“Art thou he?” ― Matthew
11:3
Soon men and women and boys and girls all
around the world will celebrate the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was born into
this world two thousand years ago. Everywhere people are already talking and
singing about the birth of the Christ child. It is most fitting that the world
should pause once a year to remember the birth of One upon whom so many build
their hopes.
All
believers rest the hopes of their immortal souls upon him. He is the Foundation
upon which we have built our hopes of eternal life. We believe that Jesus of
Nazareth is the Christ, the Messiah, promised by God in all the Old Testament
prophets. Peter’s confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God" (Matt. 16:16), is the foundation of the entire Christian
world, the church of God, and the gospel of God. If Jesus of Nazareth is not
the Christ, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, then he is
not the Son of God; his obedience to God is of no benefit to us; his birth is
of no greater importance than the birth of any other great and noble man; his
death upon the cross has no saving virtue; and we are yet in our sins.
We confess with the Apostles of old,
"We believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God" (John 6:69). But are you really sure? There have been many
others who have claimed to be Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior
of the world. Perhaps it would be good for us at this season of the year to ask
of Jesus of Nazareth what John the Baptist asked of him ―"Art
thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" (Matt. 11:3).
Suppose
you were witnessing to a Jew and he said to you, "Show me from the Old
Testament Scriptures that the Jesus you worship is the Messiah." Could you
do it? I want to show you from the Scriptures of the Old Testament that Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph and Mary, who was crucified at Jerusalem two
thousand years ago, is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God.
David’s
Prophecy
We read in Psalm 40:6-8 ― "Sacrifice
and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering
and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume
of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy
law is within my heart.”
It would be impossible to honestly apply
these words to anyone but the Messiah. Indeed, the Jewish commentators from
ancient times have said that this Psalm is a messianic prophecy. And, of
course, the Apostle declares in the Book of Hebrews (10:5-10) that this
prophecy is fulfilled in the Person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. In those
three verses of Psalm 40, the Prophet David tells us four things by which the
true Messiah of Israel must be identified. And these four things find their
fulfillment only in Jesus Christ our Lord. Here David tells us that when the
Christ, the Messiah comes (1.) The sacrifices and ceremonies of legal worship
will cease, (2.) He will be Jehovah's voluntary Servant, (3.) The body of
Scripture prophecy will be fulfilled, and (4.) He will perfectly accomplish the
will of God.
The
Old Testament Scriptures clearly identify Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the
Son of the living God. The types, promises, and prophecies of the Old Testament
Scriptures weave a garment that is tailor made to fit only one man. That man is
the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. And that man is our Savior, Jesus.
Sacrifices
Ceased
First,
David tells us that when the Messiah has come all the sacrifices and ceremonies
of legal worship would cease. —"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not
desire." The sacrifices, ceremonies, and laws of the Mosaic economy
were never intended to be a means of salvation. God never had pleasure and
satisfaction in them. They could not remove sin, satisfy justice, or make men
righteous before God (Heb. 10:1-4).
The
sacrifices and ceremonies of the law were only useful as types and shadows of
Christ to show the nature and necessity of his redemptive work. Once they were
fulfilled they must cease to be, because they have no other service. The law
given by Moses was designed by God to identify and expose sin, to deter men
from deeds of iniquity, and to show the necessity of a Substitute. Once the law
has served its purpose and been fulfilled by Christ it has no other use, and
ceases to have power over men (Rom. 10:4).
The
Old Testament Scriptures constantly reminded the Jews that God had no regard
for their sacrifices and ceremonies, except as they typified Christ and were
observed by faith in him (1 Sam. 15:22; Ps. 50:7-13; 51:16-17; Isa. 1:11-14;
Dan. 9:27). These five passages from the Old Testament clearly demonstrate that
the sacrifices and ceremonies of legal worship were never intended to be
perpetual. They were only temporary pictures of Christ.
Ten
Commandments
Even the Mosaic covenant, as set forth in what we commonly call
the Ten Commandments, was only designed to be a temporary covenant (Jer.
31:31-34; cf. Heb. 8:7-13). The law of God, as a covenant, a rule of life, and
the revelation of God's righteous requirements from men, was designed to lead
us to Christ, by whom it is fulfilled (Gal. 3:24-25). It had no other purpose.
And when Christ came, the sacrifices and ceremonies of the Old Testament did
cease to be observed. At least a thousand years before Christ came, David
intimated that when he came he would accomplish that which no sacrifice,
ceremony, or law could accomplish (redemption - justification - righteousness -
and forgiveness). The laws, sacrifices, and ceremonies of Israel were only
scaffolding, temporarily necessary for the building of his kingdom, but are now
removed, taken out of the way. “He taketh away the first, that he may
establish the second” (Heb. 10:9).
All the Jewish sacrifices and ceremonies
ceased to have virtue when Christ died. And all ceased to exist when God
destroyed both Jerusalem and Judaism in 70 A.D. The priesthood ceased. The
temple ceased. The sacrifices ceased. The nation of Israel itself ceased.
The
Rent Veil
Here is the first evidence that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ, the Messiah. When he finished his work, the sacrifices and
ceremonies of legal worship ceased. To demonstrate it, the veil of the temple
was ripped apart (Matt. 27:51). Though the Jews look for a future Messiah and
deny that Jesus is the Christ, their hopes are as foolish as they are vain -
How could this prophecy be fulfilled again?