The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Student Workbook, SW09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

the time of David as well as in the life and ministry of Jesus. What do you make of this principle? Does it make sense that the Scriptures could have both a contemporary meaning for the people at the time they heard it as well as a future fulfillment in the life of Messiah?

A New Grammatic Tense: “the Prophetic Perfect”

One of the curious and special features of OT prophecy is that the predictions are often written in what scholars have come to call the “prophetic perfect” tense. This means that at the time they were recorded these prophecies were written as if they had already been accomplished. For instance, the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 53 graphically portrays the suffering of Messiah (Isaiah 53.3-5 - He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4] Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed). At the time of Isaiah’s writing, the Messiah would not appear for another six centuries, yet he writes as though it has already occurred. Why is this “prophetic perfect” sense so important in reading and understanding the nature of prophecy in general, especially in reading and understanding Messianic prophecy in particular? Today, many people would think that Christianity is essentially a Gentile religion. In all of its major denominations and traditions, Gentile culture, theologies, customs, and practices dominate. Although all traditions recognize the Jewish roots of the ancient Christian heritage, one would be hard-pressed to find modern day American Christians who are greatly informed about these roots, let alone find anything in this Jewish pre-heritage that might need to be kept front and center in normal Christian faith. For many Christians today, for all intents and purposes, Christianity is wholly and completely a Gentile faith; many evangelicals themselves find more affinity with the Reformers or some modern teacher or preacher than the Jewish ground of all genuine faith. While Jesus can say without equivocation that “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4.22), many Christians have serious reservations in believing and practicing this perspective. What do you make of these Gentile Pride or Equal Status?

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