To fulfill scripture

Mark 14:49
Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.

I used to think that in regards to prophecy that the bible writers prophesied what they saw in the future, and that prophecy foretold events as they happen in the future.  This verse tells us differently, in that, it tells us that events happen TO fulfill what was prophesied.  Jesus said that his arrest and the circumstances surrounding it occurred SO THAT the scriptures could be fulfilled.  This is not unlike ANY declaration of the bible.  Jesus says to the disciples:

Mark 14:7
7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.

With a single word Jesus GUARANTEES that as long as this age continues poverty will ALWAYS plague the earth.  The fact that the world continues to plague with poverty is BECAUSE the words of Jesus MUST be fulfilled.  Again Jesus says:

Matthew 7:14
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Here we see that Jesus is prophesying about the amount of people who will come to the kingdom of God.  Look around you and you can see that true Christians are in the lowest minority.  There are only a FEW who find it; not because it is hard to find but BECAUSE Jesus said that 'ONLY A FEW FIND IT'.  So the reality has to match to fulfill the word spoken by Jesus.

The interesting fact about these verses is that they are negative.  These negative words spoken by Jesus has framed our reality today. We have poverty everywhere, and we preach a gospel that only a FEW will come to believe.  The real kick in the head is that since reality happens TO fulfill scripture then WHY didn't Jesus just speak positive words.  If Jesus had declared to the disciples that upon my death and resurrection poverty will end the world over then God would have made the world line up to this prophecy; instead we have a world always on the brink.

It easy to forget that Jesus IS the Word of God.  This is not just some title but it is the actual description of WHO/WHAT Jesus is.  Jesus was who God used to create the world:

John 1:3
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

This confirms the words of Jesus in Mark 14.  John tells us that ALL THINGS CAME INTO BEING THROUGH HIM AND APART FROM HIM NOTHING COMES INTO BEING.  This verse is the most powerful in ALL of the scriptures, because it tells you that apart from Jesus NOTHING comes into being.  All things therefore that occur (comes into being) are BY Jesus.  If we see wars arising on the earth it is ONLY because of Jesus that they come into being.  If we see men hating one another it is ONLY because it is declared in the word of GOD i.e. Jesus.  NOTHING MANIFESTS (comes into being) IN THIS WORLD APART FROM JESUS. Not the beautiful flower or bramble bush; not the softest breeze or the category 5 hurricane; not your best day ever or your worst day ever.  NOTHING comes into being apart from Jesus.

Our existence is a story spoken by God and created by Jesus.  All that occurs in this story has be spoken before the world came into being.  ALL that we do, in fact, ALL that anybody does was determined before Adam took his first breath.  ALL we are doing is living out the pattern of life that has been declared for us.  We cannot at ANY time make a turn to the left or the right, all we can do is travel the path that has been written for us from the foundation of the world.  To those whom God has chosen they will come to him and walk in righteousness, but to those who were not they are destined to make this world as dark as it can be so that the light of God could shine throughout the darkness.

John 1:4-5
 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.