MESSIAH: A Portrait Emerges
(Pastor Terry L. Reese; Nov. 26, AD 2006; rev.
12/8/24)
TEXT: Luke 24:13-27.
I. This week we begin our series of Christmas messages and ponder
the real “Reason for the Season,” considering the Divine
Purpose behind the Incarnation—i.e., that God the Son… the Eternal Son… the Only Begotten… the Second Person of the Holy &
Eternal Trinity… became our Immanuel (“God with us;” Isa. 7:14): God-
come-in-the-flesh.
John 1:14: “And the Word became
flesh, and dwelt among us…”
Concerning the
Incarnation, the Bible tells us this:
Gal. 4:4-5: But when the fullness
of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the
adoption as sons.
Our Text this morning—the encounter on the road
to Emmaus—is oft thought of as an Easter Text; but Bethlehem can never be
separated in our hearts and in our thoughts from Calvary. God the Father sent
forth His Unique Son into to the world for a distinct purpose—a mission of
Redemption which only He, the God-man, the uniquely Theanthropic Person, could
accomplish:
John 3:17 For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved.
Luke 19:10 "For the Son of
Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
John 17:4: “I glorified You on
the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”
Nor can we
separate His First Coming from His Second. Just as Bethlehem cannot be separated from Calvary, neither
can it be separated from Armageddon and the New Jerusalem. God
has an ultimate plan to redeem the entire Cosmos, which groans and
suffers the pains of childbirth—a plan that will be brought unto consummation
by the One who came in obscurity and Who, as a sign unto certain shepherds, was
wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in manger. He is the Christ of Easter &
the Second Advent!
II. Now, it was in “the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4)—2,000
years ago to us—that the Father did this thing, bringing forth His Only
Begotten into the world for the sake of us poor sinners and our redemption.
This was
accomplished by the Author & Master of Time, the Ancient of Days
(Dan. 7:9), for whom a 1,000 years is but a moment (Ps. 90:4, 2 Pet
3:8), after many long centuries of preparation, whereby He created the
necessary historical circumstances associated with our Lord’s First Advent in
Bethlehem.
III. Divine Revelation has been a progressive thing… God
gradually revealed more of Himself and of His Plan for the Ages
throughout the parade of many centuries. Throughout the centuries, God
spoke through His servants the prophets, progressively adding to His written
revelation, and knowledge increased from dispensation to dispensation…
Thus, more was known to Moses and his generation than was known to the
Patriarchs (Ex 6:3)… Likewise, more was revealed through the later prophets
than had been revealed through Moses… OT shadows, symbols, & types would be
brought to clarity with the unfolding of the NT Dispensation…
Heb 1:1-2 God, after He spoke
long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in
these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all
things, through whom also He made the world.
IV. The prophecies of a coming Deliverer—the central
narrative of Scripture—are of this nature. God spent many years working out
His plan to bring the Savior into the world, and likewise, the prophecies of
His coming, little-by-little, gradually and progressively unfolded over the
ages.
Note what Jesus
tells these two representative disciples (one named Cleopas); their
bewilderment over the death of the Messiah was bewildering in-and-of itself
(Luke 24:25-26); the Lord then explains the prophetic Scriptures to them (v.
27).
Luke 24:25-27: 25And He
said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the
prophets have spoken! 26Was it not necessary for the Christ to
suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" 27Then
beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things
concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
Please observe
the illustration on the cover of your bulletin this morning. Think of
each “dot” on the pictures as particles or pinpoints of information.
Gradually, an image begins to take shape as the number of dots increase.
The more bits of information, the greater the clarity of the
illustration. The same is true with the OT prophecies and predictions
concerning the coming Messiah. Each of the prophecies is like one of these
dots, and the more bits of information, the clearer and more precise the portrait
becomes.
V. The OT Messianic prophecies—predictions concerning
the life, times, background, and works of a coming Messianic Redeemer—are the central
storyline of the OT.
John 5:39: "You search the
Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these
that testify about Me…”
John 5:46: "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me,
for he wrote about Me.”
There are literally
hundreds of such prophesies! In fact, the legendary Hebrew-Christian
scholar Alfred Edersheim, in his classic The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (1883), documents no less than 456 such distinct prophesies:
Pentateuch-75;
the Prophets-243; the Writings (Hagiographa)-138.
The sheer
abundance of material that the Holy Spirit dedicated to the matter of Messiah’s
correct identification is a certain indicator of the subject’s
importance. Over the centuries there have been many Messianic claimants,
and the whole world wants a Messiah—but only ONE is the genuine article
who can save our souls and supernaturally recreate & reorder human society!
The nature
of these prophecies:
o
They
aren’t all found in one place; we’re to compare Scripture-with-Scripture
& dig.
o
The
collective witness isn’t presented in a form so obvious that men cannot hide
from it if they so choose; but it is revealed with sufficient clarity
that those who are familiar with it are without excuse.
o
Regarding
the Faith & Apologetic Evidences:
we are not required to unendingly pander to men’s stubborn obstinacy in
the face of clear truth, but we are required to honor their honest
doubts and questions (1
Pet 3:15: “…but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always
{being} ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for
the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence…”)
VI. So why does God go out of his way to give us
so much material, so
many prophecies, concerning the life and times of the coming Messiah, and
predicting the future acts and events associated with His life? Three reasons
come to mind…
1.) A matter of identification. The more specific the information & numerous
the clues, the more obvious genuine identification becomes; a matter
of probability; the less room for coincidence. Through the OT
witness, when the Christ made His appearance upon the world stage, the matter
of His Identity should have been apparent and obvious.
Luke 24:25-27 And He said to them,
"O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have
spoken! "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to
enter into His glory?" Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets,
He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
Luke 24:44-47 Now He said to them,
"These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that
all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and
the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand
the Scriptures, and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ
would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance
for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
Likewise, His
Apostles, at Solomon’s Portico and Thessalonica:
Acts
Acts 17:2-3 And according to
Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from
the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer
and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am
proclaiming to you is the Christ."
2.) The more qualifications
that pile up for being the true Messiah, the harder it becomes for a
prospective imposter to jump through all of the hoops and persuasively pose
as the genuine article. Thus, a preponderance of evidence not only puts
the finger upon the True, but also exposes the False. This is an
important point, in light of our Lord’s warning of Matt. 24:24:
"For false Christs and false prophets will
arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible,
even the elect.”
History sadly
confirms the accuracy of our Lord’s prediction, in a multitude of cases. The
Jews having rejected Jesus, and have paid a heavy price in ensuring vulnerabity
to False Messiahs (Bar
Kochba, Moses of Crete, Abu Issa, David Reubeni, Shabbathai Zevi).
John
3.) In these predictions and in their accurate fulfillment in real
history, we see important Theistic proofs. We see the Finger of God
in these things, demonstrating both the existence, identity, and power of the
true God, and the accuracy and infallibility of His Word… God
Himself invites us make such an analysis, that He might demonstrate His verity.
Unlike the Baalim, the true God knows the future:
Deut 18:21-22 "You may say in
your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'
"When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come
about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The
prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Is 44:7-8 'Who is like Me? Let
him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the
time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the
things that are coming And the events that are going to take place. 'Do not tremble
and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced {it} to you and declared
{it?} And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any
{other} Rock? I know of none.'"
V. What, then, is the nature of OT Messianic prophecy? Remember, last OT Book, Malachi, was
written four centuries before Christ. A brief summary:
1) Initially, we learn that the Messiah will be a member
of the human race, a male child, the Seed of the woman who
will crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3:15; cf. Rom 16:20).
Then, we see a narrowing down of our
possibilities with more information:
a
Semite (Gen. 9:26); a son of Abraham (Gen. 12:2-3;
cf. Matt 1:1 “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of
David, the son of Abraham…”); a son of Isaac (Gen. 26:4); of Jacob
(Gen. 28:13-14; thus, a Jew); of Judah (Gen. 49:8-12); of Jesse
(Isa. 11:1); of David (I Sam. 16:10-13, 2 Sam. 7); but not a
blood descendent of Jehoiachin (Jer. 22:30; cf. Luke 3: Christ’s descent
through Mary from an alternate line from David). >Who does that sound like?
2.) The nature of Messiah: both God and man. Cf. Ps. 110:1; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7;
Micah 5:2; Zech. 12:10. >Who
does that sound like?
3.) The nature of His ministry. A
prophet like Moses (Dt.
4.) Highly detailed incidents from the coming Messiah’s life. Stuff that cannot be “arranged,” and
self-fulfilled?
A) The exact circumstances of his death (Ps. 22)
related 1,000 years before, and hundreds of years before the Persians would
invent crucifixion.
B) Other circumstances relating to His death: betrayed
by a friend (Ps. 41:9), forsaken by His disciples (Zech. 13:7),
rejected by His own people (Isa. 53:3, Ps. 118:22), sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zech.
C) Relating to His birth: born not only to a specific family, but at a specific place (Micah 5:2: "But as for you,
Bethlehem Ephrathah…”),
unto a Virgin (Isa.
D.) Relating to circumstances surrounding His ministry: He would be preceded by a messenger (Isa. 40:3),
receive a special anointing
of the Holy Spirit (Isa. 11:2), His ministry would begin in Galilee (Isa. 9:1). This Minister
of miracles (Isa. 35:5-6)
and Teacher of Parables
(Ps. 78:2) would appear at the Temple
(Mal. 3:1) and enter
E) The 70 Weeks Prophecy (Dan. 9:24-27) tells us when all of this would
happen.
Daniel 9: 24
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy
city,
to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to
seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from
the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the
Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the
street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that
shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof
shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant
with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations
he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined
shall be poured upon the desolate.
i. The 70 weeks are weeks (units of 7)
of years. As with Rev., 360-day years employed.
ii. The Messiah shall come after 69
weeks, or 483 years, from the time of the decree (v. 25). The
decree mentioned is that of Artaxerxes unto Nehemiah in 445 B.C.
The Messiah was to come by the end of the 69th week—exactly the time
of Jesus’ ministry (AD 33)—before the destruction of the
iii. If Jesus is not the Messiah,
then no Messiah is ever coming…
VI. We alluded earlier to the issue of probability.
What are the odds of one man fulfilling, accidentally, these prophecies?
A certain Professor Stoner of Westmont College did some studies along
these lines, examining aspects related to various prophecies (relative
potential for conspiratorial self-fulfillment, etc.).
Example
of methodology: Micah
5:2. Took the estimated average populations of both the earth and
Using this sort
of methodology, taking only 8 prophecies—not 456—Stoner estimated that
the odds would be 1-in-10 to 17th power. Imagine covering the
entire state of Texas 2 feet deep with silver dollars. Mark one of them,
stir it around, and then have a blind man go anywhere he wants in the state and
on the first attempt, pluck out the right coin.
Stoner also
worked out the figures for 48 prophecies. The odds are now 1-in-10 to
157th power. Illustrate? Imagine a giant ball whose radius in
any direction is 6 billion light years (1 l.y. = 6.4 trillion miles). Inside
this ball are tiny electrons (if you counted 4 per second, it would take 19
million years just to count one inch worth). 2.5 x 10 to the 15th
power = 1 inch. Mark one electron, fly a rocket ship into this vast ball, and
pick out the correct one. That is the odds of 1-in-10 to 157th
power. Statisticians tell us anything beyond 10 to 50th power is
a de facto statistical zero; it
just won’t happen!
In other
words, this couldn’t be a matter of chance or coincidence. It means that we are
looking at the Finger of God!
It means, using every logical and reasonable method of scientific certainty
that is known to man and which has been made available unto us, that Jesus the
Messiah is Who He claims to be, and
that there really is a God who is supernaturally directing the affairs of men.
In this age
of philosophic existentialism and scientism in which we live, we often here
the assertion that Faith is “believing in something that you know isn’t
really true,” or Faith is designed as something that exists without
regard to or in contrast with actual “fact.” But clearly, this is not the
case.
God is real,
His acts in history are real, and Faith and Fact are not in antithesis. In terms of Theistic Proofs, such as
these, it is not as though we have to “prove” God’s existence, but we
nonetheless would be remiss if we did not at least notice the fact that
God has provided many convincing and infallible proofs for the mind of
man to consider; and these things will one day indict man if he is not
attentive to them.
There is more
than enough for the hypothetical “honest inquirer” to feast upon, this
Christmas Season—but how many “honest inquirers” are truly out there?
VII. He was foreknown of the prophets centuries before His
birth…but do you know Him this morning? And if you do, have you grown
too cool to be thrilled by Heavenly Things? These things should amaze us;
cause us to tremble in godly fear! God is for real, and just as
Jesus, the Messiah of God, truly came once, against all odds, He is
really coming again! There are more prophecies about His Second Coming
than His first. This is real! It’s going to happen! Do you live like you
believe it? Or are you choked and paralyzed into inertia by the trivial
cares and concerns of this passing age? This Christmas, let us pledge, as “wise
men” to offer Jesus a gift:
Rom. 12:1-2: “I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
