Here’s another fact about the Bible that turns out different than it begins.
There aren’t many clear predictions of Jesus in the Jewish Scriptures. We’ve talked in the past about how followers of Christ have claimed more than 300 prophecies fulfilled in him.
Yet on closer look, only a few are clear predictions in their original settings. Not many are as obvious as that of the prophet Micah who predicted that a mysteriously ancient ruler would come out of the small town of Bethlehem to establish a lasting kingdom (Micah 5:1-5). Most of the Old Testament passages that are said to be fulfilled in Jesus are embedded in the history of the kings, priests, prophets, and symbolic worship of the people of Israel (i.e. Psalm 22:1; Psalm 22:16-18).
This, however, is where I end up finding such a compelling case for Christ. What seems so eye-opening is that, far more than fulfilling a few specific predictions, Jesus comes into the world as the Living Word who gives fulness of meaning to all words written before and after him.
This is why in the last post I referred to the New Testament letter to the Hebrews that shows how Jesus gives life and meaning to converging foreshadowings of mysterious texts, laws, sacrifices, and temple worship.
Without Jesus, the Genesis account of an almighty Creator would seem far too great to relate to. Without Jesus, the history of one nation chosen for the sake of all would seem like an utter failure. Without Jesus a code of moral and spiritual law would make us little more than lawbreakers and/or hypocrites. Without him, all the promises of a great deliverer would sound like myth. Without a real crucified and resurrected Jesus, the New Testament record of eyewitnesses would be lies–for which many who claimed them willingly died. Without the light that he brings to the Scriptures and the darkness of our own hearts, we’d all be lost and without hope.
No matter how tough the read, once we see how all of the Bible works together to tell the story of Jesus, it does become the Book of books and greatest story ever told. By the time it’s done, every courageous, true, good, redemptive event, or noble idea ends up being fulfilled in one who assured us that he was showing us the heart of his Father. Every rotten, twisted, self-centered, exploitive act helps to tell the story of why he willingly and lovingly died for us.
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