searching what person, or what time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
Truth to Learn
We need to search and study to know God’s truths.
Behind the Words
The word translated “searching” is ereunaō, a less intensive form of the word translated “searched carefully” in the previous verse. It means “to investigate or explore.”
The initial “what” comes from the Greek expression eis tina, which literally translates to, “unto what,” and may mean either “what time,” or “what person.” The latter seems to be the correct interpretation.
“What time” comes from the Greek poion kairon, which refers not to what exact time these things would occur, but to the time frame, that is the character or condition of the age when these things would take place.
“Testified beforehand” is translated from promarturomai, which is a compound word made up of pro, meaning “before, in place or time” and marturomai, meaning “to witness, testify, or declare.” Hence, this word means “to declare something before it occurs or before it appears.”
The word translated “sufferings” is the Greek word pathēma, which is derived from pathos, meaning “to experience strong emotion, or suffering.” The ending –ma indicates that it refers to that which is suffered.
Meaning Explained
We have already talked about how the prophets looked into their own messages and each others’ prophecies to better understand this thing called salvation. The current verse gives us particular insight into another thing they looked closely at, namely the Savior Himself. These prophets were inquiring about the person, who He would be, what would be His character, and what would be the nature of the work that He would perform. They were also trying to understand when He would come. That is, they wanted to know what would characterize the time of His coming, in the same way that we want to understand the nature of the time when Christ will return again.
The thing that they were most curious about, however, seems to have been the fact that the Messiah would suffer. That the prophesies taught that the Messiah would suffer was clear, but it was difficult to reconcile the sufferings with the descriptions of His glory and triumphs which would follow.
The most significant thing about these verses is not so much that the prophets believed their messages, but that they constantly studied the scriptures to learn more about the God they served!
Application
Do you realize how much information God has made available to us in His Word? There is information about who our God really is, what kind of a relationship He has provided for us (and wants with us), what kind of a future He has prepared for us, and how we can know without a doubt that we are His.
Knowing how much God has made available to us in the Holy Bible, how much time and effort do you put into learning it? No matter how much time we currently spend in God’s word, let’s all commit to spending more time searching the Scriptures.
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved