The Messiah - Part 28

Messiah falsely accused

False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. Psalms 35:11-12

Fulfillment in the New Testament

And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying,
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. Mark 14:57-58

Here is more prophecy concerning the sufferings of the Messiah. In order to justify their accusations and plans to rid themselves of Jesus Christ they had to stir up false witnesses to testify against Him.

All they found was some that accused Him of saying that He was able to rebuild the temple in three days. We know now that the temple He spoke of was His own body which was indeed raised within three days of His physical death from crucifixion.

In today's world or at least in free Democratic societies this type of thing seems preposterous to kill someone over a statement they made. However, there are some religions that would kill over an offense of this kind. Little do they realize the awful fate they will one day face if they do not repent and turn to Jesus for salvation. He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword. God has a way out from all that fear, hate and desire to kill those that disagree with us. We don't have to sin, hate, and fear.

Messiah Keeps silent in the face of accusations

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. Isaiah 53:7

Fulfillment recorded in the New Testament

And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.
But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled. Mark 15:4-5

Jesus Christ fulfills the prophecy of the lamb being brought to slaughter. He was the very person that Isaiah speaks of. Why did Jesus Christ keep silent and not defend Himself?

The reason for His silence is because that is the reason that He came to the earth in the first place. He was not to try to save Himself from dying on that cross. He knew that He must go to the cross in order to be the supreme sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Messiah Ridiculed

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 50:6

Fulfillment in the New Testament

Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Matthew 26:67

Not only did they want Jesus put to death even though He did not do anything to deserve that, they hit Him, plucked at His beard, and even spit on the very Son of God. If they only knew who they were dealing with here. How blind their eyes must have been.

All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, Psalms 22:7

Fulfillment recorded in the New Testament

And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. Matthew 27:31
And they that 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.
The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Matthew 27:39-44

It's hard for us who love Jesus to hear of these things but it is awesome to think that if He had not have stayed the course, we would all be lost with no promise of eternal life.

And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
Save thyself, and come down from the cross.
Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. Mark 15:29-32

They made fun of Him, fulfilling even more scriptures concerning the Messiah. It wasn't enough to nail Jesus to a cross and wait for Him to die; they taunted Him and asked Him to descend from the cross if He was the Christ and then they would believe. "Okay if you are who you say you are, come down and then we will believe that you are the Christ."

The thing they did not realize is that Jesus Christ could have come down from the cross. The part that they didn't get was that Jesus Christ came for the purpose of saving the lost from their sins and in order to do that, He had to stay on the cross and not come down. He had to pay for our sins with His own death upon the cross. Had He come down and destroyed His tormentors, no one in the whole world could have been saved unless they could have kept every single law in the Old Testament without fail.

At one time or another every single person at the age of accountability has sinned or broken the law. The punishment for sin is death. Not just physical death but eternal separation from God in a place called Hell. God did not want anyone to go there but He knew that sin would place us all there. He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ to pay the price and redeem us back to God so that we would not have to go to Hell and be lost forever. I don't understand every detail myself but a person who is familiar with the Old Testament law and the meaning of the sacrifices might understand more why Jesus' death could save the whole world.

To make it more clear, Jesus died for things that He did not do. He was the only person at the age of accountability that did not break the law of God and did not deserve to die. He did not die for any sin that He committed Himself and so His death then was able to count for those who did sin. Every sin every person ever committed was nailed to the cross with Jesus.

In the Old Testament only pure unblemished animals were used for sacrifice. If the animal had any blemish of any kind, they were not suitable for sacrifice. This pointed to the perfect one to come. Jesus was a perfect sinless sacrifice.

His death for all the sins of mankind will only count for those who accept and believe this. If we remain in unbelief, His death for our sins would have been for nothing. We have to believe and receive Jesus Christ as our savior before His death can count on our behalf. If we do not accept this and refuse to believe this, then we will have to die for our own sins.

This death is not just physical death but spiritual as well. This is eternal. Jesus came so that we do not have to be eternally lost. God allowed His Son to go through this agony so that all who believe would not have to go to Hell and be lost. His plan was that we could be saved from sin and be given life eternal. God wants us to be saved. Sin will destroy us unless we allow Jesus to deliver us from sin. God will forgive everything that we have ever done whether it's a big sin like murder or a sin like lying, stealing or cheating. This is not a blanket forgiveness for everybody but only for those who ask. In order to ask forgiveness we have to believe in the one who forgives.

Jesus Christ came with zeal and put up with reproach, hate, physical torture. He did not please Himself but allowed all this to deliver us from eternal damnation.

For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. Psalms 69:9

Fulfillment recorded in the New Testament

For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. Romans 15:3

With such a great price paid for us to have a free gift, why do so many hold back and wait. Now is the time to receive God's free gift of salvation and eternal life. DC

Messiah Index

Messiah part 29