What Matters: Fulfillment (March 5)

March 06, 2012

Fulfillment (March 5)

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7

Key Text: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Reflection: Israel lived with a longing. Throughout its tumultuous history it constantly looked for a leader who could guide, protect and rescue it. Moses and Joshua led them from Egypt to the Promised Land, where successive judges/saviours, like Deborah and Gideon became the vehicles for God’s saving grace for a constantly rebellious people. Rather than look to God as their protector-saviour, Israel then longed for what the surrounding nations had – a king who could unite the fractious tribes. God gave them what they wanted, and Saul, David, Solomon led the nation. A succession of kings followed, in the end leading Israel into decline and despair. Conquest and exile was the result, as the Assyrians, then the Babylonians and then the Persians ransacked the land, exiled Israel’s brightest and best, and destroyed Solomon’s temple.

Through the time leading up to during, and after exile a new and more sharply refined longing emerged in Israel – for a leader, a saviour – a Messiah. Messiah simply means ‘anointed one’. God established in Israel a longing for a Messiah who would embody his saving power perfectly. This Messiah would be a royal king who would rescue his people from evil and establish a new kingdom of justice whose reign would never come to an end.

The authors of the New Testament stress that Jesus fulfils fully and completely the messianic longings of Israel. Jesus said to the teachers of the law that the scriptures they study so intently are the same words that testify, or point towards him (John 5:39). On the road to Emmaus the resurrected Jesus explained to the confused disciples how he fulfilled the longing for a Messiah in the scriptures (Luke 24:25-27). Jesus fulfilled Israel’s longing for a saviour. And he fulfils ours.

Question: Of the four phrase’s descriptions attributed to the Messiah in Isaiah – Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – which do you most need to experience in your life right at this moment?

Watch: Watch Lee Strobe discuss Jesus’ fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy (two clips)