He called them foolish and slow to believe... not being cruel. They certainly did know the prophesies. Jesus himself before he died that all must be done as prophesied. Yet when it happened they were unable to connect the dots.
Luke 24:25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Even when he took scripture and showed them before he died. Matthew 16:21 "From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life".I wonder if it ever happened that as Jesus was explaining to his disciples what was about to happen, that he interjected things and said, "I would explain that prophesy to you, but it's not going to come to pass for 2000 years or so. Or after he rose from the dead, did he spend any time telling them of events yet to come? Only the revelation of John at Patmos was spoken of the days to come in Jerusalem.
This all has to do with the truth that EVERY SINGLE prophetic word regarding things to come from Genesis to Malachi has already taken place and/or is fully manifested in Jesus and the Resurrection. There is nothing more to be fulfilled. The Matthew 24 prediction Jesus made happened in 70-72 AD at the hands of the Romans. The destruction of the temple system was complete and a new order began. One based on everlasting life by Grace.
Anything that denies the finished work of the cross and the filled prophesies it carries is living under the law:
Paul writes to the Galatians about such things:
Chapter 3
Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”[ 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole (the cross)."
The whole of Chapter 3 of Galatians speaks of the finished work and the curse of reliance on the law.
So when I become upset with some people using prophetic passages to reason away the finished work of the cross, the salvation by grace, our victorious existence for eternity and trade them for some dire prediction about the future.. I can only say. HOW FOOLISH YOU ARE!
