Prediction & Fulfillment
What's the difference?
Isaiah 42:1-9 | Matthew 12:1-21
Reading through Isaiah during Advent: Isaiah 42-44
When you come across a passage like Isaiah 42 and think about it in light of who Jesus came to be, it might be no surprise that many people see it as checking all the boxes of predictive messianic prophecy.
But God doesn’t need to fill predictions to prove Godself to humanity. God does, however, love the fulfillment of his way.
Think about it this way: from the beginning, God has had particular desires for humanity and all of creation. Over time, humanity has learned of those desires (we can call it “God’s way.”). The people of God have sought to maintain and live into those desires, quite often failing. But in scripture, we have the writings of the people of God who have been learning and seeking those ways.
So when God shows up in human form (Jesus Christ), it should be no wonder to us that this person would look a lot like what the people of God have learned God wants us to look like. This is fulfillment.
Humans look for signs and wonders. Checking the boxes of “ancient predictions” can be shaped into some pretty cool proof-texting. But that’s more of human desire than God’s plan.
God’s plan is for humanity to live into his holiness and righteousness.
Just like Jesus.
Let us focus on living like the Messiah above and beyond seeking to mathematically prove he was who he says he was.
Isaiah 42:1-9
But here is my servant, the one I uphold;
my chosen, who brings me delight.
I’ve put my spirit upon him;
he will bring justice to the nations.
He won’t cry out or shout aloud
or make his voice heard in public.
He won’t break a bruised reed;
he won’t extinguish a faint wick,
but he will surely bring justice.
He won’t be extinguished or broken
until he has established justice in the land.
The coastlands await his teaching.
God the Lord says—
the one who created the heavens,
the one who stretched them out,
the one who spread out the earth and its offspring,
the one who gave breath to its people
and life to those who walk on it—
I, the Lord, have called you for a good reason.
I will grasp your hand and guard you,
and give you as a covenant to the people,
as a light to the nations,
to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison,
and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.
I am the Lord;
that is my name;
I don’t hand out my glory to others
or my praise to idols.
The things announced in the past—look—they’ve already happened,
but I’m declaring new things.
Before they even appear,
I tell you about them.
Matthew 12:1-21
At that time Jesus went through the wheat fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry so they were picking heads of wheat and eating them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are breaking the Sabbath law.”
But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? He went into God’s house and broke the law by eating the bread of the presence, which only the priests were allowed to eat. Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple treat the Sabbath as any other day and are still innocent? But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means, I want mercy and not sacrifice, you wouldn’t have condemned the innocent. The Human One is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus left that place and went into their synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they asked, “Does the Law allow a person to heal on the Sabbath?”
Jesus replied, “Who among you has a sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath and will not take hold of it and pull it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So the Law allows a person to do what is good on the Sabbath.” Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did and it was made healthy, just like the other one. The Pharisees went out and met in order to find a way to destroy Jesus.
Jesus knew what they intended to do, so he went away from there. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. But he ordered them not to spread the word about him, so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:
Look, my Servant whom I chose,
the one I love, in whom I find great pleasure.
I’ll put my Spirit upon him,
and he’ll announce judgment to the Gentiles.
He won’t argue or shout,
and nobody will hear his voice in the streets.
He won’t break a bent stalk,
and he won’t snuff out a smoldering wick,
until he makes justice win.
And the Gentiles will put their hope in his name.
Prayer
God,
Help me to be like Jesus.
Help me to be me,
through Jesus’ ways,
which are your ways.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.