01.02. II. Prophecies of the Life and Ministry
II. PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF MESSIAH
(1) Messiah’s Character and Characteristics are clearly Delineated: He will be the Sinless One-as holy as God.
Messiah must be as righteous as the Lord Himself: for He will be the "righteous Branch . . . who shall be called THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:5-6). Messiah must be God’s chosen One in whom He will "delight" (Isaiah 42:1). In Matthew 3:17 we read that the Father said of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Messiah, on His part, will be the obedient "Servant of the Lord" who will ever "delight to do God’s will" (Psalms 40:8). The Lord Jesus could testify, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work" (John 4:34; see also John 6:38).
Messiah will be anointed by the Holy Spirit in a manner and degree far beyond any man or men ("above" His fellows, Psalms 45:7; cf. Hebrews 1:9). Read the remarkable passage in Isaiah 11:3-6 that tells us:
"And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: but with righteousness shall He judge the poor. . . And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins" (Isaiah 11:2-5). In the New Testament, we read of Jesus’ anointing with the Holy Spirit at the time of His baptism, when the Holy Spirit like a dove descended and lit upon Him (Matthew 3:16). He bare witness that the "Spirit of the Lord" was upon Him (Luke 4:18), which was in fulfillment of a prediction about Messiah’s character and ministry in Isaiah 61:1-3. The people "bare Him (Jesus) witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth" (Luke 4:22).
Messiah must be a man of perfect self-control: "His voice (in anger, or as an excited rabble-rouser) shall not be heard in the streets" (Isaiah 42:2); He will have patience with the frailties of men: "He shall not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax" (Isaiah 42:3); Messiah will have perseverance in the course of doing right, His Father’s will; He will have courage and success in that goal, as well as steadfastness of purpose: "He shall neither fail nor be discouraged" (Isaiah 42:4). Matthew, in describing the ministry of Jesus, says that Jesus fulfilled what Isaiah had said about Him:
"That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying. Behold My Servant, whom I have chosen; My Beloved, in whom My soul is well pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory. And in His name shall the Gentiles trust" (Matthew 12:17-21).
Messiah’s compassion and tenderness are revealed in an exquisite figure of touching tenderness: "He shall gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young" (Isaiah 40:11). "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd" (Isa. 40: llf.c.). In the New Testament we read of the compassion of Jesus in Matthew 9:36; Matthew 14:14; Matthew 15:32, and many other places. In the tenth chapter of John, Christ is presented as the "Good Shepherd" who loves His sheep and cares for them, even giving His life for them (John 10:10-18).
Messiah will be "just and lowly" (Zechariah 9:9), "fairer than the children of men" with "grace poured into His lips" and blessed by God for ever (Psalms 45:2). He will be "without violence"-a blameless outward life-"and without deceit"-an innocent inner life (Isaiah 53:9; cf. 1 Peter 2:22). He will suffer great personal wrong done to Him without complaining either to God or man (Isaiah 53:7; Isaiah 50:4-7). Coming to the New Testament, we learn that Jesus "is meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29); and the Father testified of Him, "Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows" (Hebrews 1:9). When the Lord Jesus was crucified, He meekly suffered all the indignities, the insults, the blasphemies, the mental torture, the physical violence heaped upon Him, and did not complain; in fact, He prayed for His persecutors (Luke 23:34; Matthew 27:12-14). As a teacher. Messiah "shall not fail . . . till He have set judgment
It was prewritten of Messiah that He would "open His mouth with parables" ... He will "utter things hidden from the foundation of the world" (Psalms 78:2). When Jesus the Great Teacher came, He taught "as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (Matthew 7:29). The scribes taught by quoting what such-and-such a Rabbi had said; but when Jesus taught, He gave God’s words and spoke with finality and assurance: "Verily, verily, I say unto you . . ." (see John 5:24; John 6:47, etc.).Moreover, Christ’s characteristic method of teaching was by the use of parables-"for without a parable spake He nothing unto them: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables" (Matthew 13:34-35).
It is plain from the reading of the Old Testament that when Messiah comes, He will be holier and wiser than men, even as just and righteous as God himself. Who in all the history of the world could this be speaking of, other than Jesus the Christ, who was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26). The Miracle of All Literature: the Portrayal of the Perfect Character
Now we come to the miracle of all literature: the portrayal of the Perfect Character, Jesus the Christ in the New Testament. That which is given in general terms, in an abstract way, in the Old Testament, in the portrayal of the coming perfect Messiah, becomes a concrete reality, in the flesh, in the Person of Jesus the Christ in the New Testament. In the Lord Jesus we see the One who is altogether lovely, the chiefest among ten thousand, the delight of the Heavenly Father.
Christ’s perfectly poised character was not unbalanced by eccentricities or human foibles. His perfections were not tainted by pride, nor was His wisdom marred by an occasional bit of folly. His equity was not twisted by prejudice, nor was His justice adulterated by selfish whims. He had a becoming dignity that was happily blended with His gracious humility. He had concern for others without worry, zeal without fretfulness, patience without dilatoriness, tact without dishonesty, and frankness without rudeness. His authority was balanced and blended with gentleness and patience.
He never had to admit defeat, retract a statement, offer an apology, change His teachings, confess a sin or a mistake, or ask advice. He never lost His temper, or spoke rashly. He was never bested in an argument: He always had the right answer-the will and the word of God.
He went about doing good, prayed much, gave God the glory and thanks in all things, had no interest in the accumulation of material things; He lived and died in poverty-yet He never lacked until His sufferings on the cross. His miracles were all beneficent-never for vainglory. He was the perfect Teacher who lived what He taught. He was one of us in the truest sense: "the Son of man"; yet He was not one of us, for He never sinned. He was from above and not from the earth, and He was the unique Son of God. Never man spake like this man.
He never made a claim to supernatural power or prerogative but what He performed a miracle of like kind to prove it. He who said "I am the Light of the world" (John 9:5) also opened the eyes of the man born blind, so all could see His right to the claim. He who said "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25-27) proved that these were sober words of truth by raising Lazarus from the dead! (John 11:25, John 11:43-44). He who said "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35) gave full evidence that He was all He claimed to be by performing the miracle of feeding the five thousand from a few loaves and fewer fish (John 6:5-14). If Jesus were not the true Messiah, the Saviour of the world, what an unmitigated crime against humanity, what brash folly, what unforgivable egotism, for Him to make the promises He did, and so deceive people for time and eternity. Certainly such evil could not come from One as good and as loving as Jesus. We believe and are sure that He is indeed the Christ, the Son of God, the One who should come into the world to be the Redeemer of mankind.
Volumes have been written, volumes more will be written, on the moral glory, the perfect character of the Lord Jesus. Suffice it to say in summary: He is the image of the invisible God (Hebrews 1:3), the sum and substance of all good, the One in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9). His holiness shone with undimmed lustre; His loveliness was as pure and genuine as the glory of God. His love was as selfless and as complete as the love of God-for in all the history of the world mankind has never seen, except in the death of Christ, "a perfect character dying under an unparalleled weight of unmerited agony." The mighty yet lowly Royal Sufferer uncomplainingly bore the weight of the sin of the race in His atoning death on the cross.
(2) Messiah’s Supernatural "Miracle" Works are clearly Foretold: He must show as His Hallmarks Supernatural Work* that show Him to be the God-appointed, God-sent Redeemer. And as His "Special" Work, Messiah will offer Himself as a Substitutionary Sacrifice to redeem the Race.
Messiah’s whole ministry must BLESS the people. As Isaiah foretold:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord . . . to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:1-3).
Messiah, as the Lord God in the midst of the people, must be the miracle worker par excellence:
"Behold your God will come . . . He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and. the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing" (Isaiah 35:4-6).
"I the Lord have called thee in righteousness . . . and give thee for a covenant of the people and for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison..." (Isaiah 42:6-7).
Messiah will be the worldwide SAVIOUR for "salvation to the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6) as a "Light to the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:6-7; Isaiah 11:10), and the "Redeemer of Israel" (Isaiah 49:7; also. Isaiah 42:6). In the New Testament, Christ is the worldwide Saviour:
"For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The prophet Simeon, in the temple, when he saw the child Jesus, knew this was the Christ. He said, "Lord, . . . mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of Thy people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32). See also Luke 1:68-79; Romans 3:28-30, etc.
Messiah’s special work will be to offer Himself, His soul and body, as a ransom, an offering, a sacrifice, for sin and sinners (see Isaiah 53:4-6, Isaiah 53:10-12). By this supreme sacrifice of Himself. He will "bruise Satan’s head" (Genesis 3:15 with Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8); and by that great work of redemption He will establish a kingdom that will last for ever (Daniel 7:14; Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:32-33; Hebrews 2:9-14).
Turning to the New Testament again, we see the identification of the Old Testament Messiah with the Christ of the New to be perfect, as far as His holy character, His "works" and His special "work" on the cross are concerned. The miracles that Jesus wrought-His works-were well known by His generation. Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost uses the fact of Christ’s miracle-working ministry as PROOF of His Messiahship.
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by MIRACLES and WONDERS and SIGNS, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know . . . Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified (whom God hath raised up) both LORD AND CHRIST" (Acts 2:22, Acts 2:36-39). In the Gospels we read that Jesus blessed, saved and helped all seekers who contacted Him: He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, opened the eyes of the blind, raised the dead, fed the hungry, walked on the Sea of Galilee, and performed many other miracles.
John the Baptist, after his imprisonment by king Herod, sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him, "Art thou He that should come (the Messiah), or do we look for another?" (Matthew 11:2-3), thereby putting a direct question to Jesus: "Are you Messiah or are you not?" Jesus answered by reminding John and his disciples of His MIRACLE WORKS, thus assuring them He was Messiah for Messiah alone could do those works:
"Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them" (Matthew 11:4-5)-and THESE THINGS ARE THE VERY MARKS OF MESSIAH GIVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT!
Finally, after His benevolent ministry of healing and blessing the people, Christ accomplished the great work for which He came into the world, to which work He was foreordained from before the foundation of the world (see 1 Peter 1:18-20); He died on the cross, offering Himself as a vicarious sacrifice to redeem the race.
"Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2:6).
"Jesus ...by the grace of God… tasted death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).
"Christ. . . . once in the end of the ages appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26).
Jesus Himself appealed to the people to believe on Him for "the very works’ sake" (John 14:10-11).
"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works’ sake" (John 34:10-11). No mere pretender can have this TRIPLE SEAL as proof of his genuineness: (1) Have a perfect character; (2) perform "miracle" works; (3) offer Himself as a Sacrifice for the redemption of the race. These three requirements not only eliminate all fake "Messiahs," but also clearly establish the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Messiah, for He fulfilled all three!
During; the last nineteen centuries His gospel has literally been preached around the world, and millions upon millions of Gentiles as well as multitudes of Jews, have trusted and are trusting Him. Jesus is indeed the universal Saviour, the "Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). His love envelopes the world (John 3:16); His gospel is for every creature (Mark 16:15); His is the only Name under Heaven, given among men "whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The Overwhelming, cumulative Effect of Added Signs
We have traced the Messianic Line from Shem, through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Jesse, David-and down to the virgin birth, the "Seed of the woman," at the appointed time and place-and we found all perfectly fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, without one failure! We also saw that since all the genealogical records were destroyed in 70 A. D., no Messianic claimant since then can prove his Messiahship.
We have shown that the Old Testament predicts a Messiah with a perfect character, a benevolent ministry characterized by miracles of healing, and that His great work will be to offer Himself as a sacrifice to redeem the people. Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of the four Gospels, fulfilled all this perfectly. The cumulative effect of one fulfillment after another, without one failure, is staggering.
We present an illustration to show that comparatively few distinctive "signs" are sufficient to identify one individual out of billions.
Identifying David Greenglass When U. S. authorities got on the trail of the traitor, David Greenglass, who gave atomic secrets to the Russians after World War II, he fled to Mexico. His confederates arranged for him to meet the secretary of the Russian Ambassador in Mexico City, and to identify himself by these prearranged signs. (Identical instructions were given to both Greenglass and the Secretary). (1) He was to write a note to the Secretary and sign his name as "I. Jackson." (2) After three days he was to go to the Plaza de Colon in Mexico City, and (3) stand before the statue of Columbus, (4) with his middle finger placed in a guidebook. (5) When the Secretary approached, Greenglass was to say, it was a magnificent statue; and that he was from Oklahoma. (6) The Secretary then was to give him a passport. Needless to say, the plan worked.
They knew-all men know-that with as few as six identifying signs, it would be impossible for an impostor to deceive the Secretary, unless he learned what the signs were. God has seen fit to give us not six but scores of signs to identify Messiah and to make the signs of such a nature (such as the virgin birth or resurrection of Messiah) that no false Messiah could possibly fake them! All who take the firm
We hereby challenge the world with this double challenge; and we will give $1,000 reward to any one proving either of these two propositions:
(1) Show that there is another book than the Bible in the literature of the world that contains prophecies about a coming Messiah, similar to those in the Bible; and after a lapse of our hundred years gives evidence of a definite fulfillment in twenty or more details.
(2)Produce any "Christ," living or dead (other than Jesus of Nazareth) who can fulfill even half of the predictions concerning Messiah that we give in this book. We would ask of any who claims or who claimed to be the true Messiah: Was he born in Bethlehem? Was he born of a virgin? Is he a direct descendant of both Abraham and David? Did he come approximately 490 years after Daniel’s time? Did he exercise a benevolent ministry characterized by miracles? Was he a perfect character? Did he die on a cross? And rise again the third day? Did he offer his body to be wounded and pierced, as a sacrifice? for the sins of the people? Did he rise from and ascend to Heaven? Was he sold for thirty pieces of silver? Did any ever part his garments or cast lots for his vesture? Did he ever use the cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? A moment’s thought will convince all fair-minded persons that Jesus the Christ of the New Testament who fulfilled ALL of the 333 prophecies that relate to His first advent is the only character of all history to qualify as the predicted Messiah; and that There is no other book than the Bible that has anything comparable to Messianic Predictions, having twenty or more specific details.