Prophetic Contingency and the Death and Resurrection of Christ

Romans 1:1--4 and Luke 24:44--48 both affirm that Christ's sufferings and resurrection were spoken of beforehand in the Scriptures. The question is whether those prophecies admit real contingency, or whether they teach an immutable, non-contingent necessity such that no different historical path could have been possible.

Romans 1:1--4 and prophetic promise

Romans 1:1--4 reads:

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Romans 1:1-4

Paul states that the gospel of God was "promised afore by his prophets." Those promises include the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (for example, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Psalm 69). Yet this does not demand a rigid, non-contingent reading.

Note that Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power dots by the resurrection from the dead." That is one form of powerful declaration, but not the only possible form:

• He was already confessed as "the Christ, the Son of the living God" by Peter before the cross.
• His miracles functioned as declarations of his identity.
• A national reception of him as King could have been another way in which he was publicly declared to be the Son of God with power.

The resurrection is the actual way in which God brought about the powerful declaration. But the concept of being declared the Son of God with power does not, in itself, prove that no other historical path was possible had Israel corporately received him.

Romans 1:1--4 therefore affirms prophetic promise and fulfillment, but does not, by itself, negate contingency in how the kingdom offer could have been received or rejected, nor in how the Son of God might have been publicly acclaimed.

Luke 24:44--48 and the word "behooved"

Luke 24:44--48 says:

"And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." Luke 24:44-48

Two key expressions need attention:

1. "All things must be fulfilled, which were written dots concerning me."
2. "Thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day."

"All things must be fulfilled"

The "things" written concerning Christ include his sufferings, his resurrection, and the proclamation of repentance and remission of sins. Yet even here, it is not trivial to list exhaustively which Old Testament texts are genuinely and unanimously recognized as messianic. Some passages are debated (for example, Isaiah 7:14). The very difficulty of precisely delimiting "all things dots written concerning me" suggests a measure of openness in how the prophetic material applies.

Furthermore, the preaching of "repentance and remission of sins dots among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" has not yet unfolded in a simple, linear, non-contingent way. Rightly dividing teachers would insist that the later revelation of the dispensation of grace introduces a pause and reconfiguration of that prophetic program. The kingdom proclamation of repentance for remission, beginning at Jerusalem, is not identical to the present gospel of grace. That observable interruption already shows contingency in how and when prophetic elements come to fulfillment.

The nuance of "behooved"

The verb "behooved" carries the sense of what is appropriate, fitting, or necessary in view of given circumstances. It is a moral and situational necessity, not merely a bare logical or metaphysical necessity.

• Given Israel's rejection of her Messiah.
• Given the prophetic witness that anticipated suffering and glory.
• Given the broader purposes of God for Jew and Gentile.

Under those actual conditions, "it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." That is, this path was the appropriate, fitting, and necessary course in light of the way history unfolded.

The language of "behooved" naturally allows for contingency: different human responses would have yielded different circumstances. In different circumstances, it would have "behooved" Christ to act in a different way consistent with the character and purposes of God. Yet in the world as it actually developed---with Israel's rejection and the cross---this was the necessary path.

Prophecy, fulfillment, and built-in contingency

These passages affirm that God spoke beforehand through the law, prophets, and psalms about Christ's sufferings and resurrection, and that these words must be fulfilled. At the same time:

• The content and scope of "all things written concerning me" is not always sharply fixed in our understanding.
• The term "behooved" fits a framework where God's response is appropriate to human choices and historical contingencies.
• The unfolding of the kingdom offer, its rejection, and the introduction of the dispensation of grace demonstrate that prophetic programs contain genuine contingency in their timing and manner of fulfillment.

Thus Romans 1:1--4 and Luke 24:44--48 are compatible with the thesis that even the prophecies related to the crucifixion operate within a genuinely contingent historical framework, rather than in a rigid determinism that makes alternative responses impossible in principle.

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