Studies in First Peter Part 5
“10As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things into which angels long to look” (I Peter 1:10-12).
When the prophets of the Old Testament spoke about the coming of the Messiah, they were prophesying about “the grace that would come to you.” They rarely used the word “grace”. But looking back, “grace” is entirely the proper word. Because they were prophesying the coming of the Messiah. And the Messiah and grace are synonymous. Jesus is grace. Jesus is grace upon grace.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth … For of His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (John 1:14, 16-17). The grace that would come to us is Jesus.
But none of the Old Testament prophets had the whole story. Each one spoke about the piece of “the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (vs 11) that was revealed to them. Here are just a few of those puzzle pieces regarding the coming and mission of the Messiah.
- He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
- He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
- He would be a righteous branch of David (Jeremiah 33:15)
- He would be called Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7:14)
- A messenger would prepare the way (Malachi 3:1)
- He would set the captive and oppressed free (Isaiah 61:1)
- He would be a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6)
- He would announce Himself riding on a donkey into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9)
- He would be crucified (Psalm 22)
- He would die in our place (Isaiah 53)
- He would usher in a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Even John the Baptist, last of the old covenant prophets, did not have the complete story. He presented Jesus as our Savior from sin, and a truer statement could not be made. But he also announced Jesus as having the winnowing fork of judgment in His hand (Matthew 3:12) and burning the place down, to use our modern vernacular.
But judgment was not part of Jesus’ first advent. When John saw that this was missing in Jesus’ ministry, he sent his disciples to question Jesus directly with, “Are you the Coming One, or shall we look for someone else?” (Matthew 11:3). Of course, Jesus is the Messiah and He sent that reassuring word back to John. But this is just one more example of the fact that each prophet only had a piece of the puzzle. How they longed to know the whole story.
The complete story was waiting for us. The prophets were serving us. And because we have the full picture, we can go back in time and see the glory of Christ in each of their prophesies. And we can conclude and rest assured that Jesus – yes, Jesus of first century Israel – is the Jesus of grace and truth; the prophesy-fulfilling Messiah promised in the Old Testament.