The Impact Is Spectacular

Prophecy only exists as long as time exists, but there is one prophetic event that actually predates time itself and one that will extend past the end of time. Its effects make it the only prophecy to span the past, the present and the future. What prophecy is that? The death of Jesus on the cross. Prophecies usually point to a time in the future that is fulfilled and then looked back upon as testaments to God’s authority and power. Once they happen though, their prophetic effect is limited. Take for instance God telling Abram that He would make a great nation out of him. Yes, the creation of the Nation of Israel is profound seeing as it took so many things to happen, but now that Israel exists we need to move to other prophecies about her future. And when it comes to that Jesus dying on the cross is stunning in its accuracy:

My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. (Psalm 22:16, NLT)

When it was first mentioned way back in Genesis 3:15, the method of His death would be described with specific details long before such a death had been invented. The Psalmist describes the method of being crucified with uncanny elements, elements so accurate that some have maintained that the account was written after the event happened to explain it away.

The Details Stand Out

We see that Jesus experienced crucifixion by not only the eyewitness accounts, but by how it was described in Psalm 22. Jesus had nails driven into Him at the points where Romans did it at the time. He was parched and needed water, again another effect of being hung on a cross. His death was unbelievably painful. The Romans offered Jesus help which is described in the verses. You see in Roman times they often would break the legs of a crucified person to hasten the death. This was because a person on a cross would need to push up with their legs to breath. They even offered Him an anesthetic to dull the pain of the crucifixion. But Jesus refused it. As for the breaking of the bones, they didn’t need to do that because Jesus was dead at that point. However, in Psalm 22 the mention of not having any bones broken is there as well:

I can count all my bones. (Psalm 22:17, NLT)

The actions of the people at the cross are also mentioned:

They divide my clothes among them by drawing names to see who would get them. (Psalm 22:18, NLT)

People surrounded Jesus and mocked Him. And the Roman soldiers divided His garments and even gambled to see who would get the most expensive clothing intact. As mentioned above, the soldiers even did the things prophesied in Psalm 22 in stunning accuracy with the subsequent actions by Jesus foretold exactly as listed. While some may say that Jesus knew the details in advance and made sure He did them, note that dying before His legs were broken would be more than any human could pull off on their own.

A Collaboration Of Details Beyond Human Planning

Some have even suggested that everyone was in on making sure that the prophecies were fulfilled which would require a staggering amount of collusion by Jesus. To think that there was a collaboration of people who knew these details and made them happen is entirely impossible. Getting the Romans to agree to kill Jesus and even the Jewish leaders to push for it would have required political finesse that even the best of diplomats couldn’t pull off. Then to get the people at the cross to play their parts to perfection would be extremely difficult to do, too. Even making sure Jesus had the garments that were given to Him would require planning no one could expect to get right. No, this was not an orchestrated plan meant to fulfill prophecy by people who read about it in advance. It was evidence of God knowing about it long before it would happen and telling His prophets to write it all down thousands of years before it would even make sense.

The Events Unfolding Were Prophesied

The fact that crucifixion existed in the form the Romans perfected and that Jesus was born at the exact time to have it done to Him alone make this prophecy amazing. But Jesus had to be born in the right area, to the right people and live exactly the right way He did to fulfill just a fraction of all the things foretold about Him. And He had to infuriate the right people to get them to even ask for His death. Add to those facts that they had to ask for the precise method of death to fulfill more prophecies, prophecies that would prove He was the Messiah which were the opposite of what the leaders desired and you see how amazing the predictions were. Now let’s discuss these prophecies from the standpoint of how they played out.

A Very Difficult Plan

The word used about Jesus was that He was divine. This meant that He was fully God and fully Man. He needed to eat, sleep and drink like we did. He was prone to all the ups and downs any man would experience. And could be killed like any of us with accompanying suffering leading up to it. As detailed earlier, His death was long and agonizing and we didn’t even talk about the fact that he was sleep deprived and scourged beyond recognition even before He was crucified. And then there is the most impactful part of all of this. God knew it needed to be done before He ever created the men who would kill His only Son:

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast -- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (Rev 13:8, NIV)

God knew Jesus was destined to die before time even was created. Which makes you wonder why He would even create man in the first place. But it goes beyond that. He created the trees that would form the cross that His son would hang on. And He created the metals that would make the nails that pierced his feet and hands and the bushes that would make the crown put on His head. He created the animals that the leather whip would be made out of and He created the ground that the cross would be put into.

And He said it was all good:

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! (Gen 1:31, NLT)

How could a God who knew how things would turn out, call creation good? Why did He even go through with it knowing that the man He created to love Him would turn his back on Him? Why would He start the process that would lead to the death of His only Son? This is where we see how loving God is from before things happened. It is any parent’s toughest choice. As any good parent knows, they can endure a lot of pain, but it hurts to their very core to see their children suffer. They would rather switch places than see them cry in agony. And what about such heartache when it all could have been avoided as parents play the “what if” game? This is exactly the scenario God was in before creation. He saw how it would all unfold before the very first words of creation came out of His mouth.

The Greatest Prophecy

Some look at all the fulfilled prophecies of Jesus coming to earth as the ones that are the greatest, but one many Bible school students heard and probably memorized early on is actually the one that tops the list of prophecies. Allow me to explain after we read it yet again:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, KJV)

This verse encapsulates why God did what He did. God loved us that much. He gave until His son shed the blood that would cover our sins. He loved us even when we were unlovable, and He gave for those He knew would never return that love. He made a way for those who were lost in their sins even if they would walk away from and not to the cross. Such love is profound when you put it in context isn’t it? This is the greatest prophecy in all the Bible because it will never stop being fulfilled until the last moments of time. Its power was known before time began and its effects will continue after time ends as those who are saved live eternally in His presence and those who died without Him live with eternal regret for not accepting Him when they could. Children are born every second. And every newborn child will either accept or reject God. And if God tarries, people will be born, live and die long after we finish our earthly race. And God knew about them before time was even created. And the cross will cover those yet unborn just as much as it covered those long dead and those currently alive. No other prophecy given has the breadth and scope of fulfillment as that of Jesus dying on the cross. I’m not sure we will ever fully grasp this fact.

God Sees It All

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. (2 Chron. 16:9)

There is no one or no thing that God doesn’t see. And prophetically He has already seen them. To put the cross in perspective we need to realize all the heinous acts that have been and are being committed in the world. Every murder, every rape, every assault, every theft, every hurtful word, every abortion has not gone unnoticed by God. And all future reprehensible acts are known to Him which only compounds the situation. God sheds more tears than we will ever fully comprehend. In light of seeing all the evil from the first sin to the last one committed we read that God still offered redemption:

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Rom 5:8, TLB)

I’m sure we’ve read and/or heard this verse before, but after today I hope it hits us even harder. But if you needed to understand the prophetic love of God even better, see how this verse is translated in The Message:

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. (Rom 5:6-8, TMG)

A Beacon Of Hope For All Time

The cross was the consummate hope for all men starting with Adam. He looked for the day that the deliverer promised in the Garden would come on the scene. He would die looking for that hope. Noah looked for that deliverer as well and he, too, died without out seeing that suffering messiah come on the scene. Moses, Elijah, David, Solomon, Isaiah and all the minor prophets hoped that a boy born in their time would grow to be Jesus. They all died, but they died with hope. The cross made their lives better before it ever happened. And those living today are better because of the cross. We look back to that most influential moment in history and it still changes lives today. What other event in human history has such staying power? As devastating as the Holocaust was, over time its impact on us will fade. As pivotal as many other events have been in history, their lessons will be lost over time. As the famous quote by philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist George Santayana goes “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” But Jesus’ death on the cross has the ultimate staying power because it changes lives eternally. More good has been done in history because people love God and are changed by that love than any other inspiration. Many of the advances in science, health, and the arts came from and continue to come from Christians reflecting the love shown them by their Creator. And it’s not even close. Without the cross, the world would be a dark place.

Light In A Dark World

When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Mark 15:33, NASB)

It is truly ironic that the moment Jesus died darkness covered the area. The single most light-giving event in history was shrouded in darkness. But it was only for a short time and in context more light has come into the lives of men and women because of the work done on the cross than any darkness seen on that day. But forgiveness of sins is only one part of the light given:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isa 53:4-5, KJV)

You see, there is healing of any malady, physical, mental or emotional because of Jesus dying on the cross. And this was the plan before sin ever brought sickness and death to the plant. One more thing we should note and that is the blood will never lose its power. Never.

The Cup

Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matt 26:39)

Previously we talked about the cup of iniquity being full for nations that God would judge. It took 400 years for the people living in Canaan to be judged for their sinful ways which was an incredible show of God’s prophetic love. Now go to the Garden of Gethsemane and see another cup of iniquity being full. I believe in that cup was all the sins of mankind, past, present and future and it was full at the moment Jesus prayed. Think about that for a moment. The child born today will have sins they will commit in the future. The blood covers them all. All of God’s wrath for all time was in that cup and in that moment Jesus knew they were. He sweat drops of blood as He held it which is actually a documented physical condition. It is a very rare condition where capillary blood vessels surrounding sweat glands rupture, causing blood to exude through the skin, typically triggered by extreme emotional stress, fear, or physical exertion. It is no wonder Jesus in His humanity hesitated to drink it. But in the pinnacle of obedience and yes, love Jesus drank it all. Calvary did cover it all. And it continues to cover it all until time is no more. God truly loved the world that He gave His only Son and both Jesus and God knew it had to happen before the first man was created. And the offer of salvation is extended to anyone today. Will you accept the love open to you by the nail scarred hands of Jesus? I pray you do. Now is the time for salvation. You’re not guaranteed tomorrow. If you do open your heart and mind to Him this Good Friday will be the best of your life this side of Heaven!