Fulfilling Old Testament Prophecies

Lesson 8

Fulfilling Old Testament Prophecies

(John 2,3,5,8, and 19)

Copr. 2024, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

Introduction: How did you enjoy our studies the last few weeks on the witnesses to Jesus being God? This week we have a new and powerful witness, the Old Testament of the Bible. What better proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the God who came to earth, then the ancient prophecies? The fact that the prophecies are ancient is not the important point. Rather, our belief that God inspired the entire Bible is the point. This witness, therefore, is God! Let’s dive in and examine how Jesus fulfills the ancient prophecies!

1. Eyes Wide Open
   
   1. Read John 5:37-39. What does Jesus suggest is the level of Biblical understanding of His audience? (Jesus says they are Biblical illiterates (“you do not have His word abiding in you”), and thus do not recognize Him as the Messiah.)
      1. Do you think the audience would agree that they are Biblically illiterate? (They would strongly disagree. The Pharisees memorized the Torah.)
      2. If it is not factually true that the Jewish leaders were Biblically illiterate, what is Jesus saying? (He says they are not paying attention. They are not open to understanding that the Old Testament “bear[s] witness to Me.”)
   2. Look again at John 5:39. What is the reason the Jews studied the Scriptures? (They thought they were the roadmap to eternal life.)
      1. So what went wrong? They were literate, yet they could not understand. Why?
   3. Read John 5:40. What is the reason Jesus says they cannot understand the Scriptures? (“You refuse to come to Me.”)
      1. What do you think that means? (It means that they let prejudice, preconceived ideas, or some other misunderstanding bar them from seeing the truth of the Scriptures. Let’s not be like them. Let’s look today at the Scriptures with our eyes wide open.)
   4. Read John 8:17-19 and John 8:23. Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that if they properly understood Him and His Father they would recognize who Jesus is. What other reason does Jesus give for their failure to recognize Him? (They are not listening to the two witnesses - God the Father and Jesus. The reason they are not listening is that they are focused on the world. He cannot be simply saying that they live on earth and He came from heaven, otherwise no human would ever understand.)
      1. Why do they ask, “Where is your Father?” (They are insulting Jesus over the question of His paternity. That is further proof they are “of this world.”)
2. Lifted Up
   
   1. Read John 3:14-15. Do you know to what Jesus is referring?
   2. Read Numbers 21:4-5. This is the trip God’s people made from their position of slavery in Egypt to the land promised to them through Abraham. How valid is their complaint about food and water? (They had food provided by God, but they apparently did not like it. If they had no water, they would be dead.)
      1. Are the people lying? (I think so. There may not have been “food and water” in that wilderness, but God had been providing food and water to them. They could not honestly say they were on the brink of death.)
   3. Read Numbers 21:6-7. Does this make you think that God is the same in the Old and New Testaments? Ask the classic, “What would Jesus do?”
      1. Do you think that the attack is by snakes is a coincidence? (I do not. Satan is the serpent of Eden, the father of lies. John 8:44. The people were lying about God, they were distracted by their rebellion and complaints, and the snakes that lived in that area attacked them. Had they been paying attention to where they were walking, they might have avoided this.)
   4. Read Numbers 21:8-9. Why, of all things, would God make looking at the image of a snake the path to healing? (The snake represented sin.)
      1. Is this story a witness to Jesus as our Messiah? (Absolutely. Jesus became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), He bore our sins. When He was lifted up on the cross, He died on our behalf (Romans 5:8). When we understand this and accept Jesus as our substitute, we are saved from the “bite” of sin.)
3. Three Days
   
   1. Read John 2:14-16. Does this sound like the God we have been reading about? (This sounds like the snake story we just read.)
   2. Read John 2:17 and Psalms 69:9. What is going through the mind of the disciples? (They are thinking that this is a fulfillment of an Old Testament saying.)
   3. Read John 2:18-20 and 1 Kings 8:12-13. The Jewish leaders think that Jesus is referring to an actual destruction and rebuilding of the temple building. To what is Jesus referring?
      1. If you answered, “His body,” does that reflect an Old Testament concept? (Yes. The temple was the place where God dwelt to be among His people. It is no coincidence that Jesus compares Himself to the temple, because He was God. He dwelt in Himself.)
4. Bones
   
   1. Read John 19:31-33 and John 19:36. What is the Old Testament prophecy that predicted Jesus’ bones would not be broken? (Read John 1:29 and then read Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12. This shows us that Jesus fulfilled the conditions of being the Passover lamb, the lamb that caused the destroyer to turn away. See Exodus 12:21-23.)
   2. Read John 19:34, John 19:37, and Psalms 22:16-17. What is the Old Testament prediction fulfilled here? (That Jesus would be “pierced.” This happens with His hands, feet, and side. But no bones are broken.)
   3. Read John 19:23-24 and Psalms 22:18. Why would the Old Testament predict such a small detail of Jesus’ crucifixion? (These details are important. Christians do not make only general claims that the Old Testament predicted Jesus’ crucifixion, they point to very specific details.)
5. Praises and Donkeys
   
   1. Read Zechariah 9:9 and Psalms 118:25-26. What would you expect of the Messiah if you were a student of the Old Testament? (Read John 12:12-15. Jesus also fulfills these prophecies.)
   2. Let’s continue with the prophecy of Zechariah and read Zechariah 9:10. When did this take place? (It has not. This is one of the difficult issues that we must honestly face. The Jewish leaders and Jesus’ disciples had a prophetic basis to believe that Jesus would cast off both the Roman and Jewish overlords and bring peace to the earth.)
      1. How do you explain this failed prophecy? Or is it not a failed prophecy? (Continue by reading Zechariah 9:14-16. Many Christians believe that the “power” prophecies about Jesus, as opposed to the suffering lamb prophecies, deal with a different event. That event is the Second Coming of Jesus which is a power event.)
      2. This week I listened to one of the most prominent preachers in my denomination. He said we don’t believe that Israel has any importance anymore. If Israel no longer has any importance to future events, does that mean this is a failed prophecy?
   3. Read Romans 11:11-12 which speaks of Israel’s “full inclusion,” and Romans 11:17-18 and Romans 11:24. Does it seem to you that Israel and its people will play no part in last day events?
   4. Read Romans 11:25-29. What does it mean that “the gifts and calling” of God are “irrevocable?” (I seriously doubt that Israel is no longer important. I do not think that the “power” prophecies of the Old Testament failed. Most important, when I was part of a discussion this past week about the future, I cautioned against pride of opinion and suggested that humility was best because the experts of Jesus day ended up being “illiterates” when it came to understanding the prophecies.)
   5. Friend, I hope that after this study your confidence that Jesus is the Messiah is strengthened by the witness of the Old Testament prophecies and events. At the same time, since Jesus points out that the theological experts of the day did not understand His arrival, I suggest humility in our understanding about the fulfillment of the prophecies about Jesus’ Second Coming. Instead “stay awake for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” Matthew 24:42. Will you determine, right now, to be humble and alert?
6. Next week: The Source of Life.