Being Fulfilled

Luke 4:21 And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."


21 ἤρξατο δὲ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὅτι σήμερον πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ αὕτη ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν.

Jesus had just finished reading from Isaiah in the temple.  He quoted the commission He had to free the captives, give sight to the blind, etc.  Then He hit them with this statement.  He tells them that πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ.  The verb πεπλήρωται is a perfect passive indicative.  This means that the fulfilling is done.  It has been completed.

You have to be careful when you read about things being "fulfilled" in the gospels.  In fact, I wrote a whole paper on Matthew 2:15 and Hosea 11:1.  That is one example where the term is quite puzzling.  But here it is quite clear.  Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies.  He was the one for whom they were looking.

What does this mean for us?  It means that when we have doubts we can look at the record and see that Jesus is who He says He is.  He is trustworthy and true.  He is the focus of history.  Everything in the past lead up to Him and everything will ultimately be about Him.

What can we do but worship Him?