Scriptures Understood as Messianic Texts and Applied them to Christ in the NT
Acts 4 is an account of Peter and John, who were seized and brought to the Jerusalem council. Annas, the high priest; Caiaphas; John; Alexander; and the other men in the high priest’s family were there to interrogate them. Some of them in the Jerusalem Council were also a group of people who were involved in crucifying Jesus. They were thus displeased that Peter and John were preaching the gospel. They demanded of Peter and John to stop preaching. However, Peter and John, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied that they had the authority from heaven to do so. They had a witness to testify to what they were preaching—a man crippled for forty years was miraculously healed through their prayers in the name of Jesus. Both were then released with a warning that they would not preach the gospel anymore. Later, they shared all their experiences with their people and recalled Psalm 2: “Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against the Anointed One.”
The messianic importance of Psalm 2 was the fulfillment of the scripture that King David penned down. The rulers of the earth would gather together to torture and plot against the people of God. This verse was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified, as well as in the incident described above.
It is not the proud ones who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven but the ones who have faith.
In Matthew 21 is the account of Jesus entering the temple and overturning the tables. He was furious that people were using the temple of God for inferior and unholy purposes. The blind and the lame visited Jesus, and he healed them in the temple. Children were exclaiming, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” The chief priests and law teachers were furious and asked Jesus what that meant. Jesus simply quoted Psalm 8:2, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”
The passage was another prophecy about the Messiah: that children and infants, through their innocent faith, would silence the learned and self-proclaimed holy men. It is not the proud ones who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven but the ones who have faith.
Psalm 22 has significant scriptures foreshadowing the ways the Messiah would be crucified. Several prophetic scriptures from Psalm 22 find fulfillment throughout the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, he exclaimed Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” King David, who is a part of what Christ would be, spoke these words when in despair. Similarly, there were people around him proclaiming, “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him.” Furthermore, in Luke and John, there is a clear depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion. The enemies pierced Jesus’ hands and feet, they stared and gloated over him, and they also divided his garments among them and cast lots for his clothing. The Psalms’ prophecies were fulfilled in Christ’s life and death.
Psalm 45:7 recurs in Hebrews 1:8-9. The author of Hebrews is showing how Jesus is the most superior of angels. God did not call other angels ‘my son.’ But God was pleased with his Son because Jesus loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore, God set him above his companions by anointing him with the oil of joy. Truly, Jesus was a sinless man and lived a sinless life while on earth. The messianic importance lies in the significance of Jesus’ holiness, which sets him apart from all other angels.
Psalm 110:1 occurs in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. All these gospels account for the day when Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees in the synagogues. The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus with their smart questions. Then Jesus asked them who the son of David was and why David had written, “The Lord says to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” This writing has an important messianic significance. Jesus was from the line of David’s genealogy. It was prophesied that the Messiah would come from David’s bloodline. Yet David called the Son Lord in the Spirit. The name is a powerful allusion to the equality of Christ with the Lord. Only those whom he highly favored were kept on his right hand. God highly favored Christ and promised to make all his enemies his footstool. Jesus, the Son of God, would crush his enemies, be resurrected, and be at his right hand.
