FULFILLMENT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture Me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest Me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

Then all the disciples deserted Him and fled.

Matthew 26:54-56

“Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture Me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

Then everyone deserted Him and fled.

A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Mark 14:48-52

Then Jesus said to the chief priests and the officers of the Temple guard and the elders who had come there to get Him, “Did you have to come with swords and clubs, as though I were an outlaw? I was with you in the Temple every day, and you did not try to arrest Me. But this is your hour to act, when the power of darkness rules.”

Luke 22:52-53

Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples.

So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am He,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)

When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Again He asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He. If you are looking for Me, then let these men go.” This happened so that the words He had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave Me.”

Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound Him and brought Him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

John 18:2-9, 12-13

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The preliminary drama was over.

Judas had kissed Jesus, signaling to the arresting crowd with him as to who they should take into custody.

Peter, one of Jesus’ most faithful disciples, had cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant, only to have Jesus pick up the ear and miraculously put it back in place as if it had never left Malchus’ head in the first place.

Now, it was time for Jesus to be seized and led to hearings, first before Annas, as we read in John’s Gospel, and then to Caiphas, the high priest for that year and the head of the Sanhedrin. But before being led away, Jesus had some parting words for His captors and onlooking disciples. Look again at what He said here:

“Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture Me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest Me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

“…this is your hour to act, when the power of darkness rules.”

Jesus’ asked valid questions to the crowd who had come to detain Him. You can almost sense He is wondering out loud, “Why now?”

Many of those present had sat and listened to Jesus teach in the temple courts. Over and over again, He was ripe for the picking if someone felt He needed arrested but nothing happened.

So why didn’t it?

Because the proper time had not come, the time predicted by the prophets, the hour when darkness would rule.

This was that time of fulfillment.

So what had the prophets written anyways?

Isaiah in particular had spent a lot of time foretelling the great suffering Jesus would endure, a suffering that would soon come to be. The prophet Zechariah prophesied about how Jesus’ followers would scatter and indeed we read that as He was arrested, that’s exactly what happened as Peter, James, and John fled the scene.

God’s word is perfectly true and we need to keep in mind that the prophets were simply messengers for God. They weren’t speaking words fabricated by themselves but rather reciting and writing words given by God Himself. And if these words foretold about the future, then rest assured they would come to be at the appointed time.

Pertaining to Jesus’ arrest, God has spoken out many years before Jesus’ fateful day in Gethsemane’s garden, the day the wheels of execution were put into motion. Nothing that happened afterwards should have been a surprise.

For Jesus was the key player in God’s plan of redemption and salvation for all mankind, and before that plan could come to fruition, Jesus had to go through the fulfillment of God’s will, drinking the bitter cup of judgment as He bore the consequences of all sinners so they might have a chance to experience eternal life which was nothing less than a fulfillment in its own right as God’s promise, spoken through the mouth of His Savior Son, was about to come to life:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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