Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Acts 13:34-35 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: "I will give you the sure mercies of David." Therefore He also says in another Psalm: "You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption."
ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES
When the apostle Paul got the opportunity to address the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia, he had to tell them about Jesus' death and resurrection. Because they were Jews who knew their Scriptures, he also had to tell them how Jesus' death and resurrection was foretold in their own Scriptures.
So that is what we have here: the apostle Paul proving to them from their own Scriptures that Jesus must be the promised Messiah because in His life and death and resurrection He had fulfilled the many prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures.
The first prophecy he quotes is from the prophet Isaiah. This is Isaiah 55:3: "I will give you the sure mercies of David." This section of Isaiah is loaded with references to the Son of David, called God's Servant. In chapters 52 and 53 His sorrowful humiliation is described, followed by a glorious exaltation. He is made low, and then He is raised on high. First He bears the iniquity of the world and its punishment, He dies and is buried; then He comes from the grave triumphant. All of this is presented in Isaiah as a covenant from the merciful God. Then in Isaiah 55 we read: "Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you & the sure mercies of David."
If the Messiah is going to fulfill the Scriptures, He must not only suffer and die and be buried, but He must be triumphant. He must rise again as Victor. There can be no mercies from a dead Messiah. Surely no sure mercies! But because the Messiah triumphed over sin and death, God's covenant of peace and forgiveness stands. The covenant is everlasting. The mercies are sure.
The second prophecy Paul quotes is from a psalm of David himself, Psalm 16. This psalm likewise foretells the death and burial of someone who then rises from the dead. "You will not leave My soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show Me the path of life." Sheol is a term that means death or the grave. The verse indicates that the Messiah is going to die; that is, He is going to Sheol or the grave. But He is not going to stay there. God will not leave Him there in Sheol. In fact, His dead body is not even going to see corruption. The body put in the grave will not even begin to decay and decompose. No, this body is destined for life, because the Messiah has defeated death.
The Jews in that synagogue heard an amazing message that Saturday. A Man named Jesus has fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. He suffered and died and was buried. But on the third day He rose again, and in fact His body did not even see decay. Believe this, dear friends. Your life depends on it. "Hear, and your soul shall live."
