How Did the Prophecies About Jesus Shape His Ministry?

When Jesus Christ was born, His birth was the sign of God’s great love for all of humankind, it was a passionate declaration of His deep desire to be close to us once again; His birth was the reason the angels cried out, “Peace on earth, God’s goodwill toward man!” (Luke 2:14) The angels understood what so many, even today, do not – God’s love compelled Him to send His Son to earth to die as the ultimate, sinless sacrifice so that peace between holy God and sinful man would be eternally ensured for all who accepted Jesus as the Son of God. Because He is, you are.

Because of the prophecies of Jesus Christ that the Lord had send ahead of His birth, throughout the centuries, He was aware of the path the Messiah would take. In fact, He used the prophecies in Isaiah to prove Himself! (Luke 4:16-22) But did Jesus fully understand what He was going to go through on earth? But do you think He really knew? About the pain? The betrayals and abandonment? The agony and heartache? The torture? The shame and humiliation?

Jesus, Did You Know?

Jesus, as a tiny baby, as a growing boy, as a teenager and as an adult entering into His ministry – did He know? Yes. He knew and He did it anyway. In Luke 4, when Jesus stood in the temple and quoted from Isaiah 61 and then told everyone that He was the fulfillment of those words, He infuriated everyone who thought He was just “Joseph’s son” – a nobody, from nowhere. But Jesus wasn’t there to overtake the governmental, ruling powers of the people, He had come to overtake the ruling powers of sin, death, hell and the grave! Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was aware of the cost, and He was willing to pay it. The prophetic words of Isaiah, which Jesus would have studied as a boy growing up in the Jewish tradition, say this: “The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me.” (Isaiah 50:5-7) He knew.

Jesus hadn’t come to overtake the governmental, ruling powers of the people, He had come to overtake the ruling powers of sin, death, hell and the grave! Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was aware of the cost, and He was willing to pay it.
~Alicia Purdy

Also in Isaiah 53 (MEV), the prophecies about Jesus would have shown Him this: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” He knew. In fact, even the birth of Jesus Christ foretold of His death and the Lord had sent word ahead to prepare Him.

Jesus would have read this as well in Psalm 22:17-18 (MEV) which says, “I can count all my bones; they look and stare on me. They part my garments among them and cast lots for my clothes.” Yes. Jesus knew. He fully understood the requirements of the task to which God the Father had called Him. He knew your sin, and mine, would cause Him grief and suffering beyond all imagining and He came anyway.

Thought for today: The Prophecies about Jesus Told of God’s Love

Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world still faced every temptation that we all have, according to Hebrews 4:15. Maybe the prophecies about Jesus didn’t give Him the specifics of every scenario, but that didn’t change his resolve. The fact is that Jesus was aware that He would suffer and die- and that He would rise again to life. That knowledge didn’t change His mission or His minister- it empowered it!

There is much to be thankful for, even if all you ever did was praise the Lord for what He accomplished through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is worthy. The book of Revelation shows that heaven is eternally filled with worship for the act of sacrifice Jesus. (see Revelation 5:6-10) Once Jesus entered into His ministry on earth, He did so knowing and having read everything about Himself prophesied in the Scriptures. What a terrible, horrifying, beautiful, excruciating thing for us to realize – that He knew…and He did it anyway. Praise the Lord!

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