- The first prophecy, the oldest of all, had been given by God at the time of Adam and Eve's sin.
Prophesied: GEN 3:15
Fulfilled in JOH 12:31-33
Prophesied: GEN 3:15
Genesis 3:8–24 describes the consequences of man's rebellion against God.
In general many times after falling to temptation, humans are ashamed and we foolishly attempt to hide from God. This is what happened in the garden with Adam and Eve, and many of us still do it today…
When confronted with their sin, the man and woman confess, but also attempt to shift the blame to others.
Adam even blames God.
In response, God issues three individual ''curses'' which affect humanity to this day.
Mankind can no longer stay in the ''very good'' garden, and is banished.
Even so, through His grace, God continues to provide for His creation. We call that Logistical grace.
We read in GEN 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel. "
In this verse we see that - In direct response to the serpent's deception and Adam's and Eve's disobedience, God pronounces curses on each of them, as well as on the generations to follow.
In the previous verse, God began His curse on both the serpent and on Satan, who took the serpent's form.
In this verse, GEN 3:15, the curse is focused entirely on Satan.
God promises to make enemies of Satan and the woman.
In fact, their offspring—or "seed"—will remain enemies throughout all generations.
Eve's offspring, of course, includes all of humanity, born one generation after another up to the present day.
But Who is Satan's offspring?
We know this does not refer to actual biological children of the Devil.
Satan's offspring include all of the fallen angels, demons, who will follow him.
And It definitely includes those humans who will come to believe and practice his lies. Those who reject the coming Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus, calling out the Jewish religious leaders in John 8:44, said this:
John 8:44 "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
God's final curse or oracle to the serpent was that the offspring of the woman will crush, or bruise, Satan's head, and Satan would strike or bruise His heel.
This is a reference to Christ, the Son of God, and also the ultimate member of Eve's offspring.
Satan would damage Christ, but He, Christ, would have the ultimate victory on behalf of humanity.
Those in Christ will celebrate the victory with Him for eternity.
The bottom line of God's curse on Satan is this:
He has been the enemy of humanity since the beginning.
He can never be trusted.
As Peter wrote, he continues to hunt and seek to devour humans to this very day (1 Peter 5:8),
1PE 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Though he won't be allowed to do so forever.
Now let’s take a look at the fulfillment of this prophecy from GEN 3:15 - Fulfilled in JOH 12:31-33
Here is a little background and we just saw some of this, but repetition is so good for us:
John 12:27–43 represents the end of Jesus' public ministry in the gospel of John.
After being approached by non-Jewish people who believed in God, Jesus seems agitated as He anticipates His impending death.
A voice from heaven affirms His mission, but to most people it simply sounds like noise or thunder.
They lacked discernment and I believe DJK has some info coming for us on that subject of discernment.
What Jesus means as a reference to crucifixion is misinterpreted by many as a prediction that He'll be exalted: to be ''lifted up.'' (no discernment)
The people struggle to understand His message, and Jesus will leave them after warning that their time is short.
This confirms Old Testament prophecies and reiterates how far some people will go in order to defy evidence of God.
Let’s take a look at the first fulfillment passage:
JOH 12:31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.
JOH 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
JOH 12:33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.
Starting with John 12:31
JOH 12:31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.
Jesus is speaking here to a group in Jerusalem in John 12:20–22.
Verse 27 tells us that
The main point of His discussion is His impending death—"this hour" and "this purpose" for which He has come (John 12:27).
Then in verses 28 & 29 of John 12 we see:
During that conversation, an audible voice from heaven spoke words (John 12:28) and some in the crowd, expressing spiritual stubbornness, dismissed it as noise (John 12:29).
Don’t we do that sometimes…. It just wasn’t what they wanted to hear or they just simply lack discernment.
In verse 30 however -
Jesus, in contrast, explains the voice was meant for their good, as a means to point them towards the truth (John 12:30).
In the most direct sense, Jesus is still speaking of His upcoming sacrifice on the cross.
That moment is the judgment of sin, and the means by which evil will be forever defeated (Hebrews 2:14–15).
I have it on the board for you:
HEB 2:14 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil;
HEB 2:15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Hebrews 2:14 clearly presents the reason why Jesus, the Promised One, had to become human in order to be the perfect "founder" of salvation.
Specifically, This perfect life and sinless sacrifice "destroys" Satan, who has the power of death.
This concept of destruction is from the Greek term katargēsē, which means "to counter, negate, deactivate, or abolish."
In other words, By taking on human form, Jesus Christ shattered the enslaving control which the fear of death has on humanity (2 Timothy 1:10; Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8).
Another thing I would like to point out is that
The particular form of slavery the Devil manipulates, in Hebrews 2:15, is the fear of death.
When we are afraid to die, we can make all sorts of immoral and irrational decisions.
Becoming a Christian doesn't make us immune to this fear, of course.
But it does provide a much different perspective on life and death.
Instead of fearing death above all else, and living as a slave to that fear,
The saved believer can take full advantage of a "more abundant" life, through Christ.
And more to our point of study
By using quotations from the Old Testament, the writer of Hebrews shows that this is exactly what God planned for all along.
Back in John 12:31, this verse actually has 2 implications and---- we don’t want you to miss this because it is so very important,
without a doubt the most important decision you will ever make ----and it is also important that we are able to defend what we believe--- which is why we are even tackling this study today!
JOH 12:31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.
Jesus is still speaking of His upcoming sacrifice on the cross, the judgment of sin, and the means by which evil will be forever defeated. – That’s our prophecy…
However, His words also imply that Each person is presented with Christ and must make a decision.
Everyone has access to "enough" proof of God (Romans 1:18–20; Psalm 19:1; John 5:39–40).
Those who do not believe must choose disbelief (John 7:17; 1 Corinthians 2:14), and take on judgment themselves (John 3:16–18).
This double-meaning is supported by the comments Jesus makes in the very next verse: …all men are "drawn to" Christ by the proclamation of His sacrificial death.
JOH 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
Not all will actually come, of course (John 6:44).
But No one has an excuse for rejecting what God offers, which is forgiveness of sin (John 6:35).
After this conversation ends, the gospel of John will emphasize that people are rejecting God in spite of proof, not because there is no proof (John 12:37–40).
JOH 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
The expression "lifted up" is a metaphor for crucifixion—a fate Jesus will be experiencing very soon (John 12:23–24).
This is something Christ alluded to when speaking with Nicodemus in John 3:14.
There, Jesus referenced an incident from Numbers 21:4–9. (recall this one?)
The people of Israel were suffering from a self-inflicted plague, and could only be saved by looking to a --- bronze serpent held up on a pole.
All they had to do was look…
Remember the brazen serpent, my dad taught us this back in the 80s and it is mentioned only 3 times in the bible…
It’s very important for us to know that doctrine and we just put it up on youtube for you this past week… and I had NO IDEA we were going to be hitting these prohesies until last Sunday when DJK mentioned them briefly… God is so amazing!
That moment of looking to the brazen serpent foreshadowed the concept of salvation by grace through faith, with the eventual Messiah as the one "lifted up" for others to look to and be saved.
All we have to do is look… anyone can look, and if you are blind you can still look to Christ with the eyes of your soul.
This act of being "lifted up" will "draw all men to Christ."
The context of this "drawing" is the conversation Jesus is having with a crowd in Jerusalem (John 12:20–22).
The message of the gospel, focused on Christ's death and resurrection, is one that "calls" to all people (John 6:35; 40).
Unfortunately, not all will respond (John 6:44).
The aftermath of Jesus' death proves the literal truth of the words "all men."
He will be executed under a placard sarcastically proclaiming Him as king in multiple languages (John 19:20).
As we saw recently
His death will shake the worldview of a pagan soldier (Mark 15:39), witnessed by both followers and enemies (Mark 15:29–32; John 19:25).
He will die in between thieves (Matthew 27:38), only one of whom will believe (Luke 22:39–43).
His body will be attended to by both loyal disciples and secret followers—those of both low and high class (Matthew 27:57–61).
Women will be the first to learn of His resurrection (Mark 16:1–6).
Gentiles will be converted (Acts 10:44–45).
Hardened enemies will become missionaries (Acts 22:6–8).
Social barriers will be broken (Galatians 3:28).
And In eternity, those redeemed by Christ will included members of "every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" (Revelation 7:9).
So we have our first prophecy fulfillment in our study
JOH 12:31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.
JOH 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
JOH 12:33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.
As with many of Jesus' statements, few people hearing Him will completely understand.
Which is another reason why we need to use our discernment especially when dealing with the Word of God.
Most of that confusion is based in their misunderstanding of prophecy (John 12:34).
JOH 12:34 The multitude therefore answered Him, "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?"
Even though Jesus has been clear, at least with His disciples (Luke 9:22; Mark 8:31), most of His followers don't grasp the idea that His death is going to be a literal one.
MAR 8:31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
When Jesus calls Himself the "Son of Man," He's not just emphasizing His human nature.
He is referring to the prophecy in Daniel wherein the Ancient of Days gives the Son of Man "dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13–14).
DAN 7:13 "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.
DAN 7:14 "And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
The people Jesus list in Mark 8:31 are very specific, Chief Priest, Scribes, elders and also notice the word suffer and rejected. (Isa 53)
MAR 8:31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
The chief priests are high ranking priests who are qualified to enter the Holy of Holies once a year.
Although the Levitical law does not allow for more than one high priest at a time, the turmoil during the four hundred years of silence wreaked havoc with the priest system, and these "chief priests" are probably priests with significant political power.
Scribes—from the Greek root word grammateus—are scholars of the Mosaic Law.
It was the scribes who added The Mishnah—the supplemental oral law that Jesus condemns the Pharisees for following.
Elders–from the Greek root word presbuteros—are significant players in the Jewish legal system.
These three—the chief priests, scribes, and elders—make up the Sanhedrin, the legal and political branch of Judaism.
Although God had ordained the creation of the Sanhedrin (Numbers 11:16–18), this iteration is not so honorable.
It is they who will turn Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified (Mark 14:53–65).
"Suffer" is from the Greek root word pascho which means to experience an event through one's senses.
Jesus even prophesied when His death would take place down to the time of the Passover season.
"Pasach" refers to Passover, and "Pascha" is what the Greek- and Latin-speaking Christians called Easter.
"Rejected" is from the Greek root word apodokimazo and means to be repudiated.
This prophecy came true in John 19:15, when the Jewish leadership told Pilate they had no king but Caesar.
"Kill" is from the Greek root word apokteino (ap-ok-ti'-no) Defined 1. to kill in any way whatever
to destroy, to allow to perish ap-ok-ti'-no
The use is unusual.
This is not a death that we as believers will ever face.
When Jesus heals Jairus' daughter in Mark 5:39, He says she is merely sleeping.
In John 11:11, when Jesus tells the disciples it is time to see Lazarus, He first says that he has fallen asleep.
This phrase “sleep” is also used of dead saints (Matthew 27:52), even after the ascension (1 Corinthians 15:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:14).
When a believer dies, it is no more permanent than falling asleep.
We do not lose our connection to God, as our spirits go directly to Him.
When Jesus hanged on the cross, however, He was separated from God (Mark 15:34).
Believers may experience suffering and rejection as Jesus did, but they will never truly die as He did.
We as believers will never experience this separation from God.
So in Mark 8, the disciples were so intent on their own interpretations that they refused to accept Jesus' very clear warnings of His prophesy.
John 12:33 was meant to indicate that the method of His death is going to be a literal one.
Of course, Scripture and other evidence have been pointing people towards this for some time (Isaiah 53:3–5).
It actually with Isa 52:15 but sharing
ISA 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
ISA 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
ISA 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
The sad fact is – the problem is not that most people cannot possibly understand; --- the problem is they choose not to.
- The betrayal of Jesus by Judas was foretold by David.
Prophesied: PSA 41:9
Fulfilled: MAR 14:10-11
We are going to first look at Mark 14:10, with MATTHEWS account to follow, than David’s and then I am going to close it out with something really cool we discovered with John’s account…and it has to do with “trust”
As usual I like to set the stage for us and we will begin with Mark 14:10 and Matthew 26:21.
MAR 14:10 And Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests, in order to betray Him to them.
MAR 14:11 And they were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.
This was the beginning of the prophesied betrayal of Judas and I want to explain to you the events in which it took place, a bit about who Judas was and why it happened to go this way.
Judas has approached the chief priests to offer his services in bringing Jesus to them.
The Jewish leadership has wanted to destroy Jesus since the beginning of His ministry.
The Pharisees and Herodians, who otherwise have nothing in common, joined their efforts after Jesus flaunted His freedom during the Sabbath (Mark 3:6).
The chief priests and the scribes allied with them after Jesus cleaned out the temple (Mark 11:18). --- all because of that one word – PRIDE!!!
But it was Herod the Great who first tried to kill Jesus.
He murdered all the baby boys in Bethlehem to do it, but Joseph and Mary had already fled with Jesus to Egypt (Matthew 2:13–18).
Herod was the first of many who actively tried to kill Jesus.
The people of Jesus' hometown, Nazareth, were of one accord when they tried to throw Him off a cliff in Luke 4:28–30. --- theyre were many attempts to kill Jesus in the NT.
Twice, Jesus escaped the Jewish leaders who attempted to stone Him in Jerusalem (John 8:59; 10:31).
Lately, however, Jesus has become too popular to kill.
The way He heals (Mark 1:34; 3:10) and feeds (Mark 6:30–44; 8:1–10) people as well as expels demons (Mark 1:34, 39; 3:11; 9:25) has gained Jesus a great amount of popular support.
People also love the way He exposes the foolishness of the teaching of the so-called religious experts (Mark 12).
This makes arresting Jesus difficult.
The Jewish leadership finds it convenient that Jesus has come to their home turf, where they can manipulate the Roman governor into executing Jesus, but this Passover season (which He prophesied in Mark 8:31) has also brought an inflow of Jesus' supporters from His home province of Galilee.
If the Jewish leaders try to arrest Jesus in public, the Galileans may lead the Jews of Judea into a revolt (Mark 14:1–2).
And if the Jews revolt, the Roman army will respond with extreme prejudice. They wanted to avoid all this…
The Jewish leadership needs to arrest Jesus when He is relatively unprotected (Luke 22:6).
They needed an inside man, a traitor…
While the Jewish leaders want to get rid of Jesus to maintain their position, authority, and influence, Judas' motivation is more banal: he wants money according to Matthew 26:15.
I would like to ask you to keep in mind that
Judas manages the disciples' finances, which gives him ample opportunity to steal (John 12:6)
We may not know Judas’ sole purposes for doing what he does,
Perhaps realizing that Jesus will never become a worldly political leader, Judas is determined to make money off of Jesus one way or another.
For what might be the second time in less than a week, Judas has watched Jesus affirm the decision of a woman to "waste" a year's wages on pouring perfume on Jesus (John 12:1–8; Mark 14:3–9). We saw that was about opportunity and how not all are the same and some will never be able to be repeated.
He'd much rather have put the money in the disciples' treasury so he can steal it later (John 12:6).
He doesn't really understand that he is the "son of destruction [or perdition]" (John 17:12), chosen by God to betray Jesus and then perish.
This is not to say that God created him explicitly for that purpose.
Rather, Judas' personal choices make him the perfect candidate for the job, and so God has placed him in the company of the disciples.
It's likely Judas heard that the chief priests and Pharisees are looking for someone who can give them access to Jesus away from the crowds (John 11:57), and he sees his chance.
Now, Satan has entered him to help him along in fulfilling his destiny in Luke 22:3.
The Gospels mention Judas about twenty times—three times in a list of the disciples, all three of which note he will betray Jesus. – (we have to remember this is in hindsight and the Gospels were written after the fact.)
One is a warning about Judas' betrayal.
All the rest come in the context of narrating his treachery.
"Judas" is the Latin form of the Greek translation of the Hebrew "Judah."
There are other "Judases" in the Bible besides Judas Iscariot.
Many people insist that if God was more real, if He presented Himself in a more obvious way, people would eagerly agree to follow Him.
Judas is one of many proofs that this is not true.
His personality is perhaps more resistant to Christ than normal, but he spent three years with Jesus, the Son of God, and it did nothing to soften his heart. – Jesus was right in his face.
MAT 26:21 And as they were eating, He said, "Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me."
MAT 26:22 And being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, "Surely not I, Lord?"
MAT 26:23 And He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.
MAT 26:24 "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
Jesus and His twelve disciples are gathered in the upper room of a house (Matthew 26:17–19).
Jesus declares with absolute certainty that one of these close companions will become a traitor.
Matthew has already revealed that Judas Iscariot has agreed to turn Jesus over to the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14–16).
Matthew has not described Judas' other motives.
We know from John that Judas has already been stealing from the group moneybag (John 12:6).
These perspectives are all hindsight: at the time of this meal, Jesus is the only one who knows which person is false.
It will not be until later that Matthew, John, and the rest learn the tragic details.
While Jesus is aware, the rest of the company has no idea that Judas is the betrayer.
They are accustomed to hearing difficult pronouncements from Jesus.
In fact, they each express fear that they will be the one to fall, despite having no plan to wrong Jesus in any way (Matthew 26:22).
MAT 26:24 "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
Referring to Himself as the Son of Man, Jesus again notes that what happens to Him is part of prophecy.
What comes in the following hours is what He has been expecting (Matthew 16:21–23).
We know this is the reason He has come to earth.
He is ready for it.
Ultimately, that fate leads to resurrection and glory (John 17:1–5).
It is a much different outcome, though, for the one who is betraying Christ.
Jesus declares "woe" or judgment for that man.
He adds that it would have been better for that man if he had never been born.
Again at this time, only Jesus knows that He is speaking of Judas (Matthew 26:14–17), one of the twelve men who has travelled with Him for much of the previous three years.
Judas will suffer greatly for his betrayal.
This statement raises many important issues.
Judas will suffer because He is not a true believer in Christ, despite his earlier actions (Matthew 7:21–23).
Judas will not lose prior salvation (John 10:28), he will prove by his actions that he never had it (John 14:15).
The sad fact is - that we will always have Judas’ in our lives.
The idea that Judas would have been "better off" unborn also hints at the reality of an eternal hell (Mark 9:48).
If Judas' fate is worse than never existing, it implies something other than nonexistence (Matthew 25:41, 46).
You can ask you Jehovah’s Witness friends to explain that!
Now let’s take a look at DAVIDS account:
Psalm 41 is a psalm of David.
PSA 41:9: “The man at peace with me, in whom I trusted, who was eating my bread, has magnified his heel against me.”
David refers to a trusted friend, one who used to eat bread with him, as betraying him, Psalm 41:9.
This may remind us of one incident in David’s life.
During Absalom’s rebellion, David’s trusted counselor Ahithophel turned traitor and joined Absalom in the revolt against the king. (2 Sam. 15:31; 16:15)
PSA 41:9: “The man at peace with me, in whom I trusted, who was eating my bread, has magnified his heel against me.”
Notice that the prophecy does not specify which close associate of Jesus it would be.
God knew that the devil had used David’s counselor Ahithophel to betray him, and He had that recorded because it demonstrated how the Devil operated and what he would do in the future.
It was not God but “the Devil . . . [who] put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him [Jesus].” John 13:2.
Instead of resisting, Judas yielded to that satanic influence as foretold that the Messiah would be betrayed by a treacherous associate.
David prophesied: “The man at peace with me, in whom I trusted, who was eating my bread, has magnified his heel against me.” (PSA 41:9)
A person who ate bread with someone was thought to be his friend. (Gen. 31:54).
Also “In ancient Semitic cultures, eating bread at the table of a superior amounted to a pledge of loyalty (2 Sam. 9:7–13; 1 Kings 18:19; 2 Kings 25:29).”
So the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot was treachery of the worst sort.
Jesus called attention to the fulfillment of David’s prophetic words when He referred to his betrayer and told his apostles:
John 13:18 “I am not talking about all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But it is in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, ‘He that used to feed on my bread has lifted up his heel against me.’”
Which brings us to Johns account…
JOHNS ACCOUNT
Here in John’s account, Jesus refers to His prior comment about the happiness of obedience in verse 17, by saying this does not apply to everyone present.
In making this remark, Jesus also emphasizes that Judas' betrayal is not a surprise.
Nor did Jesus make a mistake when adding Judas to the inner circle of twelve men.
Jesus knew what He was doing and who He was choosing.
That, in part, was meant to fulfill the prophetic statement of Psalm 41:9.
We just saw how An even deeper fulfillment of that prophecy will happen in the next moments, as Jesus literally shares food with Judas (John 13:26).
When John says that Judas “fulfilled” this passage in Psalm 41:9, we shouldn’t think of this as a one-to-one fulfillment.
While some prophecies in the OT were literally fulfilled in this direct sense (Isa. 53; Ps. 22; Dan. 9:24-27), others were not (Mt. 1:23; 2:14-15; 2:23).
Many prophecies in the OT were typological.
That is, earlier figures served to foreshadow what would come in the future.
The NT authors saw David as a type or a foreshadowing of the Messiah who was to come.
Therefore, when Christ’s life was similar to David’s, the NT authors are saying that Christ was “fulfilling” what came before.
That is, as with David, so with Christ.
Not everything in David’s life was prophetic of Christ.
In fact, in this passage, David admits to sinning PSA 41:4, Now we know that David is a sinner and I only say this to defend what we believe because as silly as it may seem people will try to pick apart what we believe, in fact some truly enjoy doing that.
So a strict one-to-one correspondence isn’t warranted, but a general correspondence is.
John saw the betrayal of Christ as a fulfillment of David’s life, because David was also betrayed by his close friend.
Here are some similarities between David and Jesus’ betrayal
David’s Betrayal: Betrayed by a close friend
Jesus’ Betrayal: Betrayed by a close friend
David was persecuted (PSA 41:5-9), but he was eventually vindicated by God (PSA 41:10-12).
Jesus was persecuted to the point of death, but he was later resurrected.
David’s betrayer hanged himself later in life (2SA 17:23).
Jesus’ betrayer hanged himself (MAT 27:5).
The Word of God is so full and timeless.
I am always amazed by its richness, precision, and depth. As I was studying this past week, the Holy Spirit revealed a few more things to me from this verse in the Psalms:
Psalm 41:9 which I would like to close with.
Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9 NKJV)
When David wrote this Psalm, he’d been betrayed by a person in whom he had trusted.
More than that though, David was writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit and this verse had fuller ramifications.
According to Jesus, Psalm 41:9 didn’t solely apply to David but was also Messianic prophecy.
In John 13:18, during the “last supper,” when Jesus was gathered at a table with His disciples, He said to them,
John 13:18 “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against Me.’”
Jesus said Scripture was to be fulfilled.
As He was citing Pslam 41:9,
and we know the “familiar friend” to whom Jesus was referring was Judas Iscariot, the betrayer.
Judas did, in fact, share bread with Jesus that evening, dipped from the same bowl in which Jesus had dipped bread.
And, later that very night, Judas betrayed Jesus (Matthew 26:47).
This all happened in fulfillment of Psalm 41:9.
But there’s more. The entire verse alludes to Judas Iscariot.
First, it speaks of “my own familiar friend.”
For many months, perhaps even several years, there was close fellowship between Jesus and Judas Iscariot.
Judas was one of the twelve disciples who followed Jesus during His earthly ministry.
Judas walked with Him.
Judas listened to Him.
He saw Jesus’ perform countless miracles.
Judas wasn’t simply familiar to Jesus, Jesus befriended Judas and loved him.
For, Jesus is the embodiment of love.
So, even while Judas’ heart was wretched, it didn’t diminish Jesus’ love for him.
Love is Jesus’ nature.
He proved “His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5.8).
Regardless of whether Judas reciprocated any genuine friendship, Jesus looked toward Judas and desired fellowship.
Jesus loved Judas, He wanted relationship with Judas.
Actually, even when Judas approached Jesus in Gethsemane, Jesus said, “Do what you came for, friend” (MAT 26:50).
MAT 26:50 And Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you have come for." Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.
Even at the very time of Judas’ betrayal, Jesus still referred to him as “friend.”
Yet, there is another phrase from Psalm 41:9 that I’ve wondered about in the past.
It states, “in whom I trusted.”
We know when David wrote this Psalm, whoever betrayed David had been a trusted friend.
But it is a fair to question--- how, or if, “in whom I trusted” applied to Jesus’ trust towards Judas.
John 2:24-25 tells us Jesus knew the heart of all men
“Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him (John 6:64).
Well then, it seems, ---if Jesus knew the heart of Judas from the beginning, ---that Jesus would’ve never trusted Judas because He knew Judas would betray Him.
So, how does speaking about the betrayer as, “in whom I trusted” fit into Messianic prophecy.
Or, does it even fit?
The Holy Spirit opened our eyes to this Scripture to show us—yes, it does!
And I hope your enjoy these in-depth prophecies as much as we are.
So it does fit in, but the context of what it means is different from how we tend to first associate the word “trust.”
In Scripture, it is referring here to a different type of trust.
It wasn’t about Jesus’ trusting in the character of Judas. But of Jesus purposefully placing Judas in a position of overseeing a “trust.”
John 12:4-6 tells us It was Judas who was assigned with overseeing the finances, or the purse, for the group (John 12:4-6).
And, Jesus would’ve been the One who placed Judas in that position.
So - YES, even before assigning that charge to Judas, Jesus knew Judas to be a thief who would eventually embezzle from the trust.
The term “trust” is often used in legal terminology.
Collected funds or properties can be held in an account called a “trust.”
And, the one assigned to oversee that “trust” is known as a “trustee.”
That title is given regardless of whether the person’s character is trustworthy.
By assigning Judas over the purse, or trust funds, Judas was given a position of “trust.”
This is also similar to how God entrust a husband to love their wives, and parents to raise their children. Nothing belongs to us, everything belongs to God.
That means even the detail of Judas’ being assigned overseer, or trustee, of the group’s purse was a fulfillment of prophecy.
Wow! This one really made me think about a lot!
The depths of God’s Word truly are unfathomable!
It doesn’t stop there!
In Psalm 41:9, the verse also says the betrayer will lift up “his heel against me.”
This refers to the earlier Messianic prophecy that was spoken by God after the fall of Adam. Our 1st prophecy we just covered…
“So the LORD God said to the serpent: . . . He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)
That prophecy is specifically talking about “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan” according to Rev. 12:9.
And it was fulfilled, too, in the betrayal of Judas,
“Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him” (John 13:27).
Satan schemed to kill the Son of God, meaning to bring an end to God’s purpose.
The devil tried to end Jesus Christ’s mission by enticing men to crucify the Lord.
But, in essence, all the devil did was strike at the Lord’s heel.
For when Jesus lay down His life at the Cross, that was His mission.
There, Jesus bruised the head of that serpent Satan, with a fatal blow.
For, Jesus was raised from the grave on the third day!
Through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, He gave His own life so whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!