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In this lesson we will continue to see the prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Christ’s living and ministry on earth. The main points of this lesson will cover the status of Christ at His death and also His betrayal.
At the end of His earthly ministry, Christ entered into Jerusalem in a humble and meek way, riding on a donkey’s colt. During His three and a half years of ministry, He stayed far away from Jerusalem, the center of Judaism. But at the end of His earthly ministry, He purposely went into Jerusalem to offer Himself as the Lamb of God to be crucified for the accomplishing of His wonderful and all-inclusive death.
According to the Old Testament prophecies, the crucified Christ would be the Messiah who was cut off (Dan. 9:25-26a), the stone that was rejected by the builders (Psa. 118:22-23), a stone to strike against and a rock of stumbling to the Jews (Isa. 8:14-15), the stone engraved by God Himself (Zech. 3:9), and the smitten Shepherd (13:7). Through these prophecies we have a rich realization of the statuses of Christ at His death.
In Daniel 9:25-26a the angel Gabriel spoke to Daniel and said, “Know therefore and comprehend: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of Messiah the Prince will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks...And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing.” The phrase cut off refers to the crucifixion of Christ, the anointed One. As recorded in the Old Testament, after Cyrus the king of Persia defeated Babylon, he was moved by God and made a proclamation that the children of Israel could go up to Jerusalem to rebuild the holy temple (Ezra 1:1-3). Then Artaxerxes the king, in the twentieth year of his reign, allowed Nehemiah to return for the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:1-8). According to history and the Jewish calendar, the time from the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem with street and trench by Artaxerxes until the Passover of the year in which the Messiah (Christ) was cut off on the cross was altogether sixty-nine weeks or four hundred eighty-three years (Dan. 9:25). Christ was cut off exactly on the Passover of that year (John 19:14-16). The prophecy spoken to Daniel by the angel was accurately fulfilled. The words cut off and will have nothing in Daniel 9 refer to the termination of the old creation with the human government in the old creation. This is the glad tidings to us. This prophecy promised that the anointed Christ would terminate the old creation by His crucifixion so that Christ in His resurrection might become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) to germinate those whom God has chosen, His new creation.
Psalm 118:22-23 says, “The stone which the builders rejected / Has become the head of the corner. / This is from Jehovah; / It is wonderful in our sight.” The Hebrew expression for head of the corner can also be translated “chief cornerstone.” This is a prophecy concerning Christ as the stone rejected by the Jewish builders that became the cornerstone in resurrection. The Lord Jesus quoted this prophecy in Matthew 21:42 to unveil that even though the Jewish builders rejected Him, God honored Him for the building of His dwelling place among His people on earth. In his preaching to the Jews Peter also said that the prophecy concerning Christ being the stone had been fulfilled: “This is the stone which was considered as nothing by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner” (Acts 4:11). Christ is the stone given to the Jews by God. The Jewish builders, the leaders, should have been working for God’s building, but they despised Christ to such an extent that they put Him on the cross. In God’s New Testament economy Christ is the stone rejected by the Jewish builders yet a cornerstone precious to God, joining the Jews and the Gentiles (1 Pet. 2:4; Eph. 2:18-21). As our Savior, He makes us living stones (Acts 4:12; 1 Pet. 2:5), and in the process of transformation we are being built into a dwelling place of God in spirit (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 2:19-22).
After the Lord Jesus indicated in Matthew 21:42 that He was the stone rejected by the Jewish builders, He said, “He who falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces” (v. 44). This word is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah: “Then He will become...a stone to strike against / And a rock of stumbling / To both houses of Israel... / And many will stumble at these, / And will fall and be broken to pieces” (Isa. 8:14-15). Furthermore, Romans 9:32-33a, Luke 2:34, and 1 Peter 2:8 refer to the fulfillment of Isaiah 8:14-15. According to the record in the Gospel of Luke, Simeon prophesied that Christ would be appointed by God to be a test to the children of Israel for the falling and the rising up of many (2:34). Since the Jews did not believe Christ and rejected Him, He became a stone to strike against and a rock of stumbling to the children of Israel. Their unbelief caused them to fall and to be broken on Christ the rock (Rom 9:32). Peter said that their stumbling was appointed (1 Pet. 2:8). To the believers, Christ is not a stone to strike against or a rock of stumbling; He is the stone raised up by God, that is, the stone of salvation and building.
Zechariah 3:8-9 says, “I am about to bring forth My servant, the shoot. For here is the stone that I have set before Joshua...I will engrave its engraving, declares Jehovah of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” The shoot refers to Zerubbabel who is a type of Christ, and these verses are a prophecy concerning Christ as the Servant of Jehovah in His humanity. At the same time Christ is also the stone set before Joshua. The angel prophesied to Zechariah that Jehovah would engrave the stone, indicating that God would work on Christ as the stone for the accomplishing of God’s redemption, salvation, and building. To engrave is to cut. When Christ was dying on the cross, He was engraved, cut, by God. Furthermore, the Christ whom God engraved accomplished redemption for the sin of the people in one day—the day of His crucifixion. John 1:29 clearly refers to the fulfillment of this prophecy. Through His death on the cross, Christ took away the sin of the world.
Zechariah 13:7 prophesied concerning Christ being the smitten Shepherd: “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, / And against the man who is My Fellow, / Declares Jehovah of hosts. / Strike the Shepherd, / That the sheep may be scattered.” My Fellow in this verse is the Fellow of Jehovah of hosts, who is Christ. When Christ came as a man to be the Shepherd, not only was He rejected by men; He was even struck, smitten, by God. In Matthew 26:31 the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, “You will all be stumbled because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” The Lord quoted Zechariah 13:7 to warn His disciples that He, as the Shepherd, would be crucified, and that God would strike Him with the sword. All His disciples, especially Peter, had the assurance and confidence that they could follow the Lord to the end. However, after the Lord was seized, the disciples were indeed stumbled because of the Lord, just as He prophesied. They left the Lord and fled, becoming scattered sheep (Matt. 26:56b, 69-75).
The Old Testament prophets also prophesied that Christ would be betrayed by Judas Iscariot.
Psalm 41:9 says, “Even my familiar friend, in whom I trusted, / Who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” This prophecy was fulfilled in John 13:18. After the Lord washed the disciples’ feet, He said, “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’” Mark 14:18 also records that when the Lord was eating the Passover feast with the disciples, He said, “One of you will betray Me, one who is eating with Me.” The familiar friend and one who is eating with Me refer to Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. Even though Judas ate with the Lord at the Passover feast, he did not have part in the new testament feast instituted by the Lord Himself (vv. 17-25; John 13:26-30).
Zechariah 11:12-13 prophesied further that Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord, would sell Him for thirty pieces of silver: “I said to them, If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, do not bother. So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver...So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter, into the house of Jehovah.” According to Exodus 21:32, thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave. Christ was priced as a slave, and Judas betrayed Him for this price, selling the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:14-15 records that Judas “went to the chief priests and said, What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him to you? And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.” This accurately fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 11:12 concerning the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, when Judas regretted betraying Jesus, he threw the thirty pieces of silver into the temple. Since this was blood money, the chief priests used it to buy the potter’s field (Matt. 27:3-10). This fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 11:13.
At the end of His ministry, Christ purposely went into Jerusalem to offer Himself as the Lamb of God to be crucified for the accomplishing of His wonderful and all-inclusive death. According to the prophecies of the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament, the crucified Christ is the Messiah cut off after the sixty-ninth week; the phrasecut off refers to the crucifixion of Christ, the anointed One. Christ being cut off and having nothing is for the termination of the old creation with the human government in the old creation so that in His resurrection He might become the life-giving Spirit to germinate His new creation. Psalm 118 prophesies that Christ is the stone rejected by the Jewish builders who became the cornerstone in resurrection. In God’s New Testament economy Christ was rejected by the Jewish builders, but He was precious to God. As our Savior, He makes us living stones, and in the process of transformation, we are being built into the dwelling place of God. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that because the Jews did not believe Christ and rejected Him, Christ would become a stone to strike against and a rock of stumbling to the children of Israel; many would stumble at this rock and would fall and be broken to pieces. To the believers, Christ is not a stone to strike against or a rock of stumbling; He is the stone raised by God, that is, the stone of salvation and building. In Zechariah 3:8-9 the angel prophesied to Zechariah that Jehovah would engrave on Christ the stone, indicating that when Christ was on the cross, He was engraved and cut by God. Christ, the stone engraved by God, was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world on the day of His crucifixion. Zechariah 13:7 also prophesied that Christ would be the smitten Shepherd. When the Shepherd was being crucified, He was struck by God. The disciples were stumbled because of the Lord, as He had prophesied, and they left Him and fled, becoming scattered sheep.
The Old Testament prophets also prophesied that Christ would be betrayed by Judas Iscariot. Psalm 41:9 prophesied that Judas, who ate bread with Christ, would lift his heel against Him and betray Him. Even though Judas ate with the Lord at the Passover feast, he did not have part in the new testament feast instituted by the Lord. Zechariah 11:12-13 prophesied that Christ would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver—the price of a slave. Furthermore, when Judas regretted betraying Jesus, he threw the thirty pieces of silver into the temple, and the chief priests used the silver to buy the potter’s field.
