Jesus – The Fulfillment of Scripture
Pastor Tan Thai · Jan 19, 2014
This sermon presents the Gospel of Matthew as evidence that Jesus Christ is the complete fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, from the promise of the Messiah to the law of Moses and the Great Commission to all nations. Listeners are invited to recognize the great blessing of living in the era when that promise has become reality.
The sermon opens with an overview of the four Gospels, explaining that the terms Old Testament and New Testament mean 'old promise' and 'new promise' from God. The Old Testament records the history of the nation of Israel, through which God preserved the lineage from which the Savior would be born, while the New Testament is the fulfillment of that promise when God sent His only Son into the world to atone for humanity's sin. Four Gospels coexist because each serves a different audience and purpose.
The Gospel of Matthew is placed first because it emphasizes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. The author Matthew, a Jewish tax collector and one of the twelve apostles, directly quotes the Old Testament at least fifty times and contains over one hundred indirect references. In the birth narrative alone, he lists six specific fulfillments from prophets such as Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, and Jeremiah. The phrase 'All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet' appears eleven times, and the concept of prophetic fulfillment is repeated sixteen times throughout the book.
The sermon further analyzes how the structure of Matthew mirrors the Pentateuch of Moses, featuring five major discourses by Jesus, the most prominent being the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law of Moses but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). This fulfillment goes far beyond the external observance practiced by the Pharisees, requiring righteousness that originates from within the heart. For example, the old law forbade murder, but Jesus taught that anyone who harbors anger and hatred toward a brother has already committed murder in their heart.
Because no one can perfectly meet this absolute standard on their own, believers are declared righteous by being clothed in the righteousness of Christ, not through personal effort. The illustrations of wearing a life jacket in water or a bulletproof vest in danger are used to depict the protection and standing that Christians receive through faith in Jesus.
The greatest and most encompassing fulfillment is the promise of salvation extended not only to Israel but to all nations on earth. From Isaiah 49's prophecy of people coming from east, west, and north into God's kingdom, to the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 sending disciples to all nations, the sermon concludes with the joy of the Gospel for all people. Listeners are reminded that we live in a time of blessing that the Old Testament prophets could only long to see.