Enough Day 8 Perfect Prophet
Read His Words Before Ours!
Isaiah 53:3-12
Luke 24:13-27
Matthew 5:17-20
Revelation 22:1-5
Enough, Day 8
Of the four seasons we experience in the Midwest, I like spring the best. My birthday is in the spring, the weather is just right, and mostly importantly as a homeschool momma, summer is on the horizon.
Honestly though, it’s the flowers. Several years ago, we lived in a house with a yard. Planting flowers and tending them was my greatest joy. I loved choosing which plant needed which location in the sun pattern, ensuring something blooming in every season. I was thrilled by morning surveys to see which daffodil, tulip, or lily was on the verge of popping open.
I only planted perennials, flowers that re-bloomed every year. As a lover of flowers, I would not keep any plants in the same location that didn’t thrive. If a plant didn’t bloom well, I either transplanted it to a new home in the garden or pitched it out.
Anticipation.
Knowing previously-blooming flowers were trustworthy and would bloom again.
Waiting for each individual petal’s final beauty to be revealed.
This is how we wait for Jesus’ return!
We wait in anticipation for His glorious restoration of the earth, and His beauty to fully be revealed. We long for the time when every tear will be wiped away, when all pain and suffering is restored, and the curse of sin will forever be broken.
But how can we know this will really happen?
God’s Word promises it will.
How can we trust this is not some “pie in the sky church talk,”
but real, solid truth upon which we can build our lives?
Just as with my flowers, we can look back.
Scholars calculate there are over 300 prophecies regarding Jesus in the Old Testament. For example, the prophet Isaiah foretells detail after detail of Jesus’ coming, ministry, death, and resurrection hundreds of years before Jesus is even born. When we read of Jesus’ life in the New Testament, we find at least 20 prophecies in Isaiah alone that Jesus already fulfilled.
The same holds true for the expansive list of prophecies recorded from other Old Testament prophets: Jesus fulfilled each one, proving Himself faithful over and over again. That truth, combined with our understanding of the infallibility of Scripture, solidifies in our hearts Jesus is who He says He is, and His own prophetic words will be fulfilled in His return!
Jesus was brutally killed, overcame death and the grave, and was miraculously resurrected. In Luke 24, Jesus is talking with several disciples on the road. Though they had known Him during His ministry, they didn’t recognize Him. Having heard His tomb was empty, they were upset.
Jesus pauses to share His true identity.
“He said to them, ‘How foolish and slow you are to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into His glory?’
Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:25-27)
Not only did Jesus fulfill prophecies, but He was, Himself, the perfect prophet.
Fully God, there was no stain of sin on His nature to corrupt the messages He communicated from the Father.
“For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a command to say everything I have said. I know that His command is eternal life. So the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.” (John 12:49-50)
Fully man, He redeemed the ministry of the Old Testament role of prophet, choosing at every turn obedience to His Father’s words and plans over satisfaction of self.
“Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does these things.’” (John 5:19)
Jesus himself says He was the prophet of all prophets;
all of Scripture weaves together His story.
We cannot read the Old Testament without finding the foreshadowing of His
coming.
We are immersed in His life through the Gospels.
We see teachings on how His church will grow all across the New Testament.
The conclusion of His Book floods with the magnificent promise of Jesus’ final return to bring His people home.
Christ is the beginning and the end; we can trust in Him, the One who came to redeem us!
Father, You have proved Yourself time and time again. Let us lean into Your faithfulness and trust in Your infallibility. Jesus, You so freely gave of Yourself so we might have new life in You. Thank you.
Lord Jesus, we anticipate Your return! Lord, as we cling to you, let us rest in the promises of Your second coming. Use that promise to spur us on to share You with those around us. Stir our hearts, Lord, that many more would come to know You before You return.
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Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Enough Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Enough!
