The Fullness of
Time
By Doug Schofield
Jesus’ Work and Ministry
When God instructed Abram to leave
The journey from
He went to a
considerable effort to bring the descendants of Abraham back out of
The location of
the land was such that it was an important trade route between
God used the Assyrians, the Babylonians,
the Persians, the Syrians, the Greeks the Romans and others over the course of
the centuries to prepare for the “fullness of time”, (Galatians 4:4). Rom 5:6, “For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” The arrival of Jesus on the scene of humanity
was not just by some random chance; it was predetermined and established by God
with great detail and specificity. In
Genesis 49 as Jacob is telling his sons of things to come, in verse 10 he
mentions the coming of
When that time came, there was relative peace,
an adequately permissive political atmosphere, an almost universal language,
(Greek). The Roman jurisprudence system was in place, (that system would serve
an important role in the events leading up to the crucifixion of our Lord); and
there were numerous good roads which would facilitate the rapid spread of the
gospel in a few short years.
The obscure birth
of a baby to a poor unknown couple in the stable of an inn in
One record that
we have of His teaching which has come to be called “The Sermon on the Mount” is
actually a compendium of all His teaching – indeed of God’s message to mankind
throughout all the ages. Matthew
chapters 5, 6 & 7 contain essentially all of Christ’s teaching, except the
plan of redemption.
When
we speak of the ‘Gospel writers’ we of course refer to Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John. Each of them gives his own account of the
events without any reference to the other accounts, Each of them wrote an
account of the good news (gospel) of the fulfillment of 4,000 years of promise,
prophesy and preparation in the coming of the Son of God to earth; and of His
life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension for the benefit of all who will
obey Him.
These men were
guided by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, (John
Ignatius who died
between 98 and 117 AD makes frequent reference to the Apostles in his
writings. On his way to be martyred in
the arena in
Irenaeus, born between 115 and 125, describes
himself sitting and listening to Polycarp tell about
his experiences with the Apostle John “and others who had seen the Lord”. Polycarp is said to
have been appointed an elder by one of the apostles; he was martyred in 155 AD,
having been a Christian for 86 years.
There are so many historical documents like this which verify the
validity of the gospel accounts that even the most severe skeptics are at a
loss to discredit them.
The Gospel Writers
About
the origins of the Gospels, Papias (who worked and
wrote in the 1st half of the 2nd century) wrote this:
"Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered. It
was not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of
Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied Him. But afterwards, as I
said, he accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instructions to the
necessities [of his hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular
narrative of the Lord's sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writing
some things as he remembered them. For of one thing he took especial care, not
to omit anything he had heard, and not to put anything fictitious into the
statements. Matthew put together the oracles [of the Lord] in the Hebrew
language, and each one interpreted them as best he could." Thus Papias reports he heard things that came from an unwritten,
oral tradition of the Presbyters, a "sayings" or logia
tradition that had been passed from Jesus to such of the apostles and disciples
as he mentions in the fragmentary quote.
As previously
mentioned, we also have some of the work of Polycarp,
who was a contemporary of the apostles, an elder in the infant church probably
appointed by the apostle John; of Irenaeus, a student
of Polycarp, of Ignatious
and Eusebius and of certain others who devoted their lives to the work of the
church. Of course, these uninspired
texts must never be considered as holding any authority, the Bible is the only
source of authority in all matters of faith; they simply help us to realize and
understand the great impact that the gospel of Christ has on people as it spread
throughout the world, and to underscore the reality of the lives of the
apostles and the validity of the scriptures.
When were the gospel accounts
written? Of course it doesn’t matter;
the dating of authorship is completely immaterial to the gospel message, but a
general understanding of the time frame can serve to reinforce our faith in the
inspiration of the scriptures and in their absolute accuracy and
infallibility. The Catholics assert that
Mark was written first (65 – 70); then Matthew and Luke (80’s), and finally
John (90’s). After some study, I
disagree, here’s why:
Papias, the historian, suggests that Matthew was the first
written, perhaps as early ad AD 50, and that could
well have been the case. He further
states that it was first written in Aramaic or Hebrew intended to convert
Jewish readers, and that later it was translated into Greek. Some have suggested that Matthew wrote his
gospel before leaving
Some scholars suggest that
Mark could have written as early as AD 55; and if Mark wrote earlier and
Matthew wrote later then Mark could well have been the first. However, the statement of Iraneus
that Mark wrote his gospel ‘after the death of Peter’, moves that marker up to
at least AD 67. Mark – between AD 67 and
70
Luke’s account, (and his
record of the acts of the Apostles, Acts) must surely have been prior to AD 62,
because he makes no mention of the death of James which occurred in AD 62, nor
of Nero’s persecution of Christians, which occurred in AD 64. Likewise, both Paul and Peter were still very
much alive at the time of Luke’s writing; but according to tradition, Paul died
in AD 64 and Peter in 65. There is no
question that the gospel of Luke was written before Acts. In Acts Luke makes reference to Festus as
Procurator; he was appointed to that position sometime between AD 55 and 59,
(according to Harper’s Bible Commentary).
Luke – perhaps as early as AD
58
The general consensus among
historians is that John was written no earlier than the early 80’s and perhaps
as late as the 90’s, or just before his death in AD 98. His Revelation account falls after 94,
probably around 95.
Mark
Luke
Matthew 9:9 - 11 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named
Matthew, (notice how that Matthew
refers to himself by his new name, which in Hebrew means ‘Gift of Jehovah’),
sitting at the receipt of custom: and
he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and
followed him. And it came to pass, as
Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat
down with him and his disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
On this
particular occasion Jesus was apparently residing at the home of Peter, (Mark
That Jesus would
call a Publican to be a follower of his, and further, that he would go into the
home of such a one, and even more so that he would eat with him, was a major
affront to the self-righteous Pharisees and Jewish leaders because of their special
hatred for Publicans. Jesus emphasized
their hypocrisy in Luke 18:10 – 14.
As a tax
collector, Levi (or Matthew) was likely an educated man; his business
necessitated detailed and accurate record keeping and knowledge of
commerce. His gospel record was
evidently written to Jewish Christians, and no doubt with the aim of converting
other Jews to Christ. His account is
abundant with quotations and references to Old Testament scriptures, (at least
93, according to Robertson’s Harmony of the Gospels). He makes it clear that Christianity is not a
repudiation of the Old Testament, but a fulfillment of its promises and
prophecies, the culmination of 4,000 years of preparation by the providence of
God.
Matthew, in his
gospel, presents Jesus as the Son of David, establishing for the Jews that He
was the Messiah, the promised one, in the lineage to sit on the throne of David. He details our Lord’s genealogy through the
ancestry of Joseph, thus establishing Jesus’ rightful claim to the throne of
David through the royal bloodline and from a legal point of view, because Jesus
was the legal heir of Joseph as his foster son.
In their worldly, materialistic minds however, the Jews expected Jesus
to establish an earthly kingdom; most of them didn’t comprehend the spiritual
nature of the Kingdom, just as many fail to do today. (*) Jesus emphasized the fact that His
kingdom is not of a worldly nature, (John 18:36; John 4:23-24). John wrote in 1 John
Matthew’s account
is quoted perhaps more frequently by the early church fathers and historians in
their writings that any other. It may
have been written as early as 15 to 20 years after the resurrection. Matthew mentions the kingdom more than 35
times, and specifically identifies Jesus as ‘the son of David’ at least 9
times. He mentions almost 2 dozen
miracles, and makes it clear that the
Mark
This writer is generally believed to have
been John Mark, whose mother was named Mary, (Acts
John Mark and his cousin Barnabas went
with Paul on his first missionary journey, probably around AD 47, going as far
as Perga in Pamphylia
before Mark returned to Jerusalem, (Acts 13:13). We aren’t told why he chose to return, Paul
apparently didn’t know, sometimes we don’t understand decisions people make
because we cannot see their perspective.
Later, we read of disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over this
incident in Act 15:36 – 40, “And some days
after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every
city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them
John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul
thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between
them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark,
and sailed unto
Clearly however,
they were reconciled, because Paul mentions Mark favorably in Colossians
Mark’s gospel was
intended primarily for a gentile audience; he includes explanations of Jewish
tradition for their benefit, (Mark 7:2-4); he converts the Greek currency into
Roman (
Luke
Luke was a well
educated Greek – a gentile; (remember that Alexander the Great had brought much
Greek influence to bear in
Luke was an early
convert to Christianity; in Acts 16:8-10 the context appears that Luke was in
Luke was a
personal observer of the miracles of healing performed by the apostles, and he
very likely interviewed various individuals who had been healed by Jesus
himself. As a physician he was certainly
a qualified observer. Authenticity is
also ascribed to Luke’s writings in that he is quoted by many early historians,
including Justin Martyr, Clement, Tertullian and
others.
Luke presents Jesus
as the Savior of man from the perspective of the vast majority of the
population of the world – gentiles. Luke
details for us the physical blood lineage of Christ through the ancestry of
Mary. Of course there was no actual
blood connection with the lineage of Joseph, his ancestral roots are traced
back to David by Matthew simply to establish Jesus’ rightful claim to David’s
throne as Joseph’s legal heir. Luke’s
genealogy is actually the blood lineage of Mary and thus of Jesus; although as
was customary, Mary’s husband’s name is inserted in the record where hers would
be in modern parlance. This demonstrates
dramatically the importance of so many Old Testament events which contributed
to His lineage.
Luke personally
interviewed many who were eyewitnesses to our Lord’s ministry and to His trial,
execution, burial and resurrection. Luke
had an opportunity to meet Peter and other apostles when he traveled to
John
John was probably
the younger brother of James the “greater”, son of Zebedee,
(Matthew 4:21-22, Mark 3:17). These boys
were nicknamed Boanerges, which in Hebrew means ‘sons
of thunder’; this likely because of their highly emotional enthusiasm. He was likely well educated, as may be observed
from his literary skills in his gospel and three letters; notwithstanding the
arrogant slur cast at him and Peter by the Jewish leaders in Acts 4:13. (It is not uncommon for us to think of
certain politicians today as idiots, even though they may hold several
degrees). The family business was
apparently successful and prosperous; Mark
In John 18:12-16
he gives the account of his having gone in with Jesus to the palace of the High
Priest, (evidently he was acquainted with Chiapas or someone in authority in
the palace); and followed all the way to the cross, (19:26). Jesus entrusted the care of his mother to
John, (evidence of the closeness of their relationship). We don’t know many details about his work,
yet his teaching is well recorded and documented. He was persecuted for his teaching and imprisoned
on the
John emphasizes
the eternal spiritual nature of Christ. His
Gospel record was probably written after the destruction of
John emphasizes
the deity of Christ, and presents many of His miracles, using them as signs of
that fact. His writing is profound yet
sensitive and moving; his purpose is summed up in chapter 20, verses 30-31:
"Many other signs therefore Jesus also
performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing
you may have life in His name." John was intimately
familiar with the life and work of our Lord, and seemingly selected a few of
the most outstanding examples to him in order to achieve his purpose. The concluding verse of his gospel (
Wayne Jackson has
listed some of the evidence presented by John to establish the divinity of
Christ:
A Brief history of the written word
By Doug Schofield
There exists evidence of
written agricultural records dating from shortly after Noah and his family
found dry land. Marks made in soft clay
with a wooden stylus were sufficient to keep records of crops and livestock and
of business transactions. By the time of
Abraham, the Chinese were developing a written language, and a series of
symbols which later would be called hieroglyphs emerged in
Exodus 31:18 “And he
gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount
Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of
God.”
Exodus 34:1 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone
like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in
the first tables, which thou didst break.”
Deuteronomy 10:1-5 “At that
time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first,
and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words
that were in the first tables which thou didst break, and thou shalt put them in the ark.
And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed
two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the
two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on
the tables, according to the first writing, the ten
commandments, which the LORD spoke unto you in the mount out of the
midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto
me. And I turned myself and came down
from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me.”
Comparatively, in Numbers
Earliest writing implements
include wedge shaped stones, sharpened sticks, pieces of bone, bronze, and feather
quills. Various types of ink were tried,
including soot mixed with lamp oil, juice of different berries, and dyes
derived from various minerals. By the
time that Jáel, the wife of Heber drove the tent peg
through the head of Sisera (Judges
Stones, animal skins and
plant fibers have served as a writing medium for many thousands of years. Among the first used was soft clay formed
into tablets; impressions were made in the clay then the tablet was dried in an
oven or in the sun. Many thousands of
such tablets from ancient
Papyrus is a
wetland sedge, similar to bamboo and to cattail reeds. Writing material was made by slicing the reed
lengthwise and laying the pieces in a criss-cross pattern, moistening with
water and some form of glue, and pressing them together. Typically pages were
roughly 6 x 12, but some were made that were several feet in length. The use of papyrus dates from before 2700 BC
according to some sources. John mentions
paper and ink in verse 12 of his 2nd letter; but paper made from
wood fibers was not invented until shortly after the death of the last
apostle. However, it wouldn’t come into
widespread use for another 600 years because the Japanese guarded the secret of
how to make it so carefully. Leather
made from all kinds of animal skins was processed into vellum upon which were
written scrolls, many of which survive today.
Ezekiel was instructed to eat a scroll, (chapter 3).
By the end of the first
century copies of New Testament writings were being bound together in a manner
called codex to form the earliest version of books, as we know them today. Once again, we see the providence of God at
work as political conditions, education, travel and technology all came
together for “the fullness of time”.
Travels of Jesus
The Bible is
filled with details, like the names of countries, regions, cities and villages;
the names of seas, lakes, rivers and streams; of mountains, hills, plains and
valleys. Most of those places are identifiable today, and many of them have
been excavated by archaeologists. Jesus’
travels may be traced from His birth at
The gospel writers
give much detail about His travels. They
place Him in:
The Wilderness - Matt. 3:1
Capernanum – Matthew 4:13
Sychar - John 4:5
Nain - Luke 7:11
The country of the Gadarenes - Matt. 8:28
Various cities and villages - Matt
Gennesaret - Matt. 14:34
District of Tyre
and
Magdla - Matt. 15:39
Caesarea Philippi - Matt. 16:13.
Region of
Bethany - John 12:1
Bethany (
Prophecies of Jesus Fulfilled
The gospel
writers detail for us the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament prophecies,
completing the picture, as it were, of God’s Great Eternal Plan.
With our studies
in the Old Testament as a background, let’s examine some of the prophecies we
find fulfilled in the New Testament.
Matthew gives us
the Genealogy of Christ back to David, through Joseph – his foster father, (1:1-17);
John gives a spiritual genealogy, (1:1-18); and Luke traces the bloodline all
the way back to Adam through the lineage of Mary, (3:23-38). The coming of Jesus was first promised in
Genesis 3:15, and reiterated to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob; the gospel writers demonstrate the fulfillment of that promise.
►The birth
of Jesus was foretold by:
Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7 ~ fulfilled in Matthew 1:24-25; Luke 2:1-7
►God’s
declaration of Jesus as His Son was foretold by Psalms 2:7, and fulfilled in
Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-23 and John 1:29-34. These passages record the first formal
declaration of Jesus as the Son of God on the occasion of his being baptized by
John. A similar declaration was made on
the Mount of Transfiguration recorded in Matthew 17:5 and Mark 9:7; this being
for the purpose of showing Jesus as the ultimate source of authority, superior
to Moses and Elijah, designated by God to be the divine spokesman.
►God
promised that redemption would come through the seed of woman, (Genesis
►God gave
Abraham the promise that all nations of the earth would be blessed in his
lineage, (Genesis 12:3). Matthew 1:1
states that Jesus was the son of Abraham.
►God made a
similar promise to Isaac, (Genesis
►Isaiah 9:7
prophesies that Jesus would be heir to the throne of David. Luke 1:32, 33 is the
fulfillment of that prophesy.
Micah 5:2
foretells that He would be born in
►The time
of Christ’s birth was foretold by Daniel,
►Isaiah specifically
stated that He would be born of a virgin, (
►The
slaughter of young children was prophesied by Jeremiah in 31:15. Details of the fulfillment are in Matthew
2:16-18.
►His
ministry to be heralded by a forerunner is told is Malachi 3:1, and fulfilled
in Matthew 3:1-3; Mark 1:4; Luke 7:24,27.
►Christ’s
teaching in the region of
►That He
would be a prophet (teacher from God) is foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15, and
fulfilled according to Luke in Acts
►That He
would be rejected by his own people (the children of
►The
psalmist wrote that He would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, Psalms
110:4. That fact is stated in Hebrews
5:5,6. Note
that Jesus makes reference to himself in the context of this Psalm in Matthew
22:43:45.
Melchizedek first appears in Genesis
14:18, as Abram is returning from having rescued
►Zechariah
9:9 tells of a very specific event in the life of Christ that is recorded by
all four gospel writers: Matthew 21:7-11; Mark 11:7, 9, 11; Luke 19:29-40; and
John 12:12-16. This singular event
should have been sufficient to alert the Jewish scholars and leaders that this
was indeed the promised Messiah. The
event is Christ’s triumphant entry into
The placing of garments and of palm fronds in the path was an
ancient custom to demonstrate honor. The
fact that Jesus gave instructions concerning the obtaining of the donkey and
her colt, and that those instructions played out in precise detail is notable
in and of itself. In Genesis 49 Jacob
sets out to tell his sons of things that are to come, and in verse 11 makes
specific reference to the tying of the colt, the foal of an ass. That he chose to ride the last mile or so
from the
►The
Psalmist foretold that the gospel would be preached to the Gentiles and that
they would believe it, Psalms 18:49, also 117:1. Likewise, Isaiah foretold it as well, in2
Samuel 22:50 and in Isaiah 11:1. The
fulfillment of these prophecies is demonstrated in Ephesians 2:11-22; in the
case of Cornelius, (Acts chapter 10), in Romans 15:7-13, and other passages.
►That Christ
would be betrayed by a friend is foretold in Psalms 41:9, and shown to be fulfilled in Matthew 26:14-16; Luke 22:47-48;
John 13:18 and 18:2-3. Disloyalty,
treachery, unfaithfulness and betrayal all are despicable traits on their own;
but when carried out by a trusted friend they reach the ultimate insult. Just six days earlier Mary the sister of
Lazarus had poured a pound of very precious ointment called spikenard on Jesus;
Judas made protest saying that this valuable cologne could have been sold for
300 pence ($132), ‘and given to the poor’.
As soon as they arrived in
►That he would be sold for thirty
pieces of silver is foretold in Zechariah 11:12-13, and fulfilled in Matthew
26:15 and Luke 22:6. The scripture says
that he bargained with them for thirty pieces of silver (about $52.80). The amount was equal to the price to be paid
for a slave gored by an ox, (Exodus
►Psalms
35:11 foretells his being accused by false witnesses, and we find that
occurring in Matthew 26:57-60 and Mark 14:56-58. After their cowardly arrest of Jesus the
chief priests and elders scurried about in search of false evidence against
him; and although they found many who were willing to commit perjury they
needed at least two who would tell the same story, (Deuteronomy 17:6). At last two were found who would testify that
they heard Jesus say that he would destroy the temple and built it in three
days. Of course that’s not what he had
said, his statement is recorded in John 2:19, then read John’s statements in
verses 20-22. How often we find examples
of scripture taken out of context, twisted just a little, with just a small
addition or omission to support false teaching – or false witness, in violation
of the 9th commandment!
►His silent
response to his accusers is prophesied in Isaiah 53:7, and we see in Matthew
27:14 and Mark 15:4-5. His accusers
presented no proof of the charges they brought against him; both Herod and
Pilate found him innocent of any crime.
It appears that even the slightest word in his own defense would have
resulted in the case against him being thrown out of the Roman court --- but he
opened not his mouth; knowing what would come, willingly laying down his life,
(John 10:18).
►The
demeaning treatment of our Lord by his enemies is foreseen in Isaiah 50:6, and
we see it occurring in Matthew 26:67; Mark 14:65; 15:15-20; Luke 22:63; John
18:22; 19:3. The mockery and humiliation
was wicked, cruel and repeated. There
were at least a half dozen specific events recorded for us, 1) the High Priest's servants; 2) Herod Antipas and
his soldiers; 3) the soldiers of the Roman garrison; 4) the general public; 5)
priests and scribes; and (6) the two crucified thieves. These things were much more than just man’s
inhumanity to man, they were the work of Satan, who was relentless in his
attempts to get Jesus to put a stop to these proceedings, to abandon his
purpose thus delivering the souls of all mankind into his hands.
►In Psalms
35:19 we read of his enemies hating him without a cause. Our Lord’s own words demonstrate this
fulfillment in John 15:24-25. Cain hated Abel because his works were righteous?
Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing; Joseph's brothers hated him because
his father loved him; Saul hated David because the Lord was with him;
Ahab hated Micaiah because of his prophecies; the
world hates righteousness. Consider John
►The vicarious nature of Christ’s
death is seen in Isaiah 53:4-6, {also the entire 22nd Psalm}; and
taught in Romans 5:6-8. The first time I
heard the word vicarious I was about 8 or 9 years old, but I remember well
Brother Rex Turner preaching a sermon on the subject. No, I don’t remember much of what he said,
but the word made a lasting impression on me as I grew to understand what it
means. It means to take the place of
another, to act as a substitute; it means that Jesus willingly received the
punishment which I justly deserve because of my sins, and in doing so He paid
the price that I could not pay, thus redeeming my soul and giving me salvation
through obedience to Him, by the grace of God.
The
vicarious death of Christ is at the center of man’s salvation; it was necessary
because of man’s sin, and man could not be reconciled to God without it.
Without the vicarious nature of Christ’s
death neither faith, repentance, confession nor baptism
would be of any value. Certainly we
cannot be saved without those things, but those are the steps of obedience by
which we accept the free gift of his love.
Was the death of Christ really necessary? Could God not have just spoken a universal
reprieve from the guilt of sin for all mankind and saved all people by
acclamation? That would be contrary to
His divine nature. The righteousness and
justice of God demands that sin be recompensed; it requires that the price of
guilt be paid, (Romans
Paul wrote: “For ye were bought with a price” (1
Corinthians
►That he
would feel forsaken by God, Psalms 22:1; given utterance in Matthew 27:46 and
Mark 15:34. This expression indicates
intense suffering; the humanity of Christ is visible here. Had God forsaken him? At that moment in time God turned His divine
face away, (Matthew 27:45; Mark
►That he
would die with criminals is foretold by Isaiah in 53:12; and fulfilled in
Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27-28; Luke 23:32-33 and John 19:18. This was more than just an act of contempt
perpetrated against Jesus by the Romans, (remember, the Romans hated the Jews
and would seize any opportunity to humiliate them); His treatment as a criminal
began in the garden, (Matthew 26:55).
That they executed to others with him was in strict violation of the
Jewish law; (just one more of many). If
this was ordered by Pilate it could have been a means of making Jesus’
execution take on the appearance of being legal, especially since he had been
declared innocent by both Herod and by Pilate.
On the other hand, it could have been done at the urging of the Jewish
leaders to make Jesus appear to be a criminal on one hand, and to further
humiliate him on the other.
►That his
body would be pierced – Zechariah
►That
vinegar and gall would be offered him is foretold in Psalms 69:21, and has its
fulfillment in Matthew 27:34, 48; and Mark
►That
men would gamble for his clothing is foretold in Psalms 22:17-18, and seen in
Matthew 27:35-36; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24. Josephus says that the coat of the high priest was one
long vestment, so woven as to have an aperture for the neck and hands. According to John
►The
Psalmist foretold that none of his bones would be broken, Psalms 34:20. We see this fulfilled in John 19:32-36. The law in Deuteronomy 21:22-23 required that
those crucified not be left hanging overnight.
Even though they had violated a great number of their own laws in the
way they went about arresting, trying, convicting and condemning Jesus, they
showed great concern over public infringement of certain other laws and
traditions.
►Isaiah
foretold that he would be buried with the rich, Isaiah 53:9. Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-43; Luke
23:50-51 and John 19:38-42 all record the fulfillment of this. A man named Joseph, a secret follower of
Jesus, came forward – indeed Mark says that he went in boldly to Pilate. This act required one who was willing to
completely abandon all considerations of personal safety, status and position
in order to fulfill this important role.
Joseph. It was one named Joseph
whom God raised up in
Joseph lived in Arimathea,
a town located about 40 miles north-northeast of
The risk they took with their social, political and economic standing – indeed with their very lives, was great; but that was not all, they also forfeited thei