In a recent post we revisited the thought that it’s hard to find many clear prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament–at least in the form that we might expect to find a predictive prophecy.
Few of the prophecies we cite are as plain in their context as the vision of Micah who foresaw that a mysteriously ancient king would come out of the small town of Bethlehem (the ancestral home of David) (Micah 5:2). Instead, much of what we believe has been fulfilled in Jesus is woven into historical descriptions of King David (Psalm 22:16-18), or in predictions of a son of David (2Samuel 7:8-13) that seem to fall short of God with us (2Sam 7:14).
It is equally true, however, that for a long time the rabbis of Israel have taught their nation to look for the messianic birth of a son of David who would be more than any king they had ever known (Isa 9:6-7).
So, eventually, the controversy that swirled around Jesus was whether he was that long awaited son (Mark 10:47-48).
When the wise men came looking for the birth of a king, it seems to have been common knowledge among the rabbis of Jerusalem that the Messiah would be born in the ancestral hometown of David (Matt 2:1-6.) So why did so many of Jerusalem’s leaders reject Jesus?
Try putting ourselves in their spot. How could we accept someone who looked at the Bible very differently than we do, embarrassed us in our objections, and left us trying to catch our breath in front of our friends and followers ?(Matt 22:41-44)
What would we think of a Christ who has a different idea of what is in our best interests–than we do?
And could the fact that Jesus fulfilled more of the Scriptures than we ever could have imagined– rather than less… might also be reason for us to believe that our expectations for what he can still do in our lives might be far better– and far more– than we we ever dreamed possible?
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