Beholding Jesus

Let’s pray that God would use today’s message make a permanent change in how we view Him and how we approach the Bible in our quite times.  Today we are finishing our series on Beholding (a wide-angle view of the True Story of God).  Carl started with Beholding the Creator and Brian shared on Beholding fallen Man then Carl followed him with Beholding the Stricken Earth.  John followed that message up with Beholding the tragic flow of History and Tim followed him with Beholding Interventions of God and Carl followed that message just before Christmas with Beholding the Promise of a Savior and the following week Tim shared Beholding the Christ Child.  We end today with the message titled Beholding Jesus.
 
Now Carl began the series with the following three slides that I think are applicable to this message also:
 
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. – Numbers 24:17
 
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by his Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. – Hebrews 1:1-2
 
For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. – Colossians 1:16
 
I want to say up front that I was very blessed to have been given this final topic in the series.  While reading and researching it, I thought about a line in a song from the movie Fiddler On The Roof. 
 
The Song is titled “If I Were A Rich Man”.  The line in the song that I have thought about then and many times over the years goes like this: 
 
“If I were rich, I’d have the time that I lack to sit in the synagogue and pray and maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall and I’d discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day and that would be the sweetest thing of all.” 
 
I feel that I am a rich man because now I have the time to read the scriptures and ponder what God has done not only in my life but in the lives of countless other believers like me.  I feel that I am rich because I have the opportunity on a regular basis to remind people what Christ has done in their lives and what He will do when He comes back.  I remind them that His reward will be with Him. 
 
Now in order to get a wide-angle view of Jesus I began my research into this topic by looking at the Old Testament prophesies and comparing them to the fulfillment verses in the New Testament.  I found a table that listed 351 Old Testament Prophesies concerning the Messiah paired with the associated fulfillment verses in the New Testament.  I decided to look them all up both Old Testament verses and the New Testament fulfillment verses to see if they were indeed prophetic references to Jesus.  There was only one verse in this list that I didn’t quite understand how it made the list (that was Song of Solomon 5:16).  There were only a handful of other verses in this list that I thought were only vaguely applicable.  However, I found the rest of the list to be spot on in that these were clearly prophetic references to Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection. 
 
I read elsewhere that conservatively Jesus fulfilled at least three hundred Old Testament prophesies in His earthly ministry.  One Scholar J. Barton Payne claims to have found 574 verses that point to or describe or reference the Messiah. 
 
Now Alfred Edersheim was a Jewish convert to Christianity and a Biblical Scholar. In the appendix of his book titled The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, there is a list of  456 Old testament passages which are considered Messianic by the Rabbi before the time of Jesus. I have not looked these up to compare it to the list of 351 references that I used but most of the 351 list would be in the 456 list.
 
In December of 2019 a teacher in the international Christian School of Vienna claimed that the probability that any one person could fulfill over 300 prophesies that were written between 500 and 1000 years before Jesus was even born is one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion.   If you weren’t counting that is a string of 13 trillions in a row.  I don’t know if there is a shorthand name for that number, but the probability that someone could fulfill just eight of these is said to be one in a hundred quadrillion.  Now a quadrillion is only a thousand trillion.  A hundred quadrillion is a one followed by fifteen zeros.  Now we don’t have time for me to go through the list of 351 prophesies about Jesus listed in the table that I used but I would gladly print you a copy of that list or email it to you.  Just let me know after the message today.  However, we do have time to look at the eight prophesies that were referenced with the probability of 1 in a hundred thousand trillion. 
 
The first is a prophesy that He would be born in Bethlehem stated in Micah 5:2 it was written 700 B.C. it was fulfilled in Matthew 2:1-6 and referenced by unbelievers in John 7:42. 
 
The second is a prophesy of the virgin giving birth stated in Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6-7 written 735 B.C and fulfilled in Matthew 1:20-23 and Luke 1:35. 
 
The third is a prophesy that the Messiah would be from the lineage of King David stated in Jeremiah 23:5 and written in 600 B.C. and fulfilled in Luke 3:23-38. 
 
The fourth is a prophesy that the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver stated in Zechariah 11:13 written in 487 B.C. and fulfilled in Matthew 26:15. 
 
The fifth is a prophesy that the Messiah would have his hands and feet pierced stated in Psalm 22:16 and written in 1000 B.C. and fulfilled in Luke 23:33 and John 19:34-37 and John 19:18 and John 20:27. 
 
The sixth is a prophesy that people would cast lots for the Messiah’s clothing written in Psalm 22:18 and fulfilled in John 19:23-24 and Luke 23:34.  
 
The seventh is a prophesy that the Messiah would appear riding on a donkey written in Zechariah 9:9 written in 500 B.C. and fulfilled in Matthew 21:7. 
 
The eighth is a prophesy that a messenger would be sent to herald the Messiah is found in Malachi 3:1and it was written in 500 B.C. and fulfilled in John 1:26. 
 
So the probability of these 8 being fulfilled by one person is said to be one in a hundred thousand trillion.
 
While talking to John and Tim two week ago, I mentioned that I was in awe as I started looking up all 351 Old Testament prophesies and all of the associated New Testament verses that referenced their fulfillment.   Now 102 of these Old Testament prophesies were written in Psalms in or around 1000 B.C and 125 were in Isaiah in and or around 735 B.C.  So it doesn’t surprise me that before Carl became a believer when he found the prophesies in Isaiah that just couldn’t be argued away because they were written more than 700 years before they were fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
 
Now there were several verses not listed in the table of 351 prophesies that mention something very unique that belongs to Jesus.  That something is the Lamb’s book of life and these verses refer to the names written in this book.  John refers to it in Revelations 3:5, Revelations 13:5-8 and Revelations. 20:11-15
 
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.  And authority was given it over every tribe and language and nation,
and all who dwell on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. – Revelation 13:5-8
 
He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. – Revelation 3:5
 
Judgment at the Throne of God Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. – Revelations 20:11-15
 
Now you can’t get a more wide-angle view of the Bible and the True Story of God than you can from looking from before the foundation of the world to the Great White Thrown of Judgement at the end of the age unless you count looking at the new heavens and the new earth (but that is view for another day).  
 
Now only a couple of translations of the Bible had the phrase from before the foundation of the world the rest that I looked at had the phrase from the foundation of the world.  Both have the equivalent meaning since none of us existed at the foundation of the world because Adam was not even created until after the foundation of the world.  Knowing that God’s foreknowledge of us and our names existing before Adam made me contemplate and meditate on God’s awesomeness.  Take some time and think about it.  When each of you whose name was written in this book from before the time when Adam was created, actually take the time to ponder this, you will be in awe like I was then and I am still now.
 
Also as I was pondering this a few other passages came to my mind. One was passage in Luke 2:41-49 when Jesus was only 12 and Mary and Joseph left for home without him.
 
 Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.
Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished.
His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” – Luke 2:41-49
 
Now Mary and Joseph were worried that Jesus was lost and possibly in danger but Jesus was not worried.  He didn’t feel lost or abandoned or in any danger at all. 
 
A second passage that came to my mind while I was pondering this was found in the passage about Jesus’s mother asking Him to fix the problem with the host of the wedding running out of the wine at the wedding reception in Cana. It is found in John 2:1-4.
 
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” – John 2:1-4
 
The thought that struck me was that Jesus knew from the foundation of the world when He was going to begin His ministry and fulfill all of these prophesies that were written about Him and He knew that He was going to perform all of the prophetic miracles.
 
Now there are no Old Testament prophesies about turning water into wine and Jesus was not in a hurry to do so.  It reminded me of
 
Isaiah 28:16 in the NIV it says,
 
So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.  – Isaiah 28:16
 
This word dismayed in my NASB bible is translated disturbed. 
 
But the word disturbed has a foot note that says this word literally means “in a hurry”.  Now Jesus trusted in His heavenly Father and He was and is literally never in a hurry.  He could have started His earthly ministry at the age of 12 but He didn’t.  He could have waited until He was 18 and started His ministry but He didn’t. He waited until the appropriate proper time. Luke 3:23 says He was about 30 years old.
 
A few other passages that came to my mind based on the thought of Jesus not being in a hurry are found in Zephaniah 1:14-18, 2 Peter 3:1-15 , Psalm 97:3-5 and Revelation 22:12
 
“The great day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly.  Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them    on the day of the LORD’S wrath.
In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for He will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.” – Zephaniah 1:14-18
 
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. – 2 Peter 3:1-15
 
Now last week I read a news article that stated that Colorado was experiencing the Apocalyptic Fire and that two and a half cities had been destroyed by fire.  Now this fire was big but it was not even close to the real Apocalyptic Fire described here in Zephaniah1:14-18 and in 2 Peter 3:12.
 
In Zephaniah 1:18 it says,
 
In the fire of His jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for He will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth. – Zephaniah 1:18
 
In 2 Peter 3:12 it says,
 
“That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.” – 2 Peter 3:12
 
Now there are 12 element that melt below freezing between -458 degrees F and -37,7 degrees F.  Six elements melt between 19.2 degrees F and 111.7 degrees F.  All the rest melt between 146 degrees F (the melting point of Phosphorus) and 6332 degrees F the melting point of carbon).  The highest reliable recorded measured atmospheric temperature of on earth is 130 degrees F.  That temperature was reached last year July 9th 2021 at the Furnace Creek Visitors center in Death Valley California. 
 
“Fire goes before Him and burns up his adversaries all around.  His lightning’s light up the world: the earth sees and trembles.  The mountains melt like wax before the Lord” – Psalm 97:3-5
 
With hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and a few other elements carbon compounds make up 18 percent of all the matter in living things. 
 
When Carbon melts at 6332 degrees F there won’t be a single living thing that survives and the mountains will melt like wax.  The whole world will be consumed and as the prophesy states “He will make a sudden end to all who live in the earth.”
 
“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. – Revelation 22:12
 
Now I have one final thought on this entire series of Beholding a wide angle view of the story of God. Professional photographers have different lenses for their cameras.  One of the lenses has a narrow focus for taking pictures of say a person or a small object that is located close to the front of the camera.  Another lens is a wide angle lens it is used for taking pictures of scenery or landscapes.  This series has let us take a look at the scenery and landscapes of the Bible from beginning to end using a wide angle view.  As you read your Bible each day you will want to focus on the passages that you are reading in front of you that day while keeping in mind the wide angle view of the whole Bible.  Each time we turn the page in our Bibles the Holy Spirit is able to reveal to us the beauty that God has there for us to see.  It reminds me of the beautiful images that appear when I look into the eye piece of a kaleidoscope.  I don’t ever remember picking up a kaleidoscope and seeing the same image that I have seen before.  Every time I turn the lens it creates a new and more beautiful picture of what god has created for me to see and enjoy.  The Bible is like that.  God has arranged it in such a way that He is able to reveal to you and me a new and beautiful image of Himself every time that we look into it.
 
He says in Jeremiah 29:11-14a,
 
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD – Jeremiah 29:1-14a
 
Let’s Pray