Jesus 16 Jesus went back to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as usual he went to the meeting place on the Sabbath. When he stood up to read from the Scriptures, 17 he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. He opened it and read, 18 . “The Lord's Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers, 19 and to say, ‘This is the year the Lord has chosen.’ ” 20 Jesus closed the book, then handed it back to the man in charge and sat down. Everyone in the meeting place looked straight at Jesus. 21 Then Jesus said to them, “What you have just heard me read has come true today.” 22 All the people started talking about Jesus and were amazed at the wonderful things he said. They kept on asking, “Isn't he Joseph's son?” 23 Jesus answered: You will certainly want to tell me this saying, “Doctor, first make yourself well.” You will tell me to do the same things here in my own hometown that you heard I did in Capernaum. 24 But you can be sure that no prophets are liked by the people of their own hometown. 25 . Once during the time of Elijah there was no rain for three and a half years, and people everywhere were starving. There were many widows in Israel, 26 but Elijah was sent only to a widow in the town of Zarephath near the city of Sidon. 27 During the time of the prophet Elisha, many men in Israel had leprosy. a leprosy: In biblical times the word “leprosy” was used for many different kinds of skin diseases. But no one was healed, except Naaman who lived in Syria. 28 When the people in the meeting place heard Jesus say this, they became so angry 29 that they got up and threw him out of town. They dragged him to the edge of the cliff on which the town was built, because they wanted to throw him down from there. 30 But Jesus slipped through the crowd and got away.
WP-Bible plugin (NIV)
Can you imagine the scene? A crowd has gathered for a regular weekly worship gathering and when it comes time for the reading of the Scripture, someone hands the day’s speaker a copy of Scripture and He opens it to the book of Isaiah and begins reading a prophecy about the coming Messiah. And then, after reading the verses about a coming Messiah to the captivated audience, He begins His sermon by saying, “You are eye-witnesses to the fact that this Scripture came true today, right now, here in your presence, at this very moment!!” What an incredible scene! People must have been turning to one another and asking, “Did He just say what I think He said?” “Did that man just imply that he is the Messiah?” There must have been gasps echoing throughout the crowd.
Luke continues to account what happened that day, and how the crowd eventually turned violent and homicidal toward Jesus, furious that He would make such claims to be the fulfillment of prophecy. When confronted with the choice as to who Jesus was, they discounted Him as the Savior and moved to throw Him off a cliff rather than take Him into their hearts.
All of us must deal with the claim that Jesus made, that as He was the fulfillment of prophecy that day, He still is the fulfillment of it today! Jesus remains the central figure of the universe, the gift of God to the world, and the completion of God’s plan of reconciling us to Himself. This Christmas, as you consider the baby born in the manger, recognize that baby, not as a last-ditch effort on God’s part to fix a problem that man started in the Garden, but as the fulfillment of an eternal promise that He’d provide a way for you to be forgiven and spend forever with Him. Jesus is not just the fulfillment of prophecy, but also the fulfillment and full expression of God’s complete and total love for you.
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