Young Adults' Group

The Fulfilment Of Scripture

by Pastor Mark
April 18, 2019

A pivotal moment

The evil betrayal of the Lord Jesus by Judas was a pivotal moment. The Lord had anticipated this betrayal. It would signal the beginning of His sufferings that would ultimately lead to His crucifixion. After the Lord had spent time with His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal became a reality through the kiss of Judas. (Matt 26) Peter acted quickly to protect his Lord by drawing a sword and cutting off the ear of a servant of the high priest. How did the Lord respond?

Focusing on the Scriptures

The Lord told Peter to put back his sword and rebuked him…that those who live by the sword would die by the sword. (Matt 26:52) The Lord had to correct his understanding.

The Lord revealed to all His focus at that pivotal moment in His life. He said, “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than 12 legions of angels?” (Matt 26:53) Did the Lord Jesus have the option and the power to call upon His Father to send down 12 legions of angels? The answer is “Yes”. A legion is about 6,000 soldiers. Twelve legions would be equal to 72,000 angelic soldiers. A regiment of the angelic host was at the beck and call of the heavenly Father. With one prayer, the angelic hosts could easily destroy all the armies of the world. There was no need for Peter to take up arms and fight.

If the Lord had wanted to fight with His enemies, He could have. However, He went beyond His betrayal…to focus on the Scriptures instead. The Word of God was something most real to the Lord Jesus. He guided His life and ministry based on the Scriptures. The Lord guided His disciples to focus on the Word of God instead.

An overwhelming sense of the fulfilment of Scripture

“How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” (Matt 26:54)

The Lord was helping His disciples to understand that the Scriptures covered all situations in His life…even at that moment of betrayal. The Scripture contains the will of God. It was important that the Lord sought to accept that will and be obedient to the Scripture.

The Lord Jesus also pointed out to the multitudes that they had come to capture Him like a robber. (Matt 26:55) There was no need for such secretive plotting of His capture when He always had an open ministry teaching in the temple. They could have captured Him anytime. (Matt 26:55) It was ridiculous for them to do what they did. However, the Lord once again declared, “But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” (Matt 26:56) Ultimately, all that had happened was according to Scripture. God was still in control of the situation rather than the enemies. All things prophesied about Him must be fulfilled.

Obeying Scripture in our life and ministry

The example of the Lord Jesus inspired me greatly through how He saw life and death according to the Scriptures. The purpose of His life was to come into this world and fulfil the will of His Father that was revealed in the Scripture. (Heb 10:6,7) We have salvation because of the fulfilment of Scriptures. Let us be challenged to truly appreciate the Lord Jesus for His deep understanding of the Scriptures and how He sought to be fully obedient. Let us be challenged to closely follow the Lord’s example and to have this highest regard for the Scriptures by being obedient to it.

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