(The following is the April 29 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read John 18 and pay close attention to verses 1-9.)
Whenever God speaks, his words are immediately eternally true. We often read “thus says the Lord” when Old Testament prophets communicate God’s word to others. We repeatedly see “as it is written” in the Old and New Testaments, usually introducing other Old Testament quotes. In the story of Judas betraying Jesus, however, Jesus fulfills something he said earlier that evening.
In his prayer concerning his disciples, Jesus said, “I guarded them and not one of them is lost except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled” (John 17:12). At Jesus’ betrayal, we read, “‘I told you I am he,’ Jesus replied. ‘So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.’ This was to fulfill the words he had said: ‘I have not lost one of those you have given me’” (vv. 8-9). Jesus here fulfilled what he said a short while earlier. Why is this significant? It means his words are immediately divine truth. Spurgeon notes, “It was but an hour or two since Jesus uttered this sentence, but it is already among the inspired Scriptures, and it had begun to take effect and to be fulfilled at once. It is not the age of God’s Word but the truth of it that constitutes its power. What Christ had said that night in prayer was as true and as much the Word of the King as what God had spoken by his Spirit through the holy men ages before.” *
It should encourage us that God’s Word is true regardless of its age. Regardless of the culture or nation one resides in or the century one is born, God’s Word is reliable, and we can entrust our lives to the One who inspired it. So many prophecies have already come to fruition. God will fulfill all remaining prophecies in his perfect, chosen time.
Next Step:
Using a website (such as www.biblegateway.com) or electronic Bible, search for “thus says the Lord,” “as it is written,” and “fulfilled.” Read through many of the passages found. Thank God for the reliability and fulfillment of his Word.
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* CSB Spurgeon Study Bible, ed. Alistair Begg (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1454.
