“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his
wounds we are healed.”[1]
As
I continue to meditate on the connection between prophecies fulfilled and those
awaiting fulfillment, I am in one of the richest, most wonderfully detailed
descriptions of the Messiah’s ministry. I am left wondering at the fact that,
with such clear descriptions of what to expect, no one saw him coming. However,
I am also filled with reverence and awe that such Scriptures as Isaiah 53
affirm that Jesus of Nazareth is the only one who fits the prophetic
descriptions of the Savior of the world.
While
there was no one in Jesus’ day who seemed to understand that the Messiah would
be pierced, crushed, chastised, and wounded, the prophet had made these facts
clear centuries in advance. This did not work as a signpost to tell people that,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”[2]
Even
though there was such a clear prophecy about the Messiah, it wasn’t something
that people grabbed hold of when they looked at what was happening to Jesus.
The disciples were thoroughly disillusioned and grieved by what they witnessed.
This was not only because they were traumatized by what people were doing to
him, but that they were shocked because things were not turning out the way
they expected.
This
is not to prove that we will not recognize certain aspects of Jesus’ second
coming in advance. It is simply to show that one chief characteristic of
prophecy was to confirm the first coming of Christ after it happened. The
events of Jesus’ first coming were confirmed by Scripture. And, those early
prophecies are still proving that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah that God
promised.
So,
while no one took this verse as something that would prepare them for the
Messiah, it shows how clearly God spoke in advance of what would happen, and
how precisely Jesus fulfilled what was written. The testimony of him being
pierced by the crown of thorns that was pressed onto his head, and the nails
that pierced his arms and legs to secure him to the cross, gave people ample
evidence that this was the Messiah Isaiah spoke about, but no one understood
what had been written.
Jesus
was crushed under the weight of the cross he had to carry on his torn and
bleeding back, and he was crushed under the weight of our sin, judgment, and
condemnation, as he bore our sins on his body on that tree.[3] Jesus
was chastised with the scourge that was laid across his back by his enemies,
while accomplishing peace in such a way that enemies could become the sons of
God. And Jesus was clearly wounded for our healing. He was wounded in our
place. Four gospel writers tell us what he experienced, confirming the
truthfulness of the prophecies.
The
message is clear, that all the prophecies regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ
will be fulfilled in like manner as the prophecies regarding the first coming.
However, we cannot think that we will see things coming together with such clarity
that we can say that Jesus will come in our lifetime, or at a certain time, or
in a particular season. The Scriptures tell us what will happen, but not in
direct language that would give us the right to say that a particular
earthquake is the last one before Jesus comes, or a particular uniting of
people around the world is the ultimate antichrist, or a particular government
is whichever particular beast.
Instead,
the whole panoramic view of prophecy surrounding the first coming of Christ proves
that everything God has revealed about the second coming of Christ will also be
fulfilled in like precision no matter how much or little we can pin down to
times, or seasons, or circumstances of any kind whatsoever.
The
prophecies are deliberately symbolic so that we have no authority to identify
exactly who is going to fulfill what is written. The sevens of Revelation tell
us that each thing will be complete in God’s eyes. There is the beast, and the
mark of the beast, which indicates something thoroughly man-centered, never in
control, never able to carry out that which it desires. The red dragon and his emissaries
are all cast into the lake of fire. End of story. Literally!
Now,
there is one prophecy that we can be absolutely certain is being fulfilled in
our lives today. It is this: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for
good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”[4] No
matter how much our circumstances resemble beasts, antichrists, false prophets,
natural disasters, and sin going from bad to worse, the one who sits on the
throne is working it all for good in the lives of all his children, wherever
they are, and whatever they are going through. Blessed are those who persevere
until the end!
From
my heart,
Monte
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
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