One day, about two thousand years ago, when Israel was occupied by the Romans, a man called Philip met a Man who said: "Follow Me." Philip couldn't resist Him.
Later on He found his friend Nathanael “...and said unto him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."” (John 1:45 KJ21)
He didn't say that he, together with Simon and Andrew, had met the Messiah. No, he described the Man as the One Moses and the prophets had written about.
Moses described Him as "Seed of the woman":
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel."” (Genesis 3:15 KJ21)
He also described Him as the Seed of Abraham:
“And in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed My voice."” (Genesis 22:18 KJ21)
Moses also wrote of the Messiah as "Shiloh", from the Hebrew word "ולשׁ", which, according to Strong's Accordance, could mean "owner". This could point to the fact that God owns the earth and all in it:
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.” (Genesis 49:10 KJ21)
The American "Revised Standard Version" (1947):
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Genesis 49:10 RSV)
In Deuteronomy 18 Moses described the coming of the Prophet:
“The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, from thy brethren, like unto me. Unto Him ye shall hearken, according to all that thou desired of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.’ And the LORD said unto me: ‘They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19 KJ21)
Several prophets wrote about the coming Messiah. Isaiah was allowed to tell about the, in the eyes of mankind impossible, pregnancy and birth:
“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 KJ21)
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon His Kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7 KJ21)
The prophet Micah was allowed to tell where the Messiah would enter the world:
“But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto Me He that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2 KJ21)
Let's go back to the beginning, to Philip and Nathanael. When Philip told his friend about Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael asked him:
“...Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said unto him, "Come and see.” (John 1:46 KJ21)
Nathanael's reaction was justified: he knew that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
How could he know that Jesus, as a tiny little baby, saw His first daylight in that little town.
Yes, the people of Israel expected a Messiah: a King to restore the throne of David, to destroy evil and to lead Israel and the whole world for ever and ever.
There were several "Messiahs", gathering followers, but they all died and dissapeared in anonymity.
And then came Jesus......
and He didn't live up to expectations: He didn't start a mutiny against the Romans, He didn't keep the laws the way the Pharisees and the scribes wanted and He was, according to them, guilty of blasphemy:
“Therefor the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18 KJ21)
At last Jesus also died, nailed to a cross at Calvary.
His disciples' hope died with Him.
A few days later two of His disciples walked from Jerusalem to the village called Emmaus:
“And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they communed and reasoned together, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were held, that they should not know Him. And He said unto them, "What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad?" And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto Him, "Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which have come to pass there in these days?" And He said unto them, "What things?" And they said unto Him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company, who were early at the sepulcher, made us astonished. And when they found not his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even so as the women had said, but him they saw not." Then He said unto them, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:14-27 KJ21)
Our risen Saviour will, most likely, have quoted several abovementioned parts of Scripture about His coming, but also prophecies about His suffering, as described by a.o. Isaiah:
“The Lord GOD hath given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. He wakeneth morning by morning; He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened Mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave My back to the smiters and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting.” (Isaiah 50:4-6 KJ21)
Didn't this happen a few days before He spoke to the two:
“And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led Him away into the hall called the Praetorium, and they called together the whole detachment. And they clothed Him with purple, and they platted a crown of thorns and put it about His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they smote Him on the head with a reed and spat upon Him and, bowing their knees, worshiped Him. And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple from Him, and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.” (Mark 15:15-20 KJ21)
The prophet Isaiah also described Him as "a Man of sorrows":
“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people was He stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:2-9 KJ21)
Jesus was bruised and battered, flogged by the Romans (the movie picture "Passion of the Christ" gives us an idea how rude these men might have been), mocked by them and the Jews, but didn't resist in any way, as described above:
“And He answered him never a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly.” (Matthew 27:14 KJ21)
The Son of God let them butcher Him as a Lamb. He was crucified, took all our sins upon Him which led to that horrible moment when His Father left Him:
“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is to say, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"” (Matthew 27:45-46 KJ21)
Is it wrong to think that Jesus told the two, walking to Emmaus, about this cry and Psalm 22:
“To the chief musician: Upon "The Hind of the Morning." A Psalm of David. My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?” (Psalms 22:1 KJ21)
In that Psalm King David wrote about the crucifixion of our Redeemer:
“But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn; they shoot out their lip, they shake their head, saying, "He trusted in the LORD that He would deliver him; let Him deliver him, seeing He delighted in him!"” (Psalms 22:6-8 KJ21)
The Jews mocked Jesus while He was nailed to the cross:
“And those who passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself! If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross!" Likewise also the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders said, "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver him now, if He will have him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:39-43 KJ21)
Psalm 22 tells us much more about the Jesus' torment:
“I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My body. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed Me; they pierced My hands and My feet. I can count all My bones; they look and stare upon Me. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.” (Psalms 22:14-18 KJ21)
In warm, dry Israel Jesus was nailed to the cross, surrounded by "dogs" (a "nickname" the Jews their Roman occupant gave). His hands and feet were pierced, He could count His ribs, for He was almost naked: the soldiers divided His cloths and casted lots for a seamless garment:
“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part, and also His coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be...” (John 19:23-24a KJ21)
Isn't it a marvel that David wrote this some 1000 years before this all happened?
The prophet Daniel received, while Israel was in exile in Babylon, a prophecy of "70 weeks" from archangel Gabriel. These "weeks" turned out to be weeks of years: 70 x 7 years in stead of 70 x 7 days.
What happened after 69 "weeks":
“Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary...” (Daniel 9:25-26a KJ21)
You can find a lot of explanations about these "weeks" in articles, books, the internet a.s.o.
If we do the math we'll see that seven and threescore (=3x20) and two are 69 weeks. These 69 weeks of 7 years are 483 years of 360 days (a Biblical year) which are 476 of our years.
What took place some 476 years after the order to restore Jerusalem was given, 445 years before Christ's birth?
The Messiah was killed by crucifixion! Not for Himself, but for us!
Some fourty years later the Romans destroyed the City and the Temple.
There are many theories about the 70st week, I personally believe that week has yet to come.
Back to the guys, walking to Emmaus: when Jesus had taught them, they invited Him for dinner. At that moment they didn't realize they were in the presence of the risen Son of God:
“And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread and blessed it, and broke and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they knew Him. And He vanished out of their sight. And they said to one another, "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the way and while He opened to us the Scriptures?"” (Luke 24:30-32 KJ21)
I hope that like with these two, the eyes of the people of Israel will be opened so they can recognize their and our Messiah.
(to be continued)
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