Portraits from the Prophets: The Fullness of Time

Galatians 4:4–5 (ESV) But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

This morning we talked about Jesus coming “in the fullness of time.”

Tonight I want to mention just a few of the old testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus’ birth and death.

Herbert Lockyear says:

Dr. F. J. Meldau put it this way in his booklet on Messiah in Both Testaments, to which I am greatly indebted:

Neither Mary nor Caesar nor the Roman tax collectors did the timing, nor were they in charge of affairs;

but the God who rules the world behind the scenes had His hand on the wheel, and He literally “moved the peoples of the world”

and timed everything to the very day, so that Mary and Joseph got to Bethlehem from Nazareth (where they lived) in the nick of time, so that Jesus, the chosen Messiah, might be born in the right place, the place designated by the infallible finger of prophecy.

Of course, the OT prophet tell us Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2 (LSB) “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from everlasting, From the ancient days.”

Think about all of the pieces God had to put in motion for Jesus to be born at the right time at the right place: Bethlehem.

It staggers the imagination.

Further, as to the time of His coming, Christ had to appear while the Temple was yet standing, as Malachi prophesied:

Malachi 3:1 (LSB) “… the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; … “

Whereas (Haggai 2:7) tells us “The desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Jesus was presented in the Temple

Luke 2:27 (LSB) [Simeon] came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,

Luke 2:36–38 (LSB) And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. 38 And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

At least 2 were enabled to see beyond the mundane into the supernatural of what God was doing.

They saw the glory of Messiah entering the Temple.

And then we have the prophecy of …

Daniel 9:25–26 (LSB) “So you are to know and have insight that from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be restored and rebuilt, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are decreed.

Jesus had to be born, live a sinless life and die a substitutionary death during a narrow span of time while the Temple was standing.

Before the “people of the prince” the Roman army would destroy not just the Temple, but all Jerusalem.

The seven weeks and sixty-two weeks in verse 5 add up to 69 weeks.

The prophecy is speaking about weeks of years, so 69 times 7 = 483 years

The Messiah had to come 483 years after a specific date given in Daniel’s time—a prophecy given by the prophet almost 500 years before Jesus came to the Temple.

Thus Jesus entry into the Temple in Jerusalem 8 days after His birth AND during His public ministry was pre-arranged and predicted by God, and perfectly fulfilled when Jesus of Nazareth went into the Temple, the destruction of which He Himself predicted (Matt. 24:1–3).

Matthew 24:1–2 (LSB) And coming out from the temple, Jesus was going along, and His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He answered and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

Step by step, Jesus’ movements matched the blueprint of prophecy.

Daniel, in his timetable of the Messiah, prophesied that He would be cut off, or killed, before the destruction of the Temple.

Christ was crucified some thirty-five years before it was demolished.

All the prophecies relating to Christ were accurate, and their performance exact.

Forecast and fulfillment are in perfect agreement.

All specifications as to His ancestry and the manner and time of His birth came to pass as predicted.

What Jesus said in Mark 1:15 as He entered His public ministry, can be equally applied to the hour of His birth.

“The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15).

Jesus came

—not a day before the time, not a day after, but precisely in the hour striking on God’s prophetic clock.

Jesus is ALWAYS just in time at the right time.

Have you seen that fulfilled in your life?

I know I have mine.

It is SO-O-O easy to look at our situation and believe: “God is late!”

Don’t you think that what Temple official thought that in ...

Mark 5:35–36 (LSB) While [Jesus] He was still speaking [to the woman healed of an issue of blood], they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what had been spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, only believe.”

And we know that Jesus wasn’t late — He was right on time to raise the little girl from the dead.

Same thing at Lazarus’s grave:

John 11:21 (LSB) Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

John 11:32 (LSB) Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Jesus had already told His disciples: John 11:11–15 (LSB) He said these things, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him.” 12 The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be saved from his sickness.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of actual sleep. 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.”

Jesus’ timing in our lives is not to discourage us, but that we might believe.

Have an ever increasing faith.

As we pray tonight, lets do so knowing God’s timing is perfect.

It not only applies to the coming of His Son Jesus, but to the timing of events in our lives.

May God’s timing:

Spoken of by the OT prophets.

Seen fulfilled in the writings of the NT Gospels encourage us.

Encourage us to faith and encourage us to a sense of peace.

Let’s pray this afternoon.