I’m Back!

First of all, sorry for the incredibly long hiatus… But it sure was nice to take a break for Christmas!

I have SO MUCH that I want to write about though… within this next week at least I would like to take some time to go through the notes for each of the sermons given at my college group winter camp retreat; they were amazing and I want you all to experience that!

But for now, I want to do a small recap of what we talked about in cell groups last week. Last week, we went through John 19:17-30 and the corresponding passages in the other Gospels (Matthew 27:31-34; Mark 14:26, 32-42; Luke 22:39-46). There is so much to learn in these passages, but one question that I had was— How much of the account of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is predicted in the Old Testament, that we consistently miss? I don't know about you, but I've always just taken the word of other's that Jesus fulfilled hundreds upon hundreds of prophecies, so last week, I wanted to find some of those for myself… So here are a few of the details given in these four passages from the Gospels that show either Jesus fulfilling Old Testament prophecies Himself, or God the Father, in His sovereignty, making these prophecies that He planned before time began come true in His beloved Son Jesus, the Messiah.

Prophecy Fulfilled	Gospel Accounts	Old Testament Passage
Christ bearing His own cross	John 19:17 Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26	Deuteronomy 21:23 (see the Apostle Paul's commentary on this verse in Galatians 3:13)
Crucified between two thieves	John 19:18 Matthew 27:44, Mark 15:27-28, Luke 23:33	Isaiah 53:9
Christ mocked while on the cross	Matthew 27:39-44, Mark 15:29-32, Luke 23:35-39	Isaiah 53:3, Psalm 22:6-8
Soldiers take & cast lots for Jesus' clothing	John 19:23-24 Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24	Psalm 22:18
Jesus given sour wine	John 19:28-29 Matthew 27:48, Mark 15:36, Luke 23:36	Psalm 69:21
"IT IS FINISHED"	John 19:30 Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46	Psalm 22:31, Isaiah 53:11-12 (see John 10:18 for one of Jesus' own prophecy of His death)
Jesus bowed His head (as an act of submission to the Father)	John 19:30 Matthew 27:50, Luke 23:46	Psalm 40:6

 

One of the reasons I set out to do this was because I have been taught time and time again that the best tool to interpret Scripture is… Scripture! It was so amazing to see how many prophecies the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ were fulfilled in just this short, 6 hour span of Jesus' life on earth. I encourage you to always use Scripture to interpret Scripture, because God knows the intended meaning of His Word better than any man can discern, of course!