[BTT038] John 13:18-19 / Psalm 41:9

Previous: [BTT037]  John 12:35-41 / Isaiah 53:1-3 / Isaiah 6

John 13:18-19 / Psalm 41:9

Fulfillment

“I do not speak concerning all of you. 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.’ Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.

Original

All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they devise my hurt.
“An evil disease,” they say, “clings to him.
And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.”
Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.

Comparison

Here we have our second example of Jesus quoting Himself as the fulfillment of a specific prophecy. Once again, it comes from a Psalm that, in its original context, seems to be about the life of David and has no indication of being prophetic. In fact, it's about David being sick and his friends and enemies conspiring against him.

Once again, we see that Jesus considered a paraphrase to be fully adequate ("my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread" vs. "He who eats bread with Me").

So while this plēroō passage adds nothing new to our understanding of how Jesus and the apostles interpreted prophecy, it does re-confirm our five points directly from the words of Jesus.


Revised Point One: Prophecies often have multiple fulfillments

Re-Revised Point Two: The context may be misleading in prophecy

Point Three: Past, Present, and Future do not matter in prophecy

Re-Revised Point Four: The exact wording does not matter in prophecy, or we have a different version of the Old Testament than Jesus

Point Five: A passage does not have to be explicitly prophetic to be prophecy

Next: [BTT039] John 15:25 / Psalm 69:1-4