Foretold

Matthew 26:55-56a

In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.’

"that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled"

Here Jesus isn't pointing to a single verse, and he doesn't tell us which prophecies, we've got to figure that bit out ourselves! But he is referring to a collection of prophecies that depict a suffering, rejected, and betrayed Messiah!

It's like he's saying, "What's happening right now, my betrayal, arrest, and abandonment, this is it, those scriptures are being fulfilled right now. My story, that the prophets wrote about long ago, it'sp being played out right now!"

But what scriptures is he referring to?

Betrayed by a close friend:

Psalms 41:9
Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me

Zechariah 11:12-13
I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.’ So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’ – the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord

The disciples scattering:

Zechariah 13:7
‘Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

The righteous suffering servant:

Isaiah 53, the 'cornerstone' chapter! We could quote it all, but here's a taste; (read it all for yourselves, it's wonderful!)

Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Isaiah 53:12
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The unjust arrest and silence before his accusers:

Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Psalms 35:11
Ruthless witnesses come forward; they question me on things I know nothing about.

A Prophetic Tapestry:

The prophets painted a composite portrait of Messiah Jesus using many different brushes and styles.

Some lines speak of a conquering king (which comes later), others of a suffering servant which is happening now in the garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus’s saw his mission through the lens of these scriptures. He wasn't a victim of random events; rather he was consciously walking the path that had been laid down before the dawn of time and written about centuries before his birth!

Have a great week, and God bless,

Trev.