What Was Jesus Doing On The Cross?

# 2 (He was) Fulfilling Old Testament prophecy 

When we consider the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross, we make a big mistake in thinking that His death was a PLAN B response by God to the sin of Adam and Eve 

Genesis 3: 1-7 

We might even imagine a conversation in Heaven that went something like this: “Oh no, Adam and Eve have sinned, we didn’t see that coming, PLAN A has failed, time to go to PLAN B!” 

And what is PLAN B? 

PLAN B is for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross to save the descendants of Adam and Eve 

What do you think about that? 

No, there was never a conversation in Heaven like that – there was never a PLAN B, there was ONLY ever a PLAN A  

Ephesians 1: 4-5a ‘Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.’ 

Now let’s think about that – If ‘God loved us and chose us in Christ’ and ‘decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ’, ‘before He made the world’, that means that God planned to save us BEFORE Adam and Eve sinned 

Matthew 1: 21; John 6: 37-39, 44; John 15: 19; Romans 9: 15-16, 22, 24 

And if God planned to save us before Adam and Eve sinned, then God’s PLAN A was ALWAYS that Jesus would suffer and die on the cross to forgive us of our sins 

God’s PLAN A is revealed to us through the Old Testament Scriptures in what are referred to as Messianic Prophecies 

Jesus said that the Messianic Prophecies that He uniquely fulfilled were recorded in the writings of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms 

Luke 24: 44 ‘Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.”’ 

John 5: 39 

According to Alfred Edersheim (1825-1889) one of the all-time great Bible scholars, there are 456 Old Testament Messianic Prophecies whereas some of the modern-day Bible scholars list between 100 & 200 (Loraine Boettner 168, John MacArthur 127) 

And of course, the fulfillment of these Old Testament Messianic Prophecies are referred to in the New Testament 

The Gospels record 161 references to fulfilled Old Testament Messianic Prophecies  

(Matthew 62) 

Acts to Revelation record another 112 references to fulfilled Old Testament Messianic Prophecies  

(Revelation 19) 

Making a total of 273 references to fulfilled Old Testament Messianic Prophecies  

Let’s briefly consider just 1 Messianic Prophecy from each of the 3 sources that Jesus referred to in Luke 24: 44 ‘the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms’ 

Firstly, Moses recorded the very first Messianic Prophecy 

In cursing the serpent that deceived Adam and Eve, God said, Genesis 3: 15 ‘And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike His heel.’ 

15a ‘her offspring’ 

‘her’ is Eve and her ‘offspring’ is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior 

Matthew 1: 21; Galatians 3: 19b; Galatians 4: 4 

15b ‘He will strike your head’ refers to Jesus' defeat of Satan through the cross 

Hebrews 2: 14; 1 John 3: 8b 

15c ‘you will strike His heel’ refers to Satan’s influence in the crucifixion of Jesus 

Luke 24: 39-40 

Secondly, the Prophet Isaiah's Messianic Prophecy in Isaiah 53 

Isaiah 53: 5-12

Isaiah 53: 5 ‘pierced’, ‘beaten and whipped’ 

 Isaiah 53: 7 ‘led like a lamb to the slaughter’ 

Isaiah 53: 8 ‘life cut short’ and ‘struck down’ 

Isaiah 53: 10 ‘His life is made an offering for sin’ 

Isaiah 53: 11 ‘He will bear all their sins’ 

Isaiah 53: 12 ‘He exposed Himself to death’ and ‘He bore the sins of many’ 

Matthew 8: 17; Matthew 27: 12-14, 55-56; Mark 15: 3-4, 27-28; Luke 23: 32-34, 38-41; John 11: 49-52; John 12: 37-38; John 19: 18; Acts 8: 28-35, Acts 10: 43; Acts 13: 38-39; Romans 5: 18-19; 1 Corinthians 15: 3; 1 Peter 2: 22-24; 1 John 1: 7 

Thirdly, David’s Messianic Prophecy in Psalm 2: 1-12 

Psalm 2: 1-12

Psalm 2: 2 ‘His anointed One’ 

Psalm 2: 6 ‘chosen king’  

Psalm 2: 7 ‘You are my son’  

Psalm 2: 12 ‘submit to God’s royal son’  

Acts 4: 25-27; Acts 13: 33; Hebrews 1: 5; Hebrews 5: 5 

What was Jesus doing on the cross? 

(He was) Fulfilling Old Testament prophecy 

As the Apostle Peter said when he preached on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2: 23 ‘this Man, (was) delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God NASB 

John 6: 38-40; Hebrews 10: 8-10  

Salvation Testimony:  

Many years ago in our first Church, one of our young people brought an old man to our Services. His name was Victor, and he was a stroke victim and could barely walk even with a stick.  

Victor gave his life to Christ. 

He lived in our town in an old hotel up the stairs and at the back of the building. 

One Thursday night, the old hotel caught fire and burned down. People died in the fire, and we thought that Victor probably died in the fire too. But the next day (a Friday) Victor phoned me and said that every Thursday he visited with his sister so wasn’t in the hotel when it caught fire.  

That’s called God’s Providence! 

Shortly after that Victor had another stroke and I went to visit with him in the hospital and just before I left, I took his hand and I said to him “I will pray for you Victor”, and he replied, “That’s what I want to hear David”.  

A few days later Victor passed away. 

Victor’s salvation testimony reminds me that like his name, ‘Victor’, we are all  

Romans 8: 37 'more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ 

Are you saved – have you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  

Receive Him today – do it now!