We know perfectly well why the Lord stopped reading where He did, for, thanks to the New Testament, we see something that Isaiah didn’t see.
When we are new to the Bible, we are commonly struck by the differences between the Old and New Testaments. This is an understandable phenomenon given, among other things, the major differences between Israel and the church. But as we grow in our knowledge of the Word, what we find most striking is the remarkable unity of the Scriptures. Indeed, this is one of the many evidences of their divine origin: written over 1600 years by men ranging from fishermen to kings—men of different cultures, nations, and languages—we discover that its teachings remain consistent regarding every question of life and death, God and man, sin and salvation, heaven and hell. As we consider the cause of this unity, we find it to be twofold: a common Author and a common Theme. Just as there are a variety of human authors, and yet behind them all there is the one true Author; so, too, the Bible covers a variety of topics, all held together by the Scriptures’ one grand theme. “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me” (Jn. 5:39).
The teachings of the two testaments are unified in Christ. The Old Testament is filled with pictures and prophesies of Him. The New Testament answers to it by presenting the Lord Jesus as the substance (Col. 2:17) and fulfillment (e.g. Mt. 1:22; Acts 3:18). The Old Testament was designed to prepare men for the coming Messiah; the New Testament reveals Him as Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 2:36). The two go hand-in-hand, so that our knowledge and appreciation of Christ would be severely impoverished if we were to be without either one.
So it is, when we consider the book of Isaiah, that we discover that its glorious portraits and prophecies of Christ are taken up in the New Testament. Consider, for a moment, Isaiah 61:1-7. There is no doubt that this is a prophecy and description of the coming Messiah (“anointed”, v.?1). But at the inception of His public ministry, our Lord entered the synagogue at Nazareth, opened the book of Isaiah, and read this passage:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Lk. 3:18f)
Having done so, He sat down, and, with all eyes fixed on Him, pronounced, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Lk. 4:16-21).
Notice how the two Testaments complement one another. Were we only to have the Isaiah passage, we would know that a Messiah was coming, but we would have no idea who He was. But if we just had the passage in Luke, we would know only half the story. That day in Nazareth, the Lord Jesus only quoted part of the Isaiah passage. The words He read perfectly described His incarnation and ministry: preaching the gospel, setting captives free, giving sight to the blind. Yet He stopped mid-sentence, and it is only because of Isaiah that we know this. For when we read the Isaiah passage, we discover that not only had He come to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, but also the day of vengeance of our God.
As was so often the case, from his vantage point before the coming of Christ, the Old Testament prophet saw the two advents of Christ superimposed, one upon the other. This led to questions and difficulties: How can Messiah both suffer and reign? Such questions don’t baffle us. We know perfectly well why the Lord stopped reading where He did, for, thanks to the New Testament, we see something that Isaiah didn’t see. We understand that the Lord Jesus would come to this world twice. At His first coming, He came in mercy and grace to bring salvation to men. But the day is coming when He will come a second time. And this will be a time of judgment.
Which brings us to Isaiah’s final portrait of Christ, found in chapter 63. This time it is His second coming in view. “For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart” (v.?4). Here again we see the unity of the Scriptures. As we read Isaiah 63:1-6 we can’t help but notice its similarity to Revelation 19:11-16. And here again we see the value of letting Scripture interpret Scripture. Occasionally, someone will speak of Christ’s robe dipped in blood in Revelation 19, and relate that to the blood of Calvary. But when we read Isaiah 63, it is abundantly clear that the blood on His robe isn’t His own, but that of His enemies:
“Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me: for I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment” (Isa. 63:2-3).
His first coming was marked by the shedding of His blood in mercy. His second coming will be marked by the shedding of the blood of His enemies in judgment.
Yet it is worth noting that our Lord did once wear a robe soaked in His own blood. Prior to His crucifixion, they scourged Him and then put a scarlet robe on Him while they beat and mocked Him (Mt. 27:28-31). How significant that many of the things His enemies did to Him that day in mockery were foretastes of what will one day happen in reality. The rod, the robe, the crown, proclaiming Him king and kneeling before Him—all of these were unwitting foreshadows of the events at His return. They won’t be laughing then.
What a sight that will be! This One who is glorious in His apparel and who marches in the greatness of His own strength (Isa. 63:1)—who else could this be but, “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle” (Ps. 24:8)?
We sometimes sing, “With mercy and with judgment, my web of time He wove.” But we could equally sing, “With mercy and with judgment, the web of time He wove.” One appearance in mercy; one in judgment. Around these two appearances, the Lord has shaped all of history. Both elements are essential. But we see where His heart is, though, don’t we? A year of mercy versus a day of judgment.
The rod, the robe, the crown, proclaiming Him king and kneeling before Him—all of these were unwitting foreshadows of the events at His return.
These examples from Isaiah provide us with several important lessons regarding the Word of God.
• Possessing the Bible, the simplest saint today can understand truths that the holiest prophet of the Old Testament struggled to understand (1 Pet. 1:10f). What grace! And how thankful we ought to be to hold the completed Scriptures in our hands.
• Scripture interprets Scripture. The safest method of Bible interpretation is to consult all of the passages on a topic and allow them to shape our understanding.
• When interpreting prophecy, we need to take the Word of God at face value. When we see that all of the prophecies concerning our Lord’s first coming were fulfilled literally, how can we suggest that the prophecies concerning His second coming (many of which are found in the same sentences) are anything less than literal? There were those (and there still are today!) who wrongly attempted to “spiritualize” the prophecies of His first advent. Those who attempt to spiritualize the prophecies concerning His second advent are guilty of the same error.
• Notice the precision of the Scriptures. They do not merely contain vague, general teachings. The course of history hangs on the very word at which a quote ends.
• The Scriptures are perfectly planned. The Lord moved Isaiah to record his prophecies so that when Jesus came, He would be irrefutably shown to be the Messiah.
• Christ is the unifying theme of the Old and New Testaments.