The Key to Messianic Prophecy

The Text:

1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (KJV)

My Comment:

Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed the key to understanding Messianic Bible Prophecies to the two disciples who were returning home after a sad and disappointing day in Jerusalem when He told them:

Luk 24:25  Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Luk 24:26  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

Peter learned this truth from the Savior and repeats it in his first letter:

1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

I wish we had a full written transcript of exactly what Jesus taught the two disciples that day on the Emmaus Road!

Some members of one supposedly very ancient Church challenged me on the Internet that only their church was the One True Church because only their Church possessed the Unwritten Traditions from the very time of Christ and His Apostles.

So, I challenged them and requested them to furnish an Internet link to the content of the teaching Jesus gave those two disciples on the Emmaus Road, teaching Jesus repeated to His Apostles as a group later that day:

Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Luk 24:45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
Luk 24:46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
Luk 24:47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luk 24:48  And ye are witnesses of these things.

No one was able to furnish a full written transcript of what Jesus carefully taught the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus or what He taught again that evening to the assembled group of disciples. That Church seems to claim that it is in possession of the unwritten Traditions the rest of us don’t have, but in this case, given how important this information is–which they all heard–that Church can produce no trace. The claimed treasury of Tradition simply does not exist for this information. It reminds me of the words of the nursery rhyme, “Nothing in it, nothing in it, but the binding around it”! If that Church really does have it, show me the written Transcript!

The Security Office at one of the Detroit high schools where I taught had this significant sign on the door: “If it is not written, it did not happen.“

Fortunately, the clue given by Jesus to the two disciples on the Emmaus Road at Luke 24:26, a clue repeated by Peter in his first letter at 1 Peter 1:11, enables us like forensic detectives to study the associated cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury to reconstruct a good part of the message Jesus must have given on that Resurrection Day.

Dig Deeper by reading the Cross References for 1 Peter 1:11 as given in The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:

1 Peter 1:11
Searching. Gr. ereunaō (S# G2045, Joh 5:39). 1Pe 1:10, Pro 15:14, *Dan 8:15, Mat 13:17, Luk 10:24.

what manner of time. **Dan 9:2; **Dan 9:24, 25, 26; Dan 12:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Hab 2:1, 2, 3, 4, Gal 4:4, Php 4:5, Heb 9:9.

the Spirit. Gr. pneuma, +Mat 3:16. 1Pe 3:18, 19, Zec 7:12, Mar 12:36, Joh 14:17; Joh 16:7, Act 1:16; +Act 16:7, Rom 1:4; +*Rom 8:9, 1Co 10:4, *2Co 3:17; *2Co 3:18, *Gal 4:6, Php 1:19, Col 3:16, 1Ti 3:16, *Heb 9:14; Heb 10:15, *2Pe 1:21, Rev 3:1; *Rev 19:10.

of Christ. 1Pe 1:20, +*Joh 12:41, *1Co 10:4; *1Co 10:9, 2Co 3:17, 18, *Col 1:15, 16, 17.

which was in them. or, with them. Other translations handle as in, within, but this is not correct. Though God was with His people under the old economy, the Spirit of God did not indwell anyone until Pentecost (cf. Joh 14:17, 18 and notes) [LNT, fn e]. *Neh 9:30, Act 10:17.

did signify. or, point. Gr. dēloō (S# G1213, 1Co 1:11). Dan 12:8, 1Co 3:13, 2Pe 1:14.

when it testified beforehand. Gr. promarturomai (S# G4303, only here), to be a witness in advance, that is, predict (Strong). Psa 40:7; Psa 110:7, +Mat 26:24, +**Joh 5:39, Act 2:31; Act 7:52; Act 8:35, 1Co 15:4, Gal 3:17; Gal 3:23, Heb 2:6.

the sufferings. Gr. pathēma (S# G3804, Rom 7:5). 1Pe 2:21; 1Pe 3:18, 19, 20, 21, 22; 1Pe 4:1; 1Pe 4:13; 1Pe 5:1, *Psa 22:1-21; *Psa 69:1-21, Psalms 88:1, 2, 3, 4. *Isa 52:13; *Isa 52:14; *Isa 53:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, *Dan 9:24, 25, 26, *Zec 13:7, Mat 16:21; Mat 26:24, Luk 9:22; Luk 9:31; Luk 22:22; +*Luk 24:25, 26, 27; +*Luk 24:44, Act 2:23; +Act 3:18; *Act 17:3; Act 26:22, 23, +*1Co 15:3; +*1Co 15:4, 2Co 1:5, Heb 2:10; Heb 11:26; Heb 12:2.

the glory. or, glories. A common objection among the Jewish people who do not believe Jesus Christ is their Messiah is that there are many prophecies Jesus did not fulfill when He came. Peter here, and Jesus (Luk 24:26) furnish an absolute answer to that objection:

(1) the prophecies Jesus did fulfill pertain to “His sufferings.”

(2) the prophecies Jesus did not fulfill are reserved for the future when He comes in His full glory (Psa 102:16, Zec 14:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Mat 24:30, 31).

Several prophecies are recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament, that present exactly this order even within a single chapter, as seen in these cross references to specific chapters in the Bible that present this order:

Psa 22:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, the sufferings; Psa 22:22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, the glory.

Psa 69:1-21, the sufferings; Psa 69:30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, the glory.

Isa 53:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, the sufferings; Isa 53:11, 12, the glory.

Those who disbelieve in the Messiahship of Jesus Christ do so in the face of the evidence: just how can we account for the many prophecies (T1874 to T1976) Christ did fulfill at His First Advent? These things really did happen. The argument from Historicity is unanswerable and irrefutable (2Pe 1:16 note).

In terms of the provisions of the Abrahamic (+Gen 12:2 note) and the Davidic Covenants (+2Sa 7:10 note), you cannot have a Messiah who fulfills one aspect (the glory) without the other aspect (the sufferings) being fulfilled first. It takes both aspects to fulfill the predictions presented in the Messianic Prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures. 1Pe 1:3; 1Pe 1:7; 1Pe 1:13; 1Pe 1:21, 1Pe 3:21, 22; 1Pe 4:5; 1Pe 4:13, +*Gen 3:15; Gen 45:13; +*Gen 49:10, *Psa 22:22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31; Psa 45:3, 4, 5, 6, 7; *Psa 69:30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36; *Psa 72:17, 18, 19; +*Psa 102:16; *Psa 110:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; *Psa 145:11, +*Isa 9:6; +*Isa 9:7; *Isa 11:10 mg. *Isa 49:6; *Isa 53:11; *Isa 53:12; Isa 55:5; Isa 60:1, 2, 3; Isa 60:9; Isa 60:13; Isa 60:19, *Dan 2:34; Dan 2:35; Dan 2:44; +*Dan 7:13; Dan 7:14, **Zec 2:8, 9, 10, 11, 12; +**Zec 6:13; +*Zec 14:9, Mat 6:13, *Mar 10:37, Luk 19:38; *Luk 23:42; +**Luk 24:26, **+Joh 12:41, *Act 26:22; Act 26:23, 1Co 2:7, +*1Th 2:12, 1Ti 1:11, Rev 19:7.

that should follow. or, after these things. Rev 22:6.