We made it. We're in the New Testament now in our Bible overview. You'll notice in your handout I've given you the genre and perspectives of all the Gospels. That's all taken straight out of the ESV study Bible. You'll see appropriately academically footnoted on the back of the last page. That is not pertaining directly to our lesson today. It is my cop-out for the fact that the three synoptics all together in 30 minutes is not possible. So this is extra stuff for those of you who want it. Briefly, I want to discuss, as an introduction to the New Testament from the Old, I want to make sure we have a firm grasp of the relationship between the two testaments. I need somebody, if you so please, to read Matthew chapter one and verse one, and then I need another volunteer for Mark chapter one, verses one to three. Matthew 1.1 and Mark 1.1-3. Ms. Duncan? The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. All right, thank you very much. And Mark's gospel, chapter one, verses one to three. Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson. And what's interesting about Mark's introduction to his gospel is that it says, as is written in the prophet Isaiah, right? That's actually a composite quote of three different Old Testament passages, one from Isaiah, one from the book of Exodus, and one from Malachi. And the idea is that Isaiah being the best known of those books, they attribute it all under his heading. But the point is, you cannot view the New Testament as anything other than the organic fulfillment of the Old. It's a continuation. I wrote out here on the board in the Greek, Matthew, And I did it just so I could show you this word, Gnosis. That's the book of the genealogy is how it's translated in the ESV. But in the Greek, it's the same word that's used in the Greek Old Testament for Genesis. So chapter one, verse one of the New Testament is a Genesis. It's a bringing to mind, it's a fulfillment and consummation of all of those things. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Who is Jesus? What do we need to know about Jesus at the outset? He is the fulfillment. He is the consummation. He is the climax of those promises made to David and Abraham and really every other Old Testament figure. If I could say this provocatively, Abraham was a Christian, right? We tend to associate him with Judaism because, of course, he is a figure of the people of Israel. But Judaism as it exists today is not the Judaism that Abraham observed, or David, or Moses, or any others. Those are all proto-Christians. And I'll just show you one passage to make this clear. Can I get somebody who hasn't read yet to read John chapter 8, verses 56 to 59? Uh, yes, Mr. Gamble. 56 to 59? Yeah, John 8, 56 to 59. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. Pause. So this is Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders of that time. He says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Keep going. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old, and yet you have seen Abraham. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So Jesus saying, not only did Abraham rejoice to see my day. And sometimes we can hear that as if it's looking forward to the coming of Christ, but he says he did see it and was glad as he was given the promises of God. Those promises are all consummated in the Lord Jesus. And we've talked a lot in this overview about Genesis 12, one to three, where God, calls Abram and he says, depart from your father's house and from your land and go to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a blessing. And then you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And those promises are realized in the coming of the Lord Jesus. This is Paul's argument in Galatians chapter three, verses 13 to 14. And I'll read this for us real quick. Galatians chapter three, verses 13 to 14, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. And he's quoting from the law of Moses there. And then he goes on and says, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, that's me and you, Why? So that we might receive the promised spirit, that is the Holy Spirit, through faith. The promise that God made to Abraham includes the Lord Jesus and includes the coming of the Holy Spirit. It includes all the benefits that we realize in the New Testament administration of the covenant of grace. This is also why, when we were going over God's covenant with man, chapter seven of the confession, we spent so much time laboring that there is one covenant of grace under multiple or various administrations. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1.20, all the promises of God, he's referring to the whole Old Testament, find their yes in him, that is Christ. And that is why we utter our amen to God for his glory. The Gospels and the New Testament as a whole present Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, and that's probably language that y'all are very used to. Let me ask you, though, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that expressed, that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament? How do you think of that? What do you think is meant when we say Jesus fulfills the Old Testament? Yes, Mr. Kinsey. He fulfills the law. He fulfills the law, okay. Everything in the Old Testament was leading up to him. Everything was leading up to him, yep. Those are both good answers. I think a very common way of thinking about it is that there's a prediction or a promise or a prophecy in the Old Testament that points to Jesus and so he fulfills the Old Testament in the sense that the prediction comes true. And that is a way to think about it. If you ask 100 Bible-believing Christians, 99 of them are going to tell you precisely that. And that is not necessarily wrong. But it means more than that. The Greek word that's translated to fulfill, especially early in Matthew's gospel, means to bring to completion, to bring to a designed end, or to make to fill it up. And we see this in several places in the scriptures. One is in Matthew chapter one, excuse me, Matthew chapter two. Sorry. It is Matthew chapter one. verse two, verses 13 to 15. Matthew 2, 13 to 15, sorry. My notes say one thing, my Bible says another. We're gonna go with the Bible over my notes. The passage I'm looking for is Matthew chapter two, verses 13 to 15. Now, when they had departed, this is, of course, you all know the early parts of the gospels well, when Herod is seeking to destroy Jesus even early on. They flee. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy you. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet out of Egypt, I called my son. If you have a reference Bible, you'll see that's a reference. That's a quotation of Hosea chapter 11 and verse one. The thing about Hosea 11.1 is that's not a predictive passage. Hosea is not purporting to look into the future of a time that God will ransom or deliver his son from Egypt. Rather, he's looking back. Hosea is looking to the Exodus when God delivered his people out of captivity and bondage to Pharaoh. And so the word fulfill most often in our New Testament means that Jesus is not merely the answer to a prediction, but that he is the truer meaning of those passages. You might think of it this way. He fills those passages full of meaning. The Old Testament could be thought of, in and of itself, to be an empty cup. And Jesus Christ is the living water that is poured into that cup that allows it to fulfill its purpose. That's not to say that God's purpose changes. That was always His purpose, but in the coming of Jesus, we realize and we understand what that was about. You might say that the Old Testament, apart from the coming of Christ, is recording just history. But in light of the coming of Christ, it's recording redemptive history. My Gospels professor, Michael Kruger, would often put it this way, the Old Testament does predict Christ, but it also prefigures him. What he means by that is that the Old Testament introduces us to these offices of a prophet, that is, a mouthpiece for God, and a priest, a representative for the people to God, and it introduces us to the office of a king, a human ruler on behalf of God. And so those offices, while they were pointing to Jesus to come, that's true, They are also telling us something about what we can expect this anointed one to do, giving us a sense of the shape and function of his ministry. And one final comment by way of introduction. You'll recall, as we've discussed in other studies, genre matters a lot when you read a book. And a lot of modern skeptics will tell you that, first of all, genre matters, as you know, because hopefully you read poetry a little bit differently than you read a textbook. Hopefully you read a note from a friend differently than you would read an academic journal article, for example. Genre matters. And many modern skeptics will tell you that the Gospels were never meant to be anything other than myth. Some myth to convey a moral point. They associate them with things like the legends of the Roman gods or the Greek gods and things like that. And the facts just don't bear that out for many reasons. One, there is no evidence that first and second century Christians thought these words to be anything other than a record of history. If they were meant to be taken as myth, the first followers did not take them as such. And secondly, on a literary level, anybody who knows what they're talking about, will tell you that these bear all the literary marks of what's called Greco-Roman biography. The point of this type of literature is to inform the readers of the hero or the protagonist and invite the readers to believe that same message. Again, there are plenty of credible scholars that would not believe what the Gospels say, but none would deny that the Gospels are purporting to transmit fact. Does that make sense? the literary genre is that of a historic account. And so with all that said, we're going to study the major events of the Synoptic Gospels today, primarily through the lens of the Gospel according to Matthew. And the reason for that is, last year we did a whole year on the Gospel of Luke, and soon, I think, May or June, Dr. Phillips will begin an expository sermon series in the mornings through the Gospel of Mark. So we'll look primarily at Matthew. Now, we're not going to be looking at the distinctives of each book. Those are in your handout for your own study later. Rather, we're gonna look at what all the books have in common. We're gonna look at the key moments in Jesus' life and ministry that are recorded in all three synoptic gospels. Does anyone know what that term synoptic means? It's a compound word. Does anyone know what, has anyone ever heard the word synergy? or synergistic, synergism, anything like that. What's that mean? Mr. Gamble? Doesn't it mean some sort of, like, synergy is like using two types of fuels to make, like, a more sustainable? Yeah, that's right. They all belong to the same gospel. They work together. And optic would be the second word. Does anyone know what an optrician is? Eyes? Yeah, right. A synoptic gospel is one that sees things together, or sees things along the same lines as the other two. John is his own thing, and we'll look at that next week. The synoptic gospels are those that follow the same general outline and flow, and that would be Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And so what we're going to look at in these three major events is Jesus's baptism in chapter three, verses 13 to four, 17. The Transfiguration in Matthew 16, verse 13 to chapter 17, verse 13. And then finally, the Crucifixion and Resurrection at the end of the book, chapter 26, verse 1 through the end. So first of all, the Baptism of Jesus. Go and flip over to Matthew chapter 3. And the baptism of Jesus is one of the most important and also misunderstood passages about our Lord, even by Bible-believing Christians. Several of you in this room have asked me after class, why is it that Jesus was baptized as an adult and yet we baptize children, we baptize infants of believing parents? Shouldn't we just wait and do it as adults like Jesus did? So let's deal with that real quick by showing you guys that whatever it is that happens here, it's not analogous to New Testament baptism as we observe it. And there are four reasons for this. First and foremost, John is not a New Testament figure. He's not a New Testament minister, which is a little tricky because he's a minister in the New Testament. But let me explain what I mean. Jesus himself aligns John with the Old Testament administration of the covenant of grace. He says the Law and the Prophets were up till John, Luke 16, 16. The coming of Jesus marked a watershed moment. Up until then, God's revelation had been made in the Law and the Prophets. The combined expression stands for the Old Testament as a whole. This operated right up to the time of John the Baptist. One scholar stresses that he sees the period of Israel as lasting up to this point, including John's ministry. The second reason we know this isn't analogous to Christian baptism is that when Peter tells the crowds to repent and to be baptized at Pentecost in Acts 2, he gives the reason for which they should be baptized. Repent and be baptized, why? For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, to all whom the Lord our God shall call, whereas John's baptism is not a sign of God's promise, but a sign of the individual person's repentance. Third, John himself recognizes the beginning of Jesus' ministry as ushering in a new thing unlike anything else. You see this in Matthew 3, verse 11. I baptize you with water for repentance. But he who is coming after me, who is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, the Holy Spirit being the promise of God according to Acts 2 and Galatians 3. So John himself makes this distinction between his water baptism for repentance and what it means to be baptized into Christ. And then finally, and most definitively, the Apostle Paul says John's baptism isn't Christian baptism. And we see this in Acts chapter 19, verses one to five, where John, excuse me, where Paul finds some Christian community, and the text says, they knew only the baptism of John. He says, did you receive the Holy Spirit? They said, we don't even know what you're talking about. But we've received the baptism of John, and then the text says, and so Paul baptized them. Meaning that these are different things. So with all that said about what this is not, what is going on with Jesus' baptism? I'll go ahead and read Matthew chapter three, verses 13 to 17. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then He, that is John, consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. This passage is echoed in Mark 1, 9-11 and Luke 3, 21-22. And in it, what Jesus is doing here, according to R.T. Francis, he intended to identify himself with John's message and with the revival it had created. To enroll as a member of the purified and prepared people of God. It's a very educated way of saying that While Jesus had no sin of his own to repent of, he is identifying himself with all of us who do. While Jesus himself was sinless and perfect, he came down for us and for our salvation that he might fulfill all righteousness on our behalf. He's acting on behalf of his people. He is He is, he's, he's, you read, um, Psalm 51, for example, and that's David's Psalm of confession for sin. And if all the Psalms are about Jesus, how can Jesus have a Psalm confessing his sin? It's, it's according to his office as a priest, he's taking on himself all of his people that he might as verse 15 says, fulfill all righteousness. The other thing that's important to note here is that Jesus receives, as he's preparing to fulfill all righteousness, as he's preparing to do the work of righteousness in his ministry, not just so that you would learn things, though that's included, but on your behalf, he receives the commendation of his father. and the blessing, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Redemption then is worked out by the plan of God the Father, on the basis and merit of the Son, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a great passage to go to, to understand that the three persons of the Godhead are distinct, because here we see Jesus, the Spirit, and the Father all distinguished from each other, and yet their work is one thing. This also tells us that identifying with all of his people who would repent and believe, that Jesus did not just die in our place as we often talk about, but that every good work that you read about him having done in the gospels was also for you. And in this public commissioning of Jesus to the ministry, he hears from heaven that powerful thundering voice, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. The next passage we'll look at here, then, is the Transfiguration. This is Matthew 16, beginning in verse 13. This is, again, one of the only passages that's recorded in all three synoptics, and it's the hinge on which everything turns. So after his baptism, you've got his early ministry in all three Gospels, and then you've got this moment of Peter's confession paired with the Transfiguration. And from this point forward, he's marching towards Jerusalem. He's marching towards the cross. And I bring that out so that you see these passages are not arbitrarily selected. They're key turning points in the hinge of the story. And verse two says that Jesus, verse two of chapter 17 says that Jesus was transfigured before them. It says, his face shown like the sun and his clothes became bright white. That is to say that the purity and perfection of his glory was no longer veiled, but the veil was pulled back and his disciples were able to see. And what did they see? Well, verse three tells us, and behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Luke's record of this in Luke 9.31 would tell us that they're speaking of his departure. Again, the Greek word being that for exodus. Again, drawing on the connection of all of these Old Testament themes. That is, they're speaking of the cross by which he would secure his redemption, just as in the Exodus, the blood of the lamb must be shed to protect the people of God from the angel of death, so also must the blood of the precious lamb of God be shed to protect us from spiritual and everlasting death. And Peter says, I love Peter, he can never help but put his foot in his mouth. Somebody read, actually, verse 4. Matthew 17, verse 4. Yes. I love it. It's so good. Peter, looking on the full, unveiled glory of Christ and Moses, And Elijah. What can I add to this? What can I do to take this thing to the next level? Mark and Luke would both add in their recounting of this, that Peter had no idea what he was talking about. Matthew, we see, is also a good friend in that he leaves that detail out, trying to cover for Peter. But they both say, and Mark is his disciple, he's Peter's apprentice, and he throws him right under the bus. He says, Peter was out of his mind. What can I add to this? Matthew Henry observes, there was in this, as with many other of Peter's sayings, a mixture of weakness and of goodwill, more zeal than discretion. So he's saying, it's good that Peter wants to serve, but understand your role. Read the room, we might say. And if we're honest, we all have this inclination to one degree or another. We can tend to think, I see all of this talk in the law and the prophets about the glory of God and the necessity and sufficiency of the blood of Jesus to cover my sin. But what can I add to this? What can I contribute to this? And my friends, I would tell you, it does not belong to you. to add to any of Christ's work. It is finished. If you think there's something you need to add to Christ's work, you have to answer this question. Which one of your filthy garments, as Isaiah would say, all of our good works are but a polluted garment. Which one of those are you going to use to touch up some alleged blemish on his righteous robes? There is nothing. What belongs to you is to receive and rest upon the finished work of Christ. And while Peter is in the middle of this preposterous thought, he is actually rebuked by God the Father from heaven, which is a pretty startling thing. He says, He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, just like at the baptism. Listen to him. In other words, God the Father is saying, Peter, this is for you, but this is not about you. This is not something for you to add to or to make better in some way. The scripture is telling us plainly that Jesus is the Son of God in whom God is well pleased. Well, we're one week removed from Easter, so hopefully I don't have to rehash too much of the crucifixion resurrection account. I'm assuming a lot of general knowledge on that for you guys. But I do want to point out one specific passage in this final leg of Matthew's gospel. Matthew 27, 46. This is a very famous passage. Jesus on the cross, about the ninth hour, cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is, my God, my God, Why have you forsaken me? And I just want to make one point from this. At every other crucial point in Matthew's gospel, at the baptism, when Jesus begins his ministry, at the transfiguration, when he begins the march to the cross, he hears from his father. His father says, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. And on the cross, Jesus calls out and hears nothing. Why is that? He hears nothing because it was on the cross that the Lord Jesus was accomplishing the perfect work so that you and I might hear those words. This is my beloved son. whom I am well pleased." He had taken to Himself all of the sin that separates us from God, all of the sin that casts us far from His gaze, and Jesus took all that on Himself so that you and I might be declared the sons of glory that He draws to Himself. All three synoptic Gospels follow all three of these beats because that is the core message of the Gospel, that Jesus, as God in the flesh, came to deal with sin completely and perfectly fulfilling everything God's people were supposed to be. Back to Israel, back all the way to Adam. That's the whole point of the temptation narrative. Jesus goes through every temptation that we have fallen to, and he succeeds on our behalf that he might credit it to us, and that he died on the cross to pay for those sins, and that he rose again, why? So that he might bring many sons and daughters to glory. Let's pray. God in heaven, we give thanks to you for the Lord Jesus, that his work on our behalf is finished. And Lord, I pray that these young people here, that you would help us to receive and rest upon him as he has offered in the gospel. And that you would cause us to be assured of our right standing before you, not because of works that we have done, but because of Christ's precious blood spilled on our behalf. And would you also Lord, by the power of your spirit, make us more like our blessed Savior, Redeemer, and friend. In whose name we pray, amen.