Sermon Transcript – To Him All The Prophets Bear Witness

Series B – Second Wednesday of Advent – Wednesday, December 10, 2014 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota.
We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:
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Time StampTranscript
0:25Our first reading tonight is from Acts
0:31chapter 10 verses 1 through 43. at caesarea there was a man named
0:37Cornelius a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort a devout man who
0:43feared God with all of his household he gave alms generously to the people and prayed continually to God about the
0:50ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him Cornelius and he stared at him in
0:58Terror and said what is it Lord and he said to him your prayers and your alms
1:03have ascended as a memorial before God and now send mend to Joppa and bring one
1:10Simon who is called Peter he is lodging with one Simon a Tanner whose house is
1:16by the Sea when the angel who spoke to him had departed he called two of his servants and and a devout soldier from
1:23among those who attended him and having related everything to them he sent them to Joppa the next day
1:29as they were on their journey and approaching the city Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to
1:34pray and he became hungry and wanted something to eat but while they were preparing it he fell into a trance and
1:41saw the heavens open and something like a great sheet descending being let down by its Four Corners upon the Earth in it
1:47were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air and there came a voice to him rise Peter kill and eat but
1:54Peter said by no means Lord for I have never eaten anything that is common or
2:00unclean and the voice came to him again a second time what God has made clean do not call common this happened three
2:07times and the thing was taken up at once to heaven now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he
2:15had seen might mean Behold The Men Who were sent by Cornelius having made inquiry for Simon’s house stood at the
2:22gate and called out to ask whether Simon was called who was called Peter was lodging there and while he was pondering
2:28the vision the spirit said to him him behold three men are looking for you rise and go down and accompany them
2:33without hesitation for I have sent them and Peter went down to the men and said
2:38I am the one you’re looking for what is the reason for your coming and they said Cornelius a centurion an upright and
2:45God-fearing man who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation was directed by a Holy Angel to send for you to come to
2:53his house and to hear what you have to say so he invited them in to be his guests the next day he rose and went
2:59away with them and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him and on the following day they entered caesarea
3:04Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends when Peter entered Cornelius met
3:11him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him but Peter lifted up and said stand up I too am a man and as he
3:20talked with him he went and found many persons gathered and he said to them you
3:25yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another Nation but God has shown me
3:32that I should not call any person common or unclean so when I was sent for I came
3:38without object objection I asked then why you sent for me and Cornelius said
3:43four days ago about this hour I was praying in my house at the ninth hour and behold a man stood Before Me In
3:50Bright clothing and said Cornelius your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God send
3:56therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter he is lodging in a house of Simon a Tanner by the Sea so I sent
4:04for you at once and you have been kind enough to come now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all
4:10that you have been commanded by the Lord so Peter opened his mouth and he said truly I understand that God shows no
4:17partiality but in every nation anyone who fears him him and does what is right
4:22it is acceptable to him and as for the word that he sent to Israel preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ
4:29he is Lord of all you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea
4:34beginning From Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed how God anointed
4:39Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power and he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed
4:45by the devil for God was with him and we Are Witnesses of all that he did both in
4:51the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem they put him to death by hanging him on a tree but God raised him on the third
4:58day and made him to appear not to all of the people but to us who had been chosen by God as Witnesses who ate and drank
5:05with him after he rose from the dead and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one
5:10appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead to him to Jesus all
5:17the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his
5:24name please stand for the holy gospel
5:31the holy Gospel According to Saint Luke chapter 24 verses 13 through 27. this is
5:37the day of Christ’s resurrection that very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus about seven miles
5:44from Jerusalem and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened while they were
5:50talking and discussing together Jesus himself Drew near and went with them but their eyes were kept from recognizing
5:56him and he said to them what is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk and they stood
6:02still looking sad then one of them named cleopas answered him are you the only
6:08visitor to to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days and he said to them what
6:15things and they said well concerning Jesus of Nazareth a man who was a
6:20prophet Mighty indeed word before God and all the people and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to
6:26be condemned to death and they crucified him but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel yes and besides all
6:34this it’s now the third day since these things happened moreover some women of our company they amazed us they were at
6:41the tomb early in the morning and when they did not find his body they came back saying that they had seen a vision of angels and said that he was alive
6:47some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said but him they did not see and he
6:54said to them o foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
7:00have spoken was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
7:05and enter into his glory and then beginning with Moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them all the
7:13things concerning himself in the name of Jesus
7:19hear the words of Peter to him to Jesus all the prophets bear
7:24witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through
7:32his name that’s you that’s me that’s everyone who calls on
7:38the name of the Lord who believes in Him receives forgiveness in his name and Peter said to him Jesus all of the
7:45prophets bear witness the Bible is about Jesus it’s about what he has done for us
7:51on the promise going all the way back to that Garden of Eden and then Jesus’s
7:56words from our gospel text kind of reprimanding cleopas while he’s holding their eyes the Greek word there
8:03by the way it says they were not able to recognize him the Greek idiom as it says their eyes were held it’s kind of a
8:09funny way of talking about so they don’t even realize this is Jesus and Jesus says to them oh foolish ones and slow of
8:16heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary that the Christ
8:22should suffer these things and enter into his glory and then beginning with Moses and all the prophets he
8:27interpreted them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself now that is one sermon I really wish
8:36that somebody had hit the record button for right but it makes you go well if you
8:42didn’t record it maybe we can kind of figure it out now last week we began to unpack this a little bit
8:47and we looked in the Old Testament and found some of the prophecies regarding Jesus and tonight I’ll share with you a
8:54few more and one of them will look at that’s kind of explicit another one we’re going to look at that’s
8:59typological but also has some explicit things in it and then we’ll take a look at one of the Psalms so Jesus is of this
9:06opinion that the scriptures are about him Peter is of this opinion that the scriptures are about Jesus that the
9:13prophets bear witness about him well do you remember that story about
9:18Judas he’s not a very popular guy to preach on by the way it’s just life applications
9:24are really tough to dig out of judas’s story right well if you remember the story
9:30Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver
9:3530 pieces of silver now typologically you see this theme in the Old Testament
9:41do you remember Samson and Delilah do you know what Delilah received for
9:50betraying Samson pieces of silver she did
9:55it’s kind of fascinating and in that story of the story of Samson well Samson actually plays the role of Jesus he’s
10:01typologically pointed to Jesus kind of scary though because Samson is one of these Christ figures you know
10:07typologically in the Old Testament man that guy is messed up he is really messed up and so we’ll have to talk
10:13about him another time and kind of unpack what’s going on with that story but suffice it to say that in the story
10:19of Samson Samson typologically is pointing us to Jesus well this theme
10:25of being betrayed for 30 pieces of silver not only picks up as a theme typologically but is explicitly stated
10:32as a prophecy regarding Jesus Christ the prophet Zechariah he’s a minor prophet
10:37in chapter 11 verses 12 and 13 of his prophecy it says this then I said to
10:43them if it seems good to you give me my wages but if not keep them and they wait out as my wages 30 pieces of silver then
10:50the Lord said to me get this throw it to the Potter the lordly price at which I
10:56was priced by them so I took the 30 pieces of silver and I threw them into the house of the Lord to the Potter
11:03strange prophecy and even when you read this in context in Zechariah you sit
11:09there and you scratch your head and go huh you read it in Hebrew and then you scratch your head and go huh
11:15what is this 30 pieces of silver throw it to the Potter well
11:20this is fulfilled in this way Matthew chapter 27 and there’s also kind of a fun little thing
11:26here there’s a what we call a thorny little issue have you ever read a book like
11:32Encyclopedia of Bible difficulties you know what do you do with passages like this there’s something that comes up in here see if you can catch it so when
11:39Judas this is Matthew 27 verse 3 when Judas his betrayer saw that Jesus was
11:44condemned he changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the Elder saying I
11:51have sinned by betraying innocent blood and they said what is that to us
11:57see to it yourself and throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple he
12:03departed and went and hanged himself but the chief priest taking the pieces of
12:08silver said well it’s not lawful to put them into the treasury since its blood money so they took counsel and bought
12:14with them The Potter’s field as a burial place for strangers
12:20wow that is an amazing fulfillment of the prophecy then Matthew writes this
12:26then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah saying and they took 30 pieces of silver the price of
12:33him whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel and gave them for The Potter’s field as the Lord directed me
12:39you sit there and go wait a second we just read this from Zechariah why does Matthew point us to Jeremiah oh I’m glad
12:47you asked well the Encyclopedia of Bible difficulties written by Gleason Archer says this
12:52as we turn to Jeremiah 32 verses 6 through 9 we find that the prophet was
12:58purchasing a field in anathoth for a certain number of shekels Jeremiah 18
13:03verse 2 describes the prophet as watching a Potter fashioning earthenware vessels in his house and Jeremiah 19 2
13:10indicates that there was a Potter near the temple having his Workshop in the valley of hinnom Jeremiah 19 11 reads
13:17thus says Yahweh of hosts even so I will break this people and this city as one
13:23breaks a Potter’s vessel that cannot be made whole again and they shall bury them in tofed it would seem therefore
13:30that zachariah’s casting of his purchase money to the Potter dated back to the
13:36symbolic actions of Jeremiah the prophet yet it is only Jeremiah that mentions
13:41the field of the Potter which is the principal point of Matthew’s quotation Matthew therefore is combining and
13:47summarizing elements of prophetic symbolism from both Zechariah and from
13:53Jeremiah but since Jeremiah is the more prominent of the two prophets he mentions Jeremiah’s Name by preference
14:00to that of the minor prophet absolutely fascinating and so when you see what’s going on Jeremiah is the one
14:06who typologically kind of foreshadows this Zechariah picks on the picks up on the theme and gives more explicit detail
14:13and then Matthew takes both Zechariah and Jeremiah and blends them together and and mentions the major prophet not
14:21the minor Prophet but what a fascinating thing that is going on there that all
14:27the way back in the Old Testament we can see that Jesus would be betrayed the
14:34Messiah would be trade for 30 pieces of silver that the money it would be thrown to the
14:39Potter but it is here’s what it says though so I took the 30 pieces of silver
14:44threw them into the house of the Lord the temple to the Potter and now you see what’s going on
14:51and you go how on Earth did Zechariah and Jeremiah figure this out well keep
14:57this in mind every book in the Bible is as well Paul describes it in first
15:04Timothy Theo nustas that means god breathed so even though
15:10we have 66 different books of the Bible and 40-something authors there’s one common author for every book in the
15:16Bible and that’s God the holy spirit so it’s not that Zechariah or Jeremiah were so clever that they can look into the
15:22future to figure this out because no human being can do such a thing instead God the Holy Spirit gave them that
15:29now another one we’ll pick this up first of all from explicit things and then
15:34we’ll kind of move out typologically regarding the Messiah the Old Testament
15:39told us that not one of Jesus’s bones would be broken here’s the prophecy
15:46Psalm 34 19-20 many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers
15:51him out of them all he keeps all his bones not one of them is broken
15:58there’s the prophecy what is all that about what’s this non-broken bone policy
16:04regarding the Messiah well this goes typologically back all the way to the Book of Exodus and the Passover you’ve
16:12heard the phrase Christ Our let Passover Lamb has been slain that’s from I think
16:17second Corinthians but here’s what Exodus says regarding the Passover starting at verse 1 chapter 12. the Lord
16:24said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt this month shall be for you the
16:29beginning of months it shall be the first month of the year for you tell all the congregation of Israel that on the
16:35tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their father’s houses a lamb for a household and if a
16:43household is too small for a lamb then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons
16:48according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb your lamb
16:54shall be without blemish a male a year old you may take it from the sheep or the goats and you shall keep it
17:00until the 14th day of this month and then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their
17:07lambs at Twilight then they shall take some of the blood put it on the two doorposts and the
17:13lintel of the houses in which they eat it they shall eat the flesh that night roasted on the fire with unleavened
17:19bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted its head with its legs
17:26and its inner parts and you shall let none of it remain until the morning anything that remains until the morning you shall burn in this manner you shall
17:34eat it with your belt fastened your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand and you shall eat it in haste
17:40it is the Lord’s Passover for I will pass through the land of Egypt that night and I will strike all the
17:46firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and Beast and on all the gods of Egypt I
17:51will execute judgments I am Yahweh the blood shall be a sign for you on the
17:57houses where you are and when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I
18:04strike the land of Egypt yeah it’s First Corinthians 5 7 Christ Our Passover Lamb has been slain now
18:12we’ll pause there for a second before we kind of finish this out this typologically points us to Jesus
18:20think about it all right the Destroyer is coming through the land of Egypt
18:27to kill all of the firstborn in Egypt the only way somebody’s house could be
18:34spared this judgment is if the blood of a lamb is over the
18:41door lentils of their home the Destroyer comes through and if the
18:46Destroyer sees that your House’s door has the blood of the Lamb over it he
18:52passes by Christ is our Passover Lamb what saves
18:58us from the Destroyer are we not all washed in the blood of the Lamb right
19:04so Jesus is that Passover Lamb and consider this also what did they do with
19:10that lamb they feasted on it they feasted on that lamb they ate it they roasted it and you had to make sure
19:16to eat it so here you have this sacrifice that is a substitute the blood the lamb
19:23then is standing in for the firstborn of all of Egypt and all of Israel and so the lamb becomes the substitute rather
19:30than a human being dying well it’s the lamb that dies in its place and they eat
19:37this lamb and we hear at this table we eat the body
19:43drink the blood of Christ Our Passover Lamb who was slain it’s all there for us
19:50but then this bones part comes up in the second part of Exodus chapter 12. it says this and the Lord said to Moses and
19:57Aaron this is the statute of the Passover no Foreigner shall eat of it but every slave that is bought for money
20:03May Eat of it after you have circumcised him no Foreigner or hired worker may eat of it it shall be eaten in one house you
20:10shall not take any of the flesh outside the house and you shall not break any of
20:16its bones wow if this isn’t talking about Jesus then I
20:23don’t know what is the Apostle John and his gospel writes this
20:28after Jesus had been crucified and he died it says this when they came to
20:33Jesus and saw that he was already dead they did not break his legs
20:39but one of the soldiers pierced aside with a spear and at once there came out blood and water he who saw it has borne
20:46witness and his testimony is true he knows that he is telling the truth that you may believe
20:52for these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled not one of
20:57his bones will be broken we’re not when we’re reading scripture
21:02we’re not dealing with a human book we’re dealing with something miraculous and like I read Christ Our Passover Lamb
21:10has been slain has been sacrificed and he was sacrificed for us
21:16Psalm 22 one of the clearest descriptions of
21:21Jesus’s suffering on the cross written hundreds and hundreds of years before
21:27Christ was ever born of the Virgin Mary here’s what it says my God my God
21:35why have you forsaken me those words sound familiar to you
21:41my God my God why have you forsaken me why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning oh my God I Cry
21:49by day but you do not answer and by night but I find no rest yet You Are Holy enthroned on the
21:55Praises of Israel and you are fathers trusted they trusted and you delivered them to you they cried and were rescued
22:02in you they trusted and were not put to shame but I’m a worm and not a man scorned by
22:08mankind and despised by the people all who see me mock me they make mouths at
22:14me they wag their heads he trusts in the Lord let him deliver him let him rescue
22:19him for he Delights in him were those not the very words of the Pharisees well Jesus was on the cross
22:26he trusted in the Lord he saved other people why can’t he save himself call on God maybe God will rescue him right and
22:34yet this was written by David hmm
22:39yet you are he who took me from the womb you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts on you I was cast from my birth
22:46and from my mother’s womb you have made have been my God be not far from me for trouble is near and there is none to
22:53help many bowls Encompass me strong bowls of Bashan surround me they open wide their mouths at me like a raving
23:00ravening and roaring lion I’m poured out like water all my bones are out of joint
23:05my heart is like Wax it is melted within my breast my strength is dried up like a
23:11pot shirt and my tongue sticks to my jaws you lay me in the dust of death for dogs Encompass me a company of evildoers
23:18encircles me they have pierced my hands and my feet I can count on my bones they stare and
23:26gloat over me to catch that part they pierced my hands and my feet they divide my garments among them and
23:32for my clothing they cast lots it’s as if
23:39the psalmist could see Christ being crucified
23:45it’s as if he could somebody had popped in a DVD and he was watching the events
23:52it’s that clear and these think about it this way you know Jesus fulfilled so many prophecies
23:59it’s ridiculous the number of prophecies that he fulfilled that some of the prophecies he could have kind of rigged
24:07if he were trying but a prophecy like this how does
24:12somebody rig it they pierce my hands and my feet how do you how do you get the Roman soldiers to
24:19gamble for your clothing this all points to the amazing fact that
24:27well Christ is our Lord and savior he is king of kings and Lord of lords and as
24:33Peter says to him all the prophets bear Witness as Jesus said was it not necessary that
24:39the Christ should suffer and beginning with Moses and the prophets he interpreted them all the scriptures concerning himself
24:46the more you look for Jesus in the Old Testament the more you will find him
24:52but let me continue the story a little bit we’ll go back to our gospel text I purposely left it unfinished and I left
24:59it unfinished so that we could continue it a little bit because I wanted to make the point regard that
25:06Jesus makes was it not necessary that the Christ has suffered these things and enter into his glory and then beginning
25:11with Moses and the prophets he interpreted them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself
25:17it’s all about Jesus so the story continues so they drew near to the village and to which they were going and
25:24Jesus acted as if he were going farther but they urged him strongly saying stay with us for its toward evening and the
25:29day is now far spent so he went in to stay with them and when he was at table with them watch
25:36this he took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to them
25:44that should sound familiar right and this what it says and their eyes were opened
25:50and they recognize Jesus and then he vanished from their sight so they’re at table
25:57Bread and Wine and he takes it and he breaks the bread and they go
26:03you’re Jesus and then poof he’s gone and listen to this
26:10they said to each other did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to
26:15us on the road and while he opened to us the scriptures
26:21so while Jesus was teaching them from Moses and the prophets how all of this was written about him even his suffering
26:29his death and his resurrection were prophesied by the prophets while Jesus
26:35is showing them and helping them to understand how to read the word of God their hearts are burning within them and
26:42so they rose that same hour so it’s the day is far spent yeah we’re gonna kick it here for a little bit they they rose
26:48that same hour and they returned to Jerusalem they were probably hightailing it you’re not gonna believe what happened
26:54so they found the 11 and those who were with them gathered together saying the Lord has risen indeed and has appeared
27:02to Simon and then they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread
27:09wow what an amazing Lord we have what an amazing God we have
27:15these are not magic tricks these are the very fingerprint of God
27:21and they Comfort us they Comfort us and show us that our faith is not misplaced
27:29our faith and trust in Christ is well placed for what man could perform these
27:37Miracles what man could fulfill these prophecies no man can and see Jesus is more than a
27:46man he’s the son of God he’s God in human flesh he’s the god-man
27:52and the reason why he took on human flesh and was born of the virgin
27:58was for you for me to bleed and to die for us to save and
28:04rescue us from the Dominion of Darkness to set us free from the power of sin death and the devil and to give us hope
28:12and one day we will stand before him and Marvel at his scars as we just sang
28:19Marvel and see in his very hands the wounds that he was experienced that he
28:28was pierced for you and for me this is not some fairy tale this is not
28:34some legend or some myth this is the truth this is reality
28:41this is The God Who Made Us and who has rescued us and we await his
28:47arrival on Christmas morning and now in Advent we Ponder Anew what it means to
28:54think about what a glorious God we have and our own need for repentance
28:59and trusting in Him for his forgiveness in the name of Jesus Amen
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