In Psalm 8:2 we have the prophecy that Christ would be the One praised by babes and sucklings. As the fulfillment of this prophecy, Matthew 21:16 says, “And said to Him, Do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus says to them, Yes; have you never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have perfected praise?” At the time of Matthew 21, Christ was warmly welcomed and exalted, and He was praised even by babes.
Prophesying that Christ would come to do the will of God, Psalm 40:6-8 says, “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Hebrews 10:5-8 is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Verse 5 says, “Wherefore, coming into the world, He says, Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.” All the sacrifices offered according to the law were a shadow of Christ. At the fullness of time, Christ came with a body of blood and flesh to replace the sacrifices of the law. In the flesh He offered Himself to God once for all to take away sins.
Hebrews 10:7, 9, and 10 tell us that it was the will of God to take away the first, the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament, so that the second, the sacrifice of Christ of the New Testament, might be established to replace the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Christ, as the real sacrifice for sin which has taken away sins, has sanctified us through the offering of His body once for all (v. 10).
The Triune God determined in His divine plan in eternity past that the second of the divine Trinity should be incarnated and die on the cross to accomplish His eternal redemption for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose (Eph. 1:7-9). Hence, the second of the divine Trinity was ordained to be the Lamb of God (John 1:29) before the foundation of the world, that is, in eternity past (1 Pet. 1:19-20). In the sight of God, Christ as the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world, that is, from the existence of God’s fallen creatures (Rev. 13:8). From the time of man’s fall, lambs, sheep, calves, and bulls were used for God’s chosen people as types (Gen. 3:21; 4:4; 8:20; 22:13; Exo. 12:3-8; Lev. 1:2), pointing to Christ who was to come as the real Lamb foreordained by God. In the fullness of time the Triune God sent the second of the divine Trinity, the Son of God, to come in incarnation to take a human body (Heb. 10:5) so that He might be offered to God on the cross (Heb. 9:14; 10:12) to do the will of the Triune God (Heb. 10:7), that is, to replace the sacrifices and offerings, which were types, with Himself in His humanity as the unique sacrifice and offering for the sanctification of God’s chosen people (Heb. 10:9-10).
In the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies Christ is the One betrayed by His friend, who sold Him for thirty pieces of silver. Psalm 41:9 says, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” This verse was fulfilled at the time the Lord Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. John 13:18 says, “I do not speak concerning all of you; for I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.” This refers to the betrayal of the Lord by Judas. Another verse related to the fulfillment of this prophecy is Mark 14:18: “As they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, Truly I tell you that one of you will deliver Me up, one who is eating with Me.” The Lord spoke this word as He and the disciples were eating of the Passover feast.
Zechariah 11:12 prophesies that the one who would betray the Lord would sell Him for thirty pieces of silver: “I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.” According to Exodus 21:32, a slave was priced at thirty pieces of silver. Christ was priced as a slave, and Judas betrayed Him for this price, selling Him for thirty pieces of silver. In Matthew 26:15 Judas asked the chief priests, “What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him to you? And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.” This clearly is the fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 11:12.