PILATE'S INSCRIPTION | THE ANCIENT PROPHECY

1. Pilate’s Inscription

a) Pilate ordered an inscription for the cross, describing Jesus as "The Nazarene" (John 19:19). Pilate probably did not understand the significance of this.

2. The Ancient Prophecy

a) There survived an old prophecy that the Messiah (the promised heavenly King) would "be called a Nazarene" (Matthew 2:23). This prophecy had been passed on orally, but was never apparently written into the Bible, until Matthew quoted it

b) Matthew, in chapter two, draws our attention to three prophecies about where the Messiah would come from.

c) One prophecy says that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-6, Micah 5:2, John 7:41-42).

d) Another written prophecy says that the Messiah would come from Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15, Hosea 11:1).

e) The oral prophecy already mentioned says that the Messiah would be from Nazareth (Matthew 2:19-23).

f) So Matthew explains the fulfillment of these three prophecies, each naming a different place for the Messiah to come from, Bible writers dug into such details to give us confidence in Jesus. If we are shown that his fulfillment of prophecy had integrity in its minor details, then we are able to feel certain of Jesus regarding the salient and major statements of Messianic prophecy.  

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