This is He whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the long-expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.
(LSB 384 st. 3)
“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’”
(Luke 24:44)
Hindsight is 20/20. Today it is easy to look back on the Old Testament through the lens of the New and see all the prophecies that were fulfilled through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But this wasn’t always the case. It must have been hard for Mary and Joseph to connect the prophecies of “Messiah” with their baby boy as He lay there sweetly in the manger. It must have been hard for His disciples to witness the miraculous healings and His divine authority over nature, only to watch their teacher suffer and die on the cross at the hands of the Roman soldiers. Christ Himself had warned them of exactly what would happen to Him, but they couldn’t understand it until He opened their minds to the prophecies of Holy Scripture. Jesus was the one the prophets had written about so long ago. The one “whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word.” Through His death and resurrection, He accomplished all that His Father had promised to every generation since the beginning of time. Sin and death are defeated. Now, more than ever, it is time for creation to “praise its Lord evermore.”
Let us pray: Merciful Father, through the reading and hearing of Your perfect Word, we can see how You sent Your dear Son to fulfill all that You spoke by Your faithful prophets. Help us to not take this for granted and give us a deeper desire to study Your Word, that we may grow in our faith, and praise Your name evermore; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
(Daniel R. Harrington, Sem II)