Sabbath School Summary

By Elder Dr Masimba Mavaza

Fulfilling Old Testament Prophecies

Lesson 8

Memory Text:
“ ‘But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me’ ” (John 5:36, NKJV).

Introduction
We can see again and again in the book of John all the things that Jesus said and did which revealed that, yes, the Messiah (hammashiach), the Christ, had come to Israel. And He had come, in fact, as one of them, a Jew born in Bethlehem, just as the Scriptures had predicted.
Yet, as John wrote, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10, NKJV).
He was in the world, the world was made through Him, and yet the world did not know Him? That’s an amazing statement. And, as we can see in John and in the other Gospels, many people didn’t know Him even though they should have, especially because of all the things that Jesus did and said. And, even more so, because the Old Testament scriptures pointed to Him.
This week we will look at more ways John revealed Jesus as the Messiah, and also, we will look at why some people still continued to reject Him—despite all the powerful reasons affirming Him as the Christ.

What can we learn from their mistakes?

SABBATH:
Why do men reject Christ? He mingled with all sorts of men, healed the sick, taught the truth, & was good to all. But the Creator was rejected by the creatures. The world was made through Him but the world didn’t know Him. He was a Man of sorrows (John 1:10). John clearly reveals that Jesus was the Christ (hammashiach) & a devout Jew born in Bethlehem. The OT spoke of Him. But many Jews still rejected the evidence.

SUNDAY
“My food is to do the will of Him that sent me, & to finish His work”, Jesus said. We have learned the Father through the Son. Jesus was about His Father’s business. All the miracles John recorded of Jesus were to reveal the will of His Father (John 5:17, 20, 36-38). He was from the Father (John 10:38, 14:10, 11, 10:24, 25). The religious leaders tried testing Him to confess His Messiahship in public. He pointed them to His works.

MONDAY:
The testimony of the OT is a strong claim for the divinity of Jesus. It points out who He was, where He came from, what He did, & what He’ll do. The OT is central, not only to the Gospel of John, but to all the NT (John 5:39, 40, 46, 47). Jesus often pointed to OT texts as a witness of His Messiahship (John 3:14, 1:45; Num. 21:5-9; John 1:45). The Scripture is a revelation of the divinity of Christ (John 13:18; 17:12, 19:24, 28, 36).

TUESDAY:
Although religious leaders at the time of Jesus believed in Scripture, He stressed on key texts that pointed to His divinity so that they were without an excuse. John, Peter, Paul, Mark, Luke, Matthew & most NT writers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote about the life, death, resurrection, & ascension of Christ (John 1:23, Isa. 40:3; John 2:16, 17; Ps. 69:9; John 7:38, Jer. 2:13; John 19:36, Num. 9:12). The disciples got the truths after His death (John 2:22, 20:9).

WEDNESDAY:
Imagine filling a big area with coins 2 feet high with only one of the coins coated pink. There is a very low chance a blindfolded man will pick the pink coin. Yet, all the prophecies of Christ in the OT were spot on. Some argue that Jesus Christ fulfilled over 100 OT prophecies (John 5:39). We have texts to defend our faith in Jesus as the Messiah (John 12:13, Ps. 118:26, John 12:14, 15; Zech. 9:9, John 13:18, Ps. 41:9, John 19:37, Zech. 12:10, 13:6).

THURSDAY:
The Jews eagerly awaited the Messiah & the religious leaders were anticipating to announce His coming. But when the Messiah, Jesus, came, He was their bitter enemy (John 8:12-30). They read about Him. Yet, they did not know Him nor His Father. They had outward piety but inward disbelief. In vain, they worshipped God (John 8:19, 23, 30, 2 Tim. 3:5, Isa. 29:13, Mark 7:7). The leaders were blind spiritual guides.

FRIDAY:
Jesus, the greatest gift of God came to the Hebrew people. They were entrusted with the truth. However, when He arrived, they failed to accept Him due to their reliance on traditions and human interpretations. Despite the evidences of His Messiahship, they did not want to abandon human tradition & accept Jesus. Consequently, they didn’t accept the greatest gift of the gospel, missing the eternal truth that was given.

—Ellen G. White, “ ‘Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled,’ ” pp. 662–680, in The Desire of Ages & Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 105.

Keywords

OT- Old Testament

NT- New Testament

Hammashiach- a Hebrew word that translates to “the Messiah.”

Captions

SUNDAY- Signs, Works, and Wonders
MONDAY- The Authoritative Role of Scripture
TUESDAY- Old Testament Prophecies of Jesus: Part I
WEDNESDAY-Old Testament Prophecies of Jesus: Part II
THURSDAY- From Beneath

Discussion Questions

📌 How do the prophecies fulfilled in Jesus’ life build faith?

📌 What are the three or four major obstacles that stood in the way of the religious leaders’ believing in Jesus? How are these same principles manifested today?

📌 Take a personal inventory of where your confidence resides today. What steps do you think can strengthen your faith?

📌 What should your answer to the question at the end of Monday’s study teach us about the authority of Scripture, and why must we reject anything that casts doubt on the final and ultimate authority of the Scriptures?

For November 16–22. Happy Sabbath!