“These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. -- Luke 24:44-45
Wouldn’t you love to hear a tape of Jesus’ talk showing how He fulfilled the Old Testament? I would. But we don’t need such a tape. We have the New Testament! The New Testament is Jesus’ interpretation of the Old Testament. In sum, His interpretation is this: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me.” (John 5:39) Jesus did not start a new religion. He fulfilled an old one. He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
In this article I will not list Old Testament prophecies such as “born in Bethlehem” (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:4-6) or “buried with the rich” (Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:57-60) and cite their fulfillment by Jesus. Any number of study Bibles do that quite well. Instead, I plan to show how Jesus of Nazareth fulfills all of the promises made by God in His covenants with David, Israel, Abraham, and Adam.
English-speaking Christians call the Hebrew Scriptures the “Old Testament.” A better translation of Palaia Diatheke, the name of the “Old Testament” in the original Greek, is “Old Covenant.” God made the Old, or Mosaic, Covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai. The Old Covenant is recorded in Exodus 19-24 and more generally in Exodus to Deuteronomy. The Scriptures written in connection with the Old Covenant contain: 1) the Law, with Genesis as a Prologue to the Covenant; 2) the Prophets, Early: Joshua to II Kings, covering the history of Israel in Canaan, and Later: Isaiah to Malachi; and 3) the Writings, I Chronicles to Song of Solomon, covering Israel’s later history and its Wisdom literature. When Jesus said that all things about Him written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled, He referred to the entire Hebrew Bible I have just outlined, the Psalms standing for all the Writings.
We are going to begin with the Later Prophets and generally work backward through the Old Testament. At the same time we are going to work forward through the New Testament. Jesus’ followers first understood how He fulfilled the Covenant with David, second how He fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant, and later how He fulfilled the Covenants with Abraham and Adam. We’ll begin with the Jewish longing for a Messiah, promised clearly by the Later Prophets.
After a four hundred year rule King David’s dynasty ended. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, took Israel into captivity in Babylon, and left no son of David on the throne. But God had promised David in a covenant that a son of his would always sit on the throne in Jerusalem. That covenant is recorded in II Samuel 7 and celebrated in Psalms 89 and 132. With Jerusalem’s fall and the end of Judah’s independence, it appeared that God had broken His covenant.
The prophet Jeremiah witnessed Jerusalem’s fall and the crisis of faith godly Israelites felt. God’s word came to Jeremiah: Thus says the Lord, “If you can break My covenant for the day, and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne.” (Jeremiah 33:20-21)
But Jerusalem fell, and for six hundred years no son of David sat on the throne. Faithful Jews, however, believed Jeremiah’s word and similar prophecies by Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Micah, Zechariah, and all the prophets: that God would one day raise up a son of David to sit on his throne. They called the coming King the Anointed One, Messiah in Hebrew, Christ in Greek.
What does the New Testament say about Jesus? It opens with this announcement: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David.” (Matthew 1:1) It closes with these words: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.” (Revelation 22:16) The night Jesus was born, the angel told the shepherds that he had good news for all the people: “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
God kept his covenant promise to David and fulfilled His word through Jeremiah by sending Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, to be Israel’s King. When Jesus asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered for them all: “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:29) When we call Jesus of Nazareth “Jesus Christ,” we confess that He is the Messiah, the son of David, sitting on His throne in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Dr. Bill Edgar, former chair of the Geneva College Board of Trustees, former Geneva College President and longtime pastor in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA)
Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.
Oct 10, 2016
Faithful Doubt: Habakkuk, written by pastor Travis Scott, explores the short prophetic book of Habakkuk, in a practical and meaningful way through the lens of a doubter. Travis approaches the passage of scripture from an honest and humble perspective, recalling difficulties experienced as a husband, father, and pastor.
Dr. J. Ligon Duncan of Reformed Theological Seminary delivered the spring 2021 Commencement address at Geneva College on May 10, 2021. Here is an excerpt of that message, entitled, "Every Good Work," from 2 Timothy 3. This excerpt first appeared in the Summer 2021 edition of Geneva Magazine.
When the Bible teaches one thing and your “instincts,” as it were, disagree, whose wisdom do you trust, your own or God’s? Do we really need to be told not to trust in our own minds? Yes, because we want to trust ourselves, and because in our day putatively wise people constantly tell us that high self-esteem brings success.
When the Bible teaches one thing and your “instincts,” as it were, disagree, whose wisdom do you trust, your own or God’s? Do we really need to be told not to trust in our own minds? Yes, because we want to trust ourselves, and because in our day putatively wise people constantly tell us that high self-esteem brings success.
As busy as college students are, it can be profoundly beneficial for them to seek out and engage in a routine Bible study. Diving deeper into their faith, exploring what the world’s challenges mean to them, and creating a Christian-based path forward can give any college student the direction he or she needs to achieve their best life. Still, it’s not always easy to make that decision—instead of a night with friends or yet another study session for a high-level math class, go to Bible study instead.
Handing our cares and worries over to God gives us peace which keeps us from falling into doubt, as stated in Philippians. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
What should someone with wealth do? Solomon writes, “Pay attention to it and know its condition.” He uses the example of sheep and goats. Wise parents blessed with wealth will teach their children how to work to maintain it. Wise children will accept the burdens of responsibility that go with family wealth, always remembering that riches do not last forever.
The Book of Proverbs has no use for the gullible, viewing them as willful fools. Even when everyone else can see a hateful, deceitful person for what he is, the gullible choose to believe gracious words.
At Easter, a good question to ask is, "How are people saved?" This should be a question that Christians can easily answer, and indeed most can. However, sometimes Christians are less knowledgeable about the doctrine of justification and its important distinctions than perhaps they should be.
How should leaders deal with difficult situations in difficult times? Geneva College’s John Gallo and Jenna Bieber provide a guidebook for leaders. "Lessons from Cain and Abel to Guide Leaders Through Turbulent Times" walks readers through the account of Cain and Abel to teach leaders the importance of justice, mercy, harmony and equality.
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