Foreshadowing

The scriptures referred to are Isaiah 7:10-16, Romans 1-1-7 and Matthew 1:18-25.

Often a writer will drop clues or hints for what will happen later in a story. It's called foreshadowing and you've seen it in many great stories and movies. I hate to spoil films but one that came out more than a quarter of a century ago has one of the best examples of foreshadowing you can find. In The Sixth Sense young Cole tells the psychiatrist Dr. Crowe that he sees dead people. But what he adds foreshadows the movie's startling plot twist: “They don't know they're dead.” My wife was one of the few people who figured out the ending by the midpoint in the film.

Another example of foreshadowing is found in the movie The Incredibles. When Mr. Incredible goes to Edna Mode for a new costume she vehemently refuses to add a cape, citing how many disasters have come to superheroes who had capes. And in the climax of the movie, the villain finds out for himself why having a cape is a bad idea.

Agatha Christie must hold the record for the earliest possible example of foreshadowing. Usually as people are murdered in her novels, it narrows the possibilities as to which of the survivors is the killer. But in one of her books, just as in the nursery rhyme that predicts how each will be killed, everyone ends up dead. We only learn who did it in a letter left by the murderer, who is also dead. But the title foreshadows the surprising finale. It's called And Then There Were None. (Unfortunately the ending had to be changed when the novel was made into a play and then a film, so that someone could survive to figure out who was responsible.)

The Bible also has foreshadowing. Sometimes it's subtle. Humankind's fall involves a tree, as we see in Genesis chapter 3. But so does humanity's redemption. In defying the Sanhedrin's command that they stop preaching about Jesus, Peter and the apostles say, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.” (Acts 5:30) The Greek word xulon could mean tree or anything made of wood. It's used here and in 4 other passages in the New Testament to refer to the cross. Paul says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'” (Galatians 3:13, cf. Deuteronomy 21:22-23) And this usage could be literal because the Romans experimented with different methods of making crosses, including by stripping a tree of branches and using it as the upright to which a crossbar was affixed. So in a sense the cross on which Christ died becomes the tree of life which is also mentioned in Genesis.

Sometimes the foreshadowing in the Bible is explicit, as in prophecy. In today's passage from Isaiah, God is assuring King Ahaz of Judah that he need not worry about the military coalition of Israelites and Arameans threatening him. As a sign, a maiden will have a son named Immanuel. By the time the child knows good from evil, the threat will be gone. And that's what happened then.

This however is an example of a prophecy that has more than one fulfillment. Matthew picks up on this in his account of Jesus' birth. In this case the child is not merely named Emmanuel, but actually embodies the meaning of the name: “God is with us.” And it is often true with these double-barrelled prophecies that the second fulfillment is deeper and more significant. Originally this was a sign that God would remove a military power that threatens everyone in Ahaz's kingdom. But when Jesus was born, it signals the beginning of the Son of Man's mission to remove the power of sin and death from those who voluntarily become citizens of God's kingdom.

By the way, if you are disturbed by the fact that the Hebrew mentions a young woman but Matthew quotes it as referring to a virgin, you needn't be. The Hebrew word almah does basically mean a young woman, which includes virgins. Matthew is quoting the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible most Jews read at that time. It used parthenos, the Greek word for virgin, which reveals the deeper fulfillment this time around. As Mark Twain pointed out, history does not literally repeat itself but it does rhyme.

It is important to realize that in the first century, the only scriptures were what we call the Old Testament. The New Testament was in the process of being written beginning with the letters of Paul. When Jesus taught the disciples what was written about him he was using the Torah, the prophets and the Psalms. And there was plenty there about him.

This one in Isaiah is significant but there are others that are even more so. Later in Isaiah, we are told that “in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles...” (Isaiah 9:1) Who will do this? Is it God or perhaps a future king of David's line? Maybe both. About this king, we read, “For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us; and the government will be on his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his dominion and peace there will be no end. He will reign upon David's throne and over his kingdom to order and establish it with justice and righteous acts from that time forward and forever.” (Isaiah 9:6-7) Those are some pretty spectacular names and claims for a human king.

Some scholars argue that this refers to a traditional Davidic king, perhaps Hezekiah, Ahaz's son, and that these are simply royal titles. But there is nowhere in scripture any king given these titles. Hezekiah's name means “God gives strength.” It does not use the same words translated “Mighty God.” Elsewhere in Isaiah we are told “This also comes from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.” (Isaiah 28:29) God is the Wonderful Counselor, not any man. Also it is more typical to call God our father, and no mortal is everlasting. And while Judah was not conquered by the Assyrians, Hezekiah did pay them tribute by stripping the gold off the doors of God's temple. And he did fight against the Philistines, so the peace he brought was bought with the temple's gold and the blood of his enemies. Would that be appropriate for someone called the Prince of Peace?

Though Hezekiah was one of the best of the kings of Judah, the titles in Isaiah 9 seem excessive even for him. And despite all the good he did, getting rid of pagan shrines and reopening and cleansing God's temple, Hezekiah was arrogant. (2 Chronicles 32:25) When he showed off his treasures to the Babylonians, he essentially invited them to come back and conquer Judah. He didn't mind, though, because there would be peace in his lifetime. (2 Kings 20:12-19) That was neither humble nor wise.

This prophecy begs a greater fulfillment and Jesus, who is the everlasting God, is one with the Father, never fought a war but brings peace to his followers, and is a wonderfully wise counselor and thinker, is a better fit.

Then of course there are the prophecies of God's suffering servant, whom we read about in Isaiah chapters 49-53. It is difficult to read these passages and not think of Jesus, who was despised and rejected (Isaiah 53:3), was beaten, mocked and spit upon (Isaiah 50:6), was killed among transgressors (Isaiah 53:12), was buried in a rich man's tomb (Isaiah 53:9) and suffered for the sins of others (Isaiah 53:5, 8). To whom, other than Jesus, could these prophecies possibly refer?

Altogether scholars have counted more than 100 prophecies scattered throughout the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Jesus. That's too many to be a coincidence. Some think the gospel writers invented things about Jesus to make them fit. But those referring to his death are so weirdly specific. And we know his crucifixion wasn't invented. Non-Christian historians like Josephus and Tacitus confirm his execution under Pontius Pilate. A Greek satirist mocks Christians for following a crucified leader. An early example of graffiti shows a man worshiping a crucified God. And why would anyone make up the idea that their leader died an humiliating death just to fit some old prophecies? It was not a good selling point. Paul said that the cross was a stumbling block to the Jews and seemed like nonsense to the Greeks. (1 Corinthians 1:23) Jesus' death was in the earliest Christian writings because it did happen, just as foreshadowed in the Hebrew Bible.

Scholar N.T. Wright points out one interesting fact about the gospels: all of the references to the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus' first coming end with his burial. The gospel writers did not quote any eerily specific passages that foreshadowed his resurrection. Yes, there were a few references to a general resurrection of the dead at the end of the present evil era. (Job 19:25-27; Psalm 49:15 and 71:20; Daniel 12:2; Isaiah 26:19) But you have to look hard to see those that apply specifically to the Messiah. (Psalm 16:9-10 and 49:15) The reason we don't see this as easily in the Old Testament is that this is God doing something new. Christ's resurrection is not clearly predicted by anyone but Jesus himself. The disciples could not anticipate it because it made no sense to them. They knew that the dead stayed dead. And they were not quick to believe in it even after his tomb was found to be empty. Just as you and I would in that situation, they had to see and touch and eat with their risen friend before they could accept it to be true. After they were convinced, they could not stop talking about it, even when facing death.

There are prophecies about Jesus that have not been fulfilled. They are the ones about Jesus' second coming. One key passage in Daniel says, “In my vision at night I looked, and there was before me one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14) That has not yet been fully realized. Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a seed, something which starts small and grows. (Matthew 13) Jesus also said to his followers that the “kingdom of God is within you” or “in your midst.” (Luke 17:21) The church, as N.T. Wright puts it, is to be a small-scale, working model of the new creation. So God's kingdom is something that exists today but not yet in its final form. It's like a butterfly which starts as a caterpillar and ends up as a creature whose beautiful wings let it fly.

When we say that God has a plan, we are not making it up. It is laid out in the Bible, including the long portion that was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. But like a lot of foreshadowing, we only see it after it has happened. Only after the plot twist has taken place, do we say, “Oh, yeah! Remember what we were told earlier!” Only after Jesus was crucified, died, was buried and then rose again were the disciples able to see that this was God's plan all along. It came as a surprise at first but later they realized it was inevitable. They just didn't see how God was going to bring it about.

But what does that have to do with us? We are all part of God's plan. We all have our roles to play. When I acted in plays in high school, college and community theater, I and my fellow actors were the most visible, of course, because people saw us on stage. But behind the scenes were the people who made the costumes, who built the sets, who created and collected the props, who did the sound, who did the lights, who sold the tickets, who did the publicity, and who ushered people to their seats. All of those people were necessary. Without them we would be stumbling around in the dark, unable to see or be seen, with no audience to even hear us.

Or think of it this way: We are God's Mission Impossible team. Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt could not save the day without the help of Luther, the computer guy, and Benji, the techie, and Ilsa, the spy, and even Grace, the pickpocket. Not to mention superiors who trust him and who provide the finances and equipment for him to carry out his mission.

God could do it all by himself but he loves us and lets us be part of it, the way Mom gives the kids things to do to get ready for Christmas dinner. Because there is another foreshadowing right in the first chapter of the Bible. In Genesis we read “Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) God intended for us to be his vice-regents, ruling under him. But we decided to ignore his command and do things our way. Yet through Jesus, who is both fully human and fully divine, he has set it up so that “they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6) And all we have to do is say “Yes” to his offer. And “Thanks!”