Easter Sunday

The Longing of Prophets and Angels

1 Peter 1:10-12

Immanuel – 4/4/21

For those who love Jesus, today is the highest day of the year. It is the day we remember that death was swallowed up in victory. It is the day that the Lamb became a Lion, and Satan was defeated, and a vast kingdom of people were given life eternal. Today is the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead!

At the beginning of March, we started a sermon series called “Hope in a Hostile World.” It is a series where we dig into the book of 1 Peter and there find a living hope, powerful enough to carry us through the darkest of nights. For underneath our living hope is an abounding joy in the person of Jesus Christ, the One for which all history unfolds.

And the passage we come to today – 1 Peter 1:10-12 – is providentially and particularly powerful as we consider the majesty of an empty tomb. It is filled with a deep longing, a yearning to see more, to understand more: a great longing for Jesus.

Purpose

In Jesus the longings of Scripture and the longings of our heart find their fulfillment.

Jesus’ resurrection ushers in the age of the kingdom.

Read 1 Peter 1:3-12

Verse 10 starts with “Concerning this salvation.” And we must ask, what salvation is that? All the great works of salvation that have just been surveyed in the preceding verses.

-God caused us to be born again

-He births us into a living hope

-Gives us an eternal inheritance

-Causes us to persevere in faith so that we enter into that inheritance

-Takes the fallenness of this world and uses it to refine our faith

-Promises that He Himself with lavish upon us praise and glory and honor

-Fills us with glorious and inexpressible joy

What a salvation! It was a salvation planned before the foundations of the world were laid. It is a salvation alive within us in the present moment. It is a salvation the Father will complete upon the return of Christ.

And that whole salvation hinges upon what was for so long a great mystery.

Read vs 10-11

The Prophetic Longing

The prophet is not like a radio, mechanically broadcasting the messages God speaks. God certainly speaks through the prophet. He also engages the prophet in the process. The prophetic message excited the one who spoke it, and they too yearned to know what God was communicating.

So they searched, they carefully inquired. This is not merely a thought like, I wonder what this could mean. This is not even about pondering it for a few days. This is about a longing so great that they devoted themselves to its understanding.

They searched through the prophetic words they had spoken to see if they could decipher the meaning. They looked through all other Scriptures, to see if there were any puzzle pieces that would complete the picture. They looked into the events of their own day, to see if they corresponded to the unfulfilled.

Always asking, what was this salvation? They had pieces. They could see it in the shadows, but they longed for the light. They yearned to know, and so they devoted themselves to understanding God and His plan.

But what is amazing is that – even through the shadows – the prophets understood things that those who walked with Jesus did not. The prophets understood that the Messiah would suffer.

There was a moment when Peter finally confessed that Jesus was the long awaited, prophesied Messiah. Jesus immediately begins to tell Peter and the disciples that He would suffer and be killed. So Peter takes Jesus aside and says, “You cannot die! You are the Messiah!” Jesus strongly rebuked Peter at those words.

Later, when Jesus is about to be arrested, Peter uses a sword to try to protect Jesus from suffering.

But most pertinent to our passage, when Peter saw Jesus transfigured in glory, Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with Jesus. Moses, though he was a prophet, represented the Scriptures of law; Elijah the Scriptures of prophecy. And what were Moses, Elijah, and Jesus speaking about?

[They] spoke of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

-Luke 9:31

This is a conversation about Jesus’ death. The Mount of Transfiguration is a living illustration that all Scripture points towards the Messiah, His suffering, and the subsequent glories. When Peter writes about what the prophets were looking into, He is holding the entirety of the Old Testament in his mind.

But in that moment on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter couldn’t comprehend Jesus’ sufferings. The Old Testament was not yet illumined to him. Yet, this much the prophets knew, for even from the very beginning suffering and the Messiah we linked.

The first prophecy of the Messiah is when God speaks to the Serpent in Eden.

“He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” -Genesis 3:15

From a Messianic Psalm:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let [the Lord] deliver Him.”

-Psalm 22:1,7-8

From the prophet Isaiah:

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken; smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. -Isaiah 53:4-5

Yes, the prophets understood that the Messiah would suffer. But through His sufferings the Devil would be crushed, and by Christ’s wounds we would be healed! This is no ordinary suffering! This is suffering that leads to redemption and renewal and victory!

The prophets understood this also: that the Messiah must suffer, but He will also usher in a glorious kingdom.

“Behold, the days are coming, declare the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and He shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” -Jeremiah 33:14-15

The Messiah is the promised descendant of David, and He will bring glories to the earth, far transcending all other rulers: true justice and everlasting righteousness.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. -Daniel 7:13-14

The Messiah will not merely be the king of the Jews; He is the King of kings. His Kingdom will stretch the breadth of the earth, and it will never end!

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! The Lord has taken away the judgements against you; He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. -Zephaniah 3:14-15,17

The King of kings personally frees His people from condemnation. And over the redeemed He rejoices; there to save them, there to comfort them. O, the glorious reign of the Messiah! Every page, every word, of the Old Testament is pointing to the glorious reign of the Messiah.

But despite the longing of the prophets, and all their careful inquiring, the Messiah was not for their time; and they knew it.

Read vs 12

Longing Fulfilled

Though their Messianic longing was great, God gave the prophets wisdom enough to know that the King was still in the future, and that their prophecies were for a future people.

We, the New Covenant believers, are that future people! We are the ones which all of Scripture serves. We are!

The phrase we have just read, the things that have now been announced to you, these things are announced as having come. It is not an announcement to get ready, it is an announcement of fulfillment. The shadows have been cleared and the Light has arrived. The Word of prophesy has been made flesh!

The angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” -Luke 2:10-11

And Jesus began His ministry with these words:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” -Mark 1:15

When Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is at hand,” there were still some things that needed to be done, and two in particular. Not until these two events could the kingdom truly arrive; and all prophecy be fulfilled.

Through tearing pain, between gasps for breath, He was living – and now dying – as the fulfillment of all Scripture.

Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. -John 19:28-30

At the darkness of that hour the earth shook as the King of kings was crushed for our iniquities. Luke tells us that the crowds who watched the slaying of the Messiah went home beating their breasts (Luke 23:48).

All the promise, all the potential, all the wonder that surrounded Jesus, extinguished in a moment. The longing of heart that so many had felt, was left a mournful flicker.

But far from defeat, this was the eternal plan. These events were the words of the prophets come to life: the first of the two major events fulfilled. The next one came in three days, for the prophets foretold of the Holy One living again!

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption.

-Psalm 16:9-10

When His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days. -Isaiah 53:10

On the morning of the third day the darkness was broken. All the prophetic rumblings came to a moment and struck like lightning, and the earth shook once more for there stood the Lion of Judah – the Lamb that was slain – the Risen King – our living hope! The long wait was over.

And now, by faith in the Risen Jesus, rivers of living waters gush into our hearts, breaking apart our stony ramparts, and flood into the world around us. Where once we languished in darkness now sits a city on a hill, a light unto the world.

Though we have not had the pleasure of seeing Jesus, we love Him. To Him do we give our lives!

For I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. -Galatians 2:20

Yes, the prophetic wait is over. The mystery has been revealed. The good news of Jesus Christ has been announced to us, and we receive it by faith.

The Witness of Jesus

And the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news, comes to us through the apostolic witness in the New Testament; just as the apostle Peter here reminds us in verse 12. This means that the whole Old Testament, and all the New, witness about Jesus Christ.

But notice, it is not just the witness about Jesus. They are the witness of Jesus. For, as we saw in verse 11, it was the Spirit of Christ that was speaking through the prophets. The good news of Jesus Christ is spoken in the New Testament through that same Spirit. Moses, David, Isaiah, Zephaniah, Matthew, John, Peter; they are all the mouthpiece of the one and eternal Jesus Christ – the Word become flesh.

And because of His testimony, though you do not see Him, you love Him.

There is a pattern that Jesus, through Peter, is showing to us. It is a pattern that we must see, woven into the story of redemption; in our story and in Christ’s story.

First suffering, then glory. First came Jesus’ sufferings. Then came His glory. So too must we be grieved by various trials. But this will soon be surpassed when we receive praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. First suffering, then glory. First for Jesus, then for us.

The Longing of Angels

And with that, we now come to the glorious last phrase of verse 12.

The things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

It is subtle, but so powerful. In verse 10 the prophets searched and inquired. All past tense. But that searching and inquiring has ended. Here are angels, still longing; as if they are peering over the parapets of heaven yearning to see something. What are they longing for?

Brothers and sister, we are now entering into the highest glories of Easter! When Christ rose, we rose! His life is our life. And we are being transformed from one degree of glory into another, new creations that look more and more like our King. The kingdom of God advances in our hearts and through our lives!

But it isn’t just us that rose with Christ. We are not all that has been redeemed. We are not all that is being recreated!

“For God so loved the whole world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16

Christ died not only for the elect, but also for this whole world. This doesn’t mean every single individual, it means the whole world!

“Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden.” -Ezekiel 36:33-35

As Christ rises, we rise, and all creation with us!

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

-Romans 8:19

Yes, through faith in Jesus Christ the kingdom of God is advancing across this world, and the greater its reach, the greater its influence, the more His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The Holy Spirit is the recreative force within us. We are the recreative force in this world.

[God], making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. -Ephesians 1:9-10

The angels are eagerly watching, as God unfurls His plan to recreate all things fallen: things in our hearts and things in our world. You see, we live in the time long foretold, the time of the subsequent glories: the age of the Church. And these glories come streaming to us from that empty tomb, where life begins, where creation is recreated.

Easter is about the Risen King. Easter is about those that will rise redeemed. Easter is about earth united with heaven.

Though the world may look upon the Christians as backwards, as those to be pitied, the angels know better. With great interest they understand that the Church is caught up in the greatest drama history will ever speak of, the drama of a great King rescuing His Bride; and through His Bride, birthing a whole new creation.

“The petty dreams of earth’s little tyrants shrivel before the majesty of the kingdom of God, ministered by the apostles and prophets, but now realized for those who know Jesus Christ.” -Edmund Clowney