262. That the Lord fulfilled all things of the Word is evident from the passages where the Law and the Scripture are said to have been fulfilled by Him, and all things finished, as in the following. Jesus said:
Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill (Matt. 5:17, 18). Jesus entered into the synagogue, and stood up to read then was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written: The Spirit of Jehovah is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me; He hath sent Me to preach good tidings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book and He said, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears (Luke 4:16-21). That the Scripture might be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel upon Me (John 13:18). None of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 17:12). That the Word might be fulfilled which He spoke, Of them which thou gavest Me I lost not one (John 18:9). Jesus said to Peter: Put up thy sword into its place. How then shall the Scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be? But all this is come to pass that the Scripture might be fulfilled (Matt. 26:52, 54, 56). The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled (Mark 14:21, 49). Thus was the Scripture fulfilled, which said, He was numbered with the transgressors (Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37). That the Scripture might be fulfilled, They parted My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast lots (John 19:24). After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:28). When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished [that is, fulfilled]. (John 19:30). These things came to pass that the Scripture might be fulfilled, A bone in Him shall ye not brake. And again another Scripture saith, They shall look on Him whom they pierced (John 19:36, 37). That the whole Word was written concerning Him, and that He came into the world to fulfill it, He also taught His disciples before He went away, in these words:
He said to them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:25-27). Again Jesus said, that all things must needs be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me (Luke 26:41, 45). That the Lord when in the world fulfilled all things of the Word, even to the most minute particulars, is plain from His words:
Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished (Matt. 5:18). From all this it can now be clearly seen that the Lord's fulfilling all things of the law does not mean that He fulfilled all the commandments of the Decalogue, but all things of the Word. That all things of the Word are meant by the Law can be seen from these passages:
Jesus said, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? (John 10:34). This is written in the Psalms, 82:6. The multitudes answered, We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth forever (John 12:34). This is written in the Psalms, 89:30, 37; 110:4; Dan. 7:14. That the Word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause (John 15:26). This is written in Psalm 35:19. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fall (Luke 16:17). By the law in this passage, as frequently elsewhere, the whole Sacred Scripture is meant.