Any Christian with even a passing knowledge of Jesus’ suffering and death is well aware of the “big things” that our Savior endured as our holy Substitute.  And make no mistake about it, the big things are indeed big! 

However, there are many “little things” that occurred along the way – lesser known and lesser noted things – that carry great significance as well.  For these weeks of the Lenten season, we’ll take note of some of those lesser things that carry large significance.

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In past weeks, the “seemingly little things of large significance” we have discussed have been incidents mentioned only once in the Gospels and described with only a few words.  This week we will consider a truth mentioned so often in the Bible that readers are tempted to simply dismiss it, thereby viewing it as a seemingly insignificant thing.

But it most certainly is NOT a little thing.  And it most certainly IS a matter of great significance!

Mark records Jesus’ words spoken to the mob who had arrived to arrest him in the Garden. 

(Mark 14:48-49)  “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. [Then come the significant words!]  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 

Jesus states it frankly and clearly: “The Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

Interestingly, Matthew (the gospel writer to the Jews who knew the Old Testament Scriptures!) shares more of Jesus’ dialogue from that fateful evening.  And Jesus actually stated this fundamental concept twice!  He said it first to Peter – “But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Mt. 26:54), and then he repeated it to his aggressors – “But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled” (Mt. 26:56). 

Jesus emphasized the truth that “the Scriptures must be fulfilled” to both his devoted disciples and to his detractors.  This is not accidental or incidental.  This is the Savior highlighting a highly significant precept. 

For centuries … millennia even! … the Lord had been providing prophecies about the Christ, the Second Adam who would undo the damage the first Adam wrought.  Every new prophecy added a new piece to the Messianic puzzle and painted a more complete picture of who He would be, what He would do, and what He would endure.

Theologians differ on the exact number of Old Testament Messianic prophecies, based on how they define individual examples.  Nevertheless, there is agreement that there are between 200 – 400 clear prophecies of the Christ.  Most scholars of the topic settle on a number over 300.

Wherever one lands in regard to the specific count, the sheer volume of prophecies is astounding.  And Jesus fulfilled every one of them … “because the Scriptures must be fulfilled!”

It started with the Savior being born of a virgin (Is. 7:14) from the line of David (2 Sam. 7:12-16) in the town of Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), and his subsequent flight to Egypt (Hos 11:1).  As an adult, it continued with his ministry in Galilee (Is. 9:1-2), as well as his healing of the blind, deaf, dumb and lame (Is. 35:4-6). 

The foreshadowing of his suffering and death is scattered liberally throughout the Old Testament, both the physical specifics (as in Ps. 22) and the spiritual impact that suffering and death would bring (Is. 53).  Astoundingly accurate details are provided, from his ride into Jerusalem on a young donkey (Zech. 9:9), to his betrayal by one close to him (Ps. 41:9) for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12-13), to being abandoned by those close to him (Zech. 13:7), to being sentenced with transgressors (Is. 53:12), to the casting of lots for his clothing (Ps. 22:18), to dying (Dan. 9:26), and to being pierced (Zech. 12:10).

It’s also fascinating to note that at least twice in Jesus’ ministry irate groups attempted to murder him … once in Nazareth (Lk. 4:28-30) and another time in the temple courts in Jerusalem (Jn. 8:58-59).  Jesus was indeed destined to die for the people at the hands of people, but only at the right time and in the right manner.  (Because the Scriptures must be fulfilled.)  So he somehow simply (miraculously!) exited those situations.

The above prophetic examples provide a very summary list; the examples go on and on into the hundreds.  And Jesus fulfilled every single prophecy made about him.

This is no small thing!  The odds of doing so are essentially impossible – something only God could do.  Which is exactly what Jesus, the Son of God, did.

In the 1950’s, a mathematics professor at Pasadena City College named Peter Stoner ran a class exercise with 12 different classes totaling over 600 students.  The point of the process was to determine the probability of one person fulfilling just 8 specific examples of the hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah.

When the calculations were complete, the students discovered that the odds of one person fulfilling only eight of the Old Testament prophecies as 1 in a 100 quadrillion!  To put that into numbers, it would be a 1 in a 100,000,000,000,000,000 chance!!!  (17 zeroes!)

To help illustrate this probability in a more visual manner, Professor Stoner provided a telling picture.  He explained that if 100 quadrillion silver dollars were laid down within the geographic boundaries of the state of Texas, they would cover every square inch of the state by a height of two feet.

Only 1 of those silver dollars in the 24-inch, statewide pile is marked with an X.  If someone would be blindfolded and plopped wherever they wished in the massive state, the probability of that person reaching down and selecting the one and only marked coin would be the same as one person fulfilling those 8 specific prophecies.  (“Science Speaks: An Evaluation of Certain Christian Evidences” by Peter Stoner, Moody Press).

But Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies!  Meaning the probability far exceeds 100 quadrillion … taking it well into the realm of impossibility. 

Which is exactly Jesus’ point: He is the God who can and who does accomplish the impossible.  That is, perfectly fulfilling over three hundred prophecies. 

He is also the God who has everything perfectly planned out.  This is true in regard to history in general; it is especially true in regard to the plan of salvation.  That plan was perfectly proposed by the Lord, and it was perfectly executed by Jesus.

Furthermore, he is the God who perfectly keeps his promises.  If just one of the hundreds of Messianic prophecies went unfulfilled, Jesus could not be the Messiah.  Jesus would be a farce and God would show himself a liar; one who is unfaithful and untrustworthy. 

But that is NOT who our God and our Savior is!  It is not happenstance that the Apostle John describes Jesus in this way as he opens his Gospel:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-2, 14)

Jesus, the Promised One who fulfilled all the promises, was the embodiment of God’s Word … of God’s truths … of God’s prophecies.  Jesus was the Word made flesh.  Which is why he stated those incredibly important words: “The Scriptures must be fulfilled.”  And why he made sure they were!

It’s why Jesus came to earth.  It’s what Jesus did.  He fulfilled the Scriptures! 

And thanks be to God that he did!  As Isaiah prophesied about the Savior … about our Savior:  “… He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5).