Foretold & Fulfilled!

Rev.19:¹⁰ “Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.”

The next prophecy we would be considering is, the Soldiers would gamble for Messiah’s clothes. It was prophesied that the soldiers will gamble for Jesus clothes. Ps.22:¹⁸ “They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.” We see the fulfillment in Matt.27:³⁵ “After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.” Too accurate. Even if we say that Judas read the scriptures and knew that thirty pieces of silver was his bargaining price. What about the soldiers? It actually occurred to me that perhaps Judas had read the scriptures but did the soldiers read the scriptures too? Yet they did as exactly as it was prophesied. One of the most undisputable things about life is the accuracy of prophecy.

Another thing that stands out here is that Jesus did not wear cheap clothes. His shirts and sandals were top quality. If Jesus’ clothes were worthless, the soldiers would not have been fighting over it or be casting dice over who should get what. They would just use them to clean the blood off their shoes after the whipping. I guess you can say Jesus paid attention to dressing well. Back in the day, I was more focused on the anointing, I would say “People are here for the anointing,” and I did not believe how I looked mattered much. But my wife would say to me that people would see you before they hear you. My focus is still on the anointing, but I have also learnt from Jesus. You are an ambassador for Christ Jesus, make the effort to represent the kingdom well.

Again, perhaps the value they placed on Jesus’s clothes was not only because of the quality of His clothing. Maybe they knew that even His clothes would be anointed. Maybe they recognized that this man they killed had raised the dead, healed the sick, multiplied bread and fish and cast out demons in His life time. So, they struggled for His clothes, perhaps as points of contact to their own miracles and then resorted to throwing the dice for it. Regardless of this, it was prophesied that the soldiers would gamble for the Messiah’s clothes and we see this fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The next prophecy is the Messiah would pray for His enemies. The prophecy is in Ps.109:⁴ “I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them!” The fulfillment is in Luke 23:³⁴ “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing…” The significance of this is, God is not asking us to pay a price that He Himself is not willing to pay. God exemplified forgiveness by forgiving; and this sets the example for us.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are worthy of my worship and adoration, in Jesus Name. Amen