Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:-14-15

The time is fulfilled…the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus’ coming as the Messiah the first time. It is also the track we are on when the warnings of pleadings of Jesus are complete, and judgments begin to fall on the earth and are culminated with the return of Jesus.

Jesus is unlike any god, religious leader, philosopher, seer, or person on the earth because of the many plain-spoken prophecies concerning Himself. Unlike many “seers” such as Nostradamus, the prophecies concerning Jesus are direct and not subject to fancy interpretations of mystical words. and phrases.

Prophecy-First Coming as the Messiah

Prophecies regarding the Messiah reach back thousands of years. After John was imprisoned, Jesus started his ministry by proclaiming a clear message of the fulfillment of ancient prophecies concerning Himself.

Even at the end of his earthly ministry, three and one-half years after it started, He gave a “Bible study” to the disciples to equip them for their work of proclaiming the good news of Himself to the world. His study centered around prophecy.

 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Luke 24:44-45

His ministry at the start began with prophecy and itended with prophecy.

The Coming Messiah’s Message

In the book Desire of Ages p. 231, the author makes a clear list of high-level Biblical events at the time of is coming as Israel’s Messiah (This would cover the time from his birth tot the start of his ministry around 27AD. I have separated the paragraphs into distinct events around Jesus’s time for clearer reading. These events were announcing His coming, which was more detailed in the prophecies of the Old Testament writers.

“The Messiah’s coming had been first announced in Judea. In the temple at Jerusalem, the birth of the forerunner had been foretold to Zacharias as he ministered before the altar.

On the hills of Bethlehem, the angels had proclaimed the birth of Jesus.

To Jerusalem, the magi had come in search of Him.

In the temple, Simeon and Anna had testified to His divinity.

“Jerusalem and all Judea” had listened to the preaching of John the Baptist, and the deputation from the Sanhedrin, with the multitude, had heard his testimony concerning Jesus.

In Judea, Christ had received His first disciples. Here much of His early ministry had been spent.

The flashing forth of His divinity in the cleansing of the temple,

His miracles of healing, and the lessons of divine truth that fell from His lips, all proclaimed that which, after the healing at Bethesda, He had declared before the Sanhedrin—His Sonship to the Eternal.”

There are some 300 prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Jesus.

But sadly, the leaders in Israel and the people didn’t understand nor accept their Messiah. It was the duty of the priests to prepare the people for the arrival of their Messiah by rightly dividing the word of Scripture, particularly prophecy. But, alas, they preferred to turn the scripture into what they preferred in a Messiah rather than what the Holy Scripture clearly revealed. Consequently, Jesus, as the Messiah, was hardly recognized by the leadership.

“If the leaders in Israel had received Christ, He would have honored them as His messengers to carry the gospel to the world. To them, first, were given the opportunity to become heralds of the kingdom and grace of God. But Israel knew not the time of her visitation. The jealousy and distrust of the Jewish leaders had ripened into open hatred, and the hearts of the people were turned away from Jesus.”

“The Sanhedrin had rejected Christ’s message and was bent upon His death; therefore, Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from the priests, the temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been instructed in the law, and turned to another class to proclaim His message, and to gather out those who should carry the gospel to all nations.” Desire of Ages, p.231, 232

Jesus turned to the people of Galilee as a more favorable field for His work. The rabbis of Jerusalem despised them as rude and uneducated, but they were more open and free from the bigotry of the priests. They were more open to the reception of the truth.

Please don’t miss what was said here. Jesus turned to the leaders of Israel FIRST. They were given the first opportunity to become heralds of the kingdom and the grace of God! Why? But they rejected it, and God had to take the message to those who were more open to receiving truth rather than fanciful interpretations of Scripture. Jesus had instructed His disciples to take it to people who were open to receive it. If they didn’t, they were to symbolically shake the dust from their feet and move on. Matthew 10:14

So it is today. The message of Christ is to go to those who will listen. If not, go to those who are open to truths about Jesus. But the message today is not about the first coming; it is about the warnings concerning the second coming and the end of time as we know it.

As the people of planet earth await the powerful return of Christ. There is plenty of prophecies that clearly paint the picture of His soon return, but that we will study another time. For now, let’s stick with the prophecies concerning his coming to the earth as the promised Messiah.

Corrupt Religious Leaders

The religious leaders coveted power over the people rather than humbly becoming servants and educators of the people. They were more interested in maintaining tradition than truth. Their positions of popularity were preferred over the truth of the word of God. Their offices had become corrupt, and they relished in the love of money. So ingrained in the Jewish teachings was the false idea of the Messiah as a warrior and King that even the disciples, after three and one-half years of being with Jesus, needed a Bible study on the prophecies concerning Himself.

 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded (explained) to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Luke 24: 25-27

This verse added so much clarity to me when I first stopped to consider what these verses revealed. It did not need any fanciful interpretation. It is a message to the disciples that applies to His followers today.

1.) Are we foolish and slow to understand what the prophets have spoken about Jesus? How clear are you on the prophecies of Jesus’ first and second coming?

2.) The disciples expected the coming Messiah to be as a conquering King to free them from the Romans. The learned Sanhedrin taught this. Instead, Jesus came as a sacrificial leader that would receive glory because of death rather than war. There was a cross before there could be a crown.

3.) Jesus refers to the writings of Moses (the first five books of the Bible) and the prophets (Major and minor prophets) as “Scripture.“

4.) Jesus gave them a study about Himself from the Old Testament! There was no New Testament at this time. In fact, “Scripture” is a word that refers to the Old Testament only. Scripture ( or the Old Testament, which is referred to as the Tanakh by modern Jews)) was what Jesus and the Apostles used to proclaim the gospel to the world. This does not diminish the inspiration for the apostles’ writing and letters in the New Testament. Since this is true, we should never limit our study of Jesus Christ to the New Testament only. We will miss out on almost two-thirds of the story of Jesus if we fail to read and understand its message. It is relevant to the modern Christian today.

When Jesus came preaching, “the time is fulfilled,” it had a very literal application…a very specific time. Next time, we will look at an amazing prophecy from the book of Daniel that specified the exact time Jesus would appear on the scene. And, wouldn’t you know it, the religious leaders of our time have misinterpreted it to fit in with the Hollywood version of end-time events instead of the clear message of Christ’s second coming.

This prophecy in Daniel helps explain why Jesus started His ministry with the Jews as His priority and why He instructed His disciples to do the same. He told them:

“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

Matthew 10: 5-7

This would be the case for an additional three and one-half years. The house of Israel was God’s “lost sheep.” They had wandered from God!

This prophecy in Daniel also explains the words of Paul, who became the “preacher to the Gentiles.” 1 Timothy 2:7, 2 Timothy 1:11.

Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

Acts 13:46

Jesus kept the covenant explained by Daniel by giving the promised people the first opportunity to become His voice to the world, but they rejected it. He turned to a people that were not his people. This was also prophetic. It happened as the hourglass of probation ran out on the house of Israel.

I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people, and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” Hosea 2:3

Herein are the elements of the New Covenant that was to be given to both those called “not my people.” (Gentiles) and the Jews (His people of promise). It applies to all those who are “in Christ.”

Jesus is the great Unifier between the lost sheep of the house of Israel and the Gentiles. Those called “His people” and those called “Not His people.” He erases the distinction between the two and makes us all one in Him.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

Because Israel didn’t believe, God had to turn to the Gentiles to carry His message to the entire world rather than keep it in a small plot of land called Jerusalem. This was prophetic! The time was fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven was at hand.