How the Gospels Present Christ as the Culmination of God’s Story
Up to this point in the series we’ve been moving through the Old Testament, watching God’s plan unfold:
- Creation and Catastrophe – The good beginning and the fall into sin.
- Promise and a People – God’s covenant with Abraham and the birth of Israel.
- Law, Sacrifice, and Presence – God dwelling with His people through a system of shadows.
- Prophets and Kings – The failures of Israel’s rulers and the promise of a perfect King.
- Wisdom, Worship, and Suffering – The deep longings and questions that only Christ can truly satisfy.
Now, in this blog, we finally arrive at the point where all the threads converge:
the coming of Jesus in the Gospels.
The New Testament does not start a new, disconnected story. It announces that the long-promised King has come and that everything God pledged in the Old Testament is reaching its fulfillment in Him.
1. “The Time Is Fulfilled”: The Story Reaches Its Turning Point
When Jesus appears, He doesn’t present Himself as a religious reformer starting from scratch. He steps into Israel’s story and says:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
— Mark 1:15
“The time is fulfilled” means:
- The promises to Abraham have reached their moment.
- The covenant with David is about to bear its ultimate fruit.
- The longing of the prophets, psalms, and wisdom writings is now addressed in a Person.
The Gospels are written to show that Jesus is not an afterthought. He is the goal the Old Testament has been aiming at all along.
Each Gospel makes this point in its own way.
2. Matthew: Jesus the Son of Abraham, Son of David
Matthew opens with a genealogy many of us are tempted to skip, but it is theologically loaded:
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
— Matthew 1:1
In one verse, Matthew ties Jesus to two major covenants:
- Abrahamic – Through Abraham’s offspring, all nations will be blessed.
- Davidic – A son of David will sit on an eternal throne.
Matthew then spends his Gospel showing:
- Jesus as the true Israel
He retraces Israel’s story, but in faithfulness rather than failure:- Out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15; Hosea 11:1)
- Through the waters of baptism (Matthew 3)
- Into the wilderness for 40 days, yet without sin (Matthew 4)
- Jesus as the greater Moses
- He delivers a new “law” in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), speaking with divine authority.
- He goes up on a mountain and reveals God’s will—but as God in the flesh.
- Jesus as the promised King
- His entry into Jerusalem fulfills Zechariah 9:9 (Matthew 21:4–5).
- He is accused and crucified as “King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37).
- After His resurrection, He claims all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).
For Matthew, Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, the one in whom the whole story of Israel comes to completion—and through whom the blessing extends to all nations (Matthew 28:19).
3. Mark: The King Who Must Suffer
Mark is concise and urgent. He opens:
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
— Mark 1:1
He quickly connects Jesus to Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah and Malachi in Mark 1:2–3), and then focuses on two main truths:
- Jesus is Messiah (Christ) – Israel’s anointed King.
- Jesus is Son of God – uniquely related to the Father, sharing His authority.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus:
- Commands demons, heals the sick, forgives sins—all signs of God’s kingly power breaking into the world.
- Predicts His suffering and death three times (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34).
The turning point comes when Peter confesses, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29). Immediately, Jesus begins to explain that the Christ must suffer:
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
— Mark 10:45
Mark shows that the promised King is also the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53—the one who will defeat evil not by crushing Rome, but by bearing sin and conquering death.
4. Luke: The Savior for All Nations
Luke emphasizes that what God promised in the Old Testament is good news for the whole world.
From the beginning:
- The angel tells Mary that her Son will be given the throne of David and will reign forever (Luke 1:32–33).
- Mary’s song (Luke 1:46–55) and Zechariah’s prophecy (Luke 1:67–79) celebrate God’s faithfulness to His promises to Abraham and David.
In Luke, Jesus:
- Traces His genealogy all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:23–38) – highlighting that He is the Savior not just for Israel, but for all humanity.
- Announces in the synagogue that Isaiah’s prophecy of good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, and the year of the Lord’s favor is fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:16–21).
- Repeatedly cares for outsiders—Gentiles, women, the poor, sinners—fulfilling the Old Testament vision of a light to the nations.
After His resurrection, He explains to His disciples:
“Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
— Luke 24:44
And:
“Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
— Luke 24:27
Luke explicitly teaches us how to read the Old Testament: as a testimony that ultimately points to Christ.
5. John: The Word Made Flesh, the True Temple, the I AM
John goes even deeper into the identity of Jesus:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
— John 1:1
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
— John 1:14
“Dwelt” literally means tabernacled. John is saying:
What the tabernacle and temple symbolized—God’s presence among His people—has now come in a Person.
John shows Jesus as the fulfillment of major Old Testament themes:
- True Temple – Jesus’ body is the new temple (John 2:19–21).
- True Lamb – John the Baptist calls Him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
- True Bread from Heaven – He is the greater manna (John 6).
- True Light – He fulfills the imagery of God’s light in the tabernacle and in Isaiah (John 1:4–9; 8:12).
- I AM – His “I am” statements (John 8:58; 14:6; etc.) echo God’s self-revelation to Moses in Exodus 3:14.
In John, Jesus does not simply fit into Israel’s categories; He fulfills and surpasses them. He is fully human and fully God—the only one who can truly reconcile sinners to a holy God.
6. The Cross and Resurrection: Fulfillment Through Suffering and Glory
All four Gospels devote a disproportionate amount of space to the final week of Jesus’ life. Why? Because His death and resurrection are the heart of God’s redemptive plan.
The Cross in Light of the Old Testament
The New Testament presents the cross as:
- Passover fulfilled – Jesus dies during Passover as the true Lamb whose blood shields from judgment (Matthew 26–27; 1 Corinthians 5:7).
- Sacrificial system fulfilled – He is the once-for-all sacrifice that truly deals with sin (Hebrews 9–10).
- Day of Atonement fulfilled – He is both priest and sacrifice, entering God’s presence with His own blood (Hebrews 9:11–12).
- Suffering Servant fulfilled – Isaiah 53 finds its clearest meaning in Him: “He was pierced for our transgressions… and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5–6)
Jesus Himself understands His death this way:
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
— Luke 22:20
The new covenant promised in Jeremiah 31—of forgiven sins and law written on hearts—is enacted through His blood.
The Resurrection in Light of the Old Testament
The resurrection is not a random miracle; it is the vindication and completion of God’s promises:
- It fulfills hints and prophecies like Psalm 16:10 and Isaiah 53:10–12.
- It marks Jesus as the true Son of David and eternal King (Acts 2:25–36; Romans 1:3–4).
- It signals the dawn of the new creation—the firstfruits of the renewed world promised in the prophets (Isaiah 65–66; 1 Corinthians 15:20–23).
When the risen Jesus meets His disciples on the Emmaus road, He doesn’t say, “Forget the Old Testament; this is something new.” He says:
“Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
— Luke 24:26
“Necessary” because this is exactly how the Scriptures said God would save.
7. Why It Matters That Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament
Seeing Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament is not just an academic point; it shapes our faith and reading of Scripture:
- Assurance:
God keeps His promises. What He pledged over centuries, He fulfilled in Christ. That same faithfulness guarantees His promises to us now. - Clarity:
The Bible is one coherent story, not a patchwork. The Old Testament sets the stage; the New Testament reveals the main character. - Depth:
The more we know the Old Testament, the more richly we will understand and love Jesus—His titles, His work, His words, His mission. - Worship:
When we see how every thread converges on Christ, our hearts are drawn to worship the wisdom, power, and grace of God, who wrote this story from before the foundation of the world.
8. Looking Ahead: New Covenant and New Creation
In this sixth blog we’ve seen:
- The Gospels present Jesus as the culmination of the Old Testament story.
- He is the son of Abraham and son of David, the true Israel, the greater Moses, the Suffering Servant, the Lamb, the Temple, the King, and the Prophet.
- His death and resurrection bring to fulfillment the covenants, sacrifices, and promises that came before.
In the final blog of this series, we’ll look at what flows out from Christ’s finished work:
- The New Covenant people of God, the church.
- The promise of a New Creation, where God will dwell with His people forever.
Next in the series:
Blog 7 – New Covenant and New Creation: The Story’s Climax and Our Place in It