3.3 – Jesus, An Introduction

As discussed in the last class, there are two things that one may refer to when talking about “fulfillment” in the Bible.  The first, which makes up a very small fraction of Scripture, refers to the Old Testament essentially announcing what is to come in the future.  Usually, though, the concept of fulfillment involves discerning the patterns of God’s actions, which in turn defines the shapes of things to come.  This idea is demonstrated when looking at the words of Hosea, who says “that what the Lord said through the prophet might be fulfilled” ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’”.  While some may interpret this “fulfillment” as a future prediction that is manifesting itself as Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flee to Egypt to escape Herod, that is not what the fulfillment is referring to.  This type of fulfillment comes from this sort of repeating pattern of Exodus that we can see if we look back at the past. In the “first” Exodus, we see the Israelites coming out of Egypt. In the “second” Exodus, we see the Israelites coming out of Babylon.  Ultimately, this third Exodus in Matthew will result from us coming out of the reigns of sin and death. This continuous pattern of God’s people consistently being delivered illustrates God’s divine love and the patterns with which he acts. In the opening chapters of Matthew and Mark, there are quite a few examples of fulfillment in relation to the elements within the Old Testament.  In Luke 29-33, the promise of David’s heir taking over the throne comes through with the birth of Jesus. In Luke 69-79, the prophet Zachariah mentions Israel’s “deliverance from [their] enemies”, “mercy to [their] fathers, and the ability to “worship him without a care in the world”. These elements address the aspect of judgement on enemy nations and come together to live out God’s covenant.  These verses in Luke show very strong parallels to the past covenants in Scripture, thereby establishing the pattern of fulfillment that is continuous throughout the Bible.