Prophecies and Jesus

Hiya Everyone!

It's been a crazy couple of months recently, what with College and studies and Winter Break. :)

But I'm back and I'm hoping that this blog thing can actually be back in my normal routine. :) 

Anyhow - here's to a new year and a new me, and many happy returns to all you awesome people!

To start off this new year right, I thought that I would include in this post a paper that I wrote my last month of Fall Term at Ecola Bible College. For the first time in my life I had to write about several major prophecies from the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime in the New Testament. I confess, that although I already knew most of them, I had never done the research myself! I spent some days diving deep into scripture until early morning clambered over the hills, and I cannot even begin to tell you firsthand the joys and rich knowledge I gained by this assignment! 

I was in a sense proving to myself that Jesus was the Son of God, the one destined to save the world. I fell more deeply in love with the most amazing Man I have ever known and it developed a passion in me to learn more of Him. 

I do not think that we Christians realize just how important it is for us to know the prophecies about Jesus Christ and how in His life he was the fulfillment of them. It is the most essential foundation for our belief in Him, and I challenge anyone reading this to go out there, and try your hand at this challenge yourself, and please let me know how it went! I would love to read your experiences in the comments below. :) 

Anyhow - without furthur ado, here is first an introduction and then let's get to the meat of things! :) 

- Lindsay 

Prophecies that Jesus Fulfilled Introduction:

~~

Jesus Christ, the Risen King, the Son of God and Man, the prophesied Redeemer come to the world to release us from the chains of sin and return us to the place of intimacy we once had with God; the Humble Servant and Suffering Saviour, the Prince of Peace. He was the promised Messiah, the promised King, the promised Slayer of Sin for the world then and today, and his coming was prophesied and proclaimed from days of old.

In the following pages, I would like to present to you just a handful of the prophecies that Jesus the Christ fulfilled, in order to prove that He was the King, the Promised Messiah. The odds of His rising are impossible with man, but with God, the ordainer of all that is, was, and will ever be, Jesus Christ was and is the ultimate answer to the world, and He is the fulfillment of all the prophets spoke of. As we know of today, there are said to be over 365 separate prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime. Now that is absolutely amazing! Jesus himself said to some of his disciples after His resurrection the following…

“How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said!  Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?” And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets…. They said to each other, “Wasn’t it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

(Luke 24:25-27 NIV, Luke 24:32 NIV)

I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to have Jesus explain all of history and scripture from the Old Testament to us today, showing us every instance where we could have seen His coming! I cannot wait until Heaven to hear Him explain it all to us! There will no doubt be so much more than these 11 examples, or even 365.

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.” Psalm 139:17-18

Jesus was, and is the only Messiah, the Saviour of the world!

11 Prophecies that Jesus Christ Fulfilled


1. Jesus was Preceded by a Forerunner.

“A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.””  Isaiah 40:3-5 *

In Isaiah 40, the prophet said that the there would be a voice calling in preparation of the coming of the ‘Lord.” He would proclaim His coming, and that the “Lord will be revealed,” and that “all flesh will see it together,” meaning that man will see the promised Messiah at last.

In the book of Luke, a priest called Zacharias is told by an angel of God that He would be given a son through His barren and aged wife Elizabeth. The angel says to Zacharias that, “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Elizabeth conceives not long after and gives birth to a son whom they name “John.” Later on in Luke 3:2, it says that the young man hears the “word of God” while in the wilderness, and goes out into the district around the Jordan river, preaching baptism, repentance, and the coming of, “One mightier than I.”

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”  Matthew 3:11

Not long after these words were spoken, Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to the Jordan river, wanting to be baptized by John. John does so, after Jesus assures him saying, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matt. 3:15)

*(Note: The prophet** Isaiah lived in Jerusalem in the eighth century B.C. The book of Isaiah is one of the four major prophetic books in the Old Testament, along with Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. In the book of Isaiah, which was written around 735 B.C., there are many prophecies made by him about the coming Messiah and characteristics of His coming that would be signs to the people of Judah to watch for. Most prophecies that you will find about the Messiah in the Old Testament are from the words of the prophet Isaiah.)

**(Note 2: A prophet in those days was a messenger from God sent on often dangerous missions to proclaim God’s judgement or blessing, and they were always calling people to repent and return to God. Prophets would also assure the people they were witnessing to of God’s love and purpose for them, and of the consequence of their actions if they did not listen.)

2. Jesus was born of a Virgin.

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”  Isaiah 7:14

God promised by the prophet Isaiah that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, a physically impossible feat, and that his name would be “Immanuel,” which is translated as “God with us.”

Who would have guessed that Mary, a young woman who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter, would be called by God through the voice of an angel to bear a son. At first Mary did not believe this, and questioned the angel because she had never slept with a man in her life! But the angel reminds her that “Nothing is impossible with God,” (vs. 37) and later on in Luke 2:7 Mary gives birth to Jesus.

“The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

Luke 1:30-35

3. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephratha, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2

Micah, a prophet who was himself alive at the same time as Isaiah, prophesied that a ruler would arise from Bethlehem, a son of Judah. This One would rule Israel, and he would be a messenger for God’s purpose.

During the time of Herod, King of Jerusalem, Caesar Augustus who was Emperor at the time ordered that there be a census, or counting, of all the peoples of “the earth.” (Luke 1:2) So Joseph took Mary, who was pregnant at the time with Jesus, to travel to his hometown of Bethlehem in the City of David, because Joseph was of the house and family of David. When they arrived, they found shelter in a barn, and Mary gave birth to Jesus there, as prophesied by Micah the prophet.

“Joseph also went up from Galilee. From the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary,...... While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son;” Luke 2:4-7

4. Jesus was a Son of David, and Heir to the Throne of Jerusalem.

“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me.”   2 Samuel 7:12

Samuel the prophet spoke the word of the Lord to King David, telling David that after his death God will raise another up in his place, who will establish an everlasting kingdom and be a son to God and an heir of David’s throne. After the throne of David ended with the capture of Jeconiah by the King of Babylon in the 6th century B.C., and after King Jeconiah’s death, the throne lay unclaimed and cursed until the prophesied king of old was born in Bethlehem, the City of David, that is, Jesus.  

“Now Yeshua Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi….the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,…the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse” (Luke 3:23-31). Jesus inherited the rights to the throne of David from not just his adopted father Joseph’s line, but also from his mother Mary’s lineage. Mary herself was of the line of David as well, stemming from David’s son Nathan by Bathsheba. Jesus was now a part of all three claims to royalty. His mother Mary was of the line of David, his adopted father Joseph was a direct descendant of David by his son Solomon, and His Father Yahweh was King of Heaven, the Ultimate Throne.

Besides this, in Matthew 2, wise men from the East traveled all the way to Jerusalem in search of the Messiah, as they had seen a sign, a star, and had come to worship and pay respects to the prophesied heir. They are met with false joy by Herod, King of Jerusalem at the time, and are questioned about the coming king. The wise men, or magi, are allowed to find the child, and travel to nearby Bethlehem, where they present gifts of Gold, Spices, and Myrrh to the young boy Jesus. Not long after, they mysteriously depart to their own land. I don’t know about you, but this seems to me to be the most kingly way for the Son of David, Jesus, to begin His reign!

5. Jesus was Brought out of Egypt as a Child.

“When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.” Hosea 11:1

Hosea, a man of woes and sorrows, was a prophet who called Israel back to God through numerous cries. Hosea speaks the word of the Lord to the Jews telling them that God will call His Son out of Egypt, and we see this prophecy fulfilled in the unique circumstances after Jesus’ birth. In Matthew 2, wise men come from the east came to find him, as previously mentioned. Not long after, Herod who was King of Jerusalem at the time, felt threatened by this newborn “heir.” So he ordered that all the young boys from infancy to two years of age in the town of Bethlehem were to be killed. But Joseph was warned in a dream by an angel to flee from the city with Jesus and Mary to Egypt, so that the child would live. Sometime later after the death of Herod, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph again in a dream while he was in Egypt saying, “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” Matthew 2:20

6. Jesus was Rejected by His Own People.

“Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal His saving power? He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way when He went by. He was despised, and we did not care.” Isaiah 53:1-3

Jesus was rejected by his own hometown, his people, and even by the leaders of the land. Even at the beginning of His ministry when he started teaching and in synagogues throughout Galilee, and those who heard him praised him. (Luke 3:15) But when Jesus came to Nazareth and entered the synagogue there in his own hometown to read on the Sabbath, he was received well at first, but still they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” Jesus then read to them from the book of Isaiah. The passage is as follows: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Isaiah 61:1) (Luke 4:18-19) Jesus went on to tell them that He was the fulfillment of that prophecy, the anointed one. “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown…..” Sometime later he was chased out the city of Nazareth to the edge of a cliff, where He miraculously escaped from their midst unharmed.

“But although the world was made through Him, the world didn’t recognize Him when He came. Even in His own land and among His own people, He was not accepted.” John 1:10-11

7. Jesus Entered Jerusalem on a Donkey

“Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey – even on a donkey’s colt.”  Zechariah 9:9

Many were mistaken in the city of Jerusalem that Jesus was a King who would rescue them from their physical enemies, the Romans. So when Jesus entered on the back of a donkey, humble and gentle as he entered the city, they no doubt thought it a strange way for a conquering king to enter His kingdom. They did not understand that his reign was not over physical principalities, but over the hearts and souls of men. However, they waved palm branches over him, (The physical symbol of the Zealots, a group of rebels bent on ridding Jerusalem of the Romans) and sung out the war cry of the Zealots as welcome; “Hosannah!” Amidst their cries, Jesus calmly entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, as prophesied by Zechariah; Jesus being the righteous and victorious, but humble King.

“Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around Him were shouting, ‘Praise God for the Son of David! Bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!’ The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as He entered. ‘Who is this?’ they asked. And the crowds replied, ‘It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’”  Matthew 21:8-11

8. Jesus Was Sold for Thirty Pieces of Silver.

“And I said unto them, If you think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver.” Zechariah 11:12

The coming Messiah was to be sold for a price, and, more particularly, with thirty pieces of silver. The detail in scripture amazes me! We see this happening exactly in Matthew 26, when Judas who was one of Jesus’ disciples, betrayed his Master for exactly thirty pieces of shiny silver. Absolutely amazing.

“Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.” Matthew 26:14-16

9. Jesus Suffered and was Pierced.

“Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as man were astonished at you, My people, so His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men…..For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; but the lord caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Isaiah 52:13-14, 53:1-6

Jesus suffered much at the hands of man. After being convicted and condemned by the Pharisees and in Pilate’s court, Jesus was taken below and beaten by soldiers.

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, the put it on hIs head, and a reed in HIs right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.” Matthew 27:27-30

10. Jesus was the Physical Representation of the Lamb of God, the Ultimate Sacrifice.

“From prison and trial they led Him away to His death. But who among the people realized that He was dying for their sins – that He was suffering their punishment?”  Isaiah 53:8

““He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth. From prison and trial they led Him away to His death.” Isaiah 53:7-8

“But He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the guilt and sins of us all. From prison and trial they led Him away to His death. But who among the people realized that He was dying for their sins – that He was suffering their punishment? I will give Him the honors of One who is mighty and great, because He exposed Himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.”  Isaiah 53:5-6, 8, 12

In Exodus God called the children of Israel to wipe their doorposts with the blood of a lamb the night of Passover. God was going to protect them from the death penalty He would inflict on the sinful and faithless, stubborn Egyptians. The first born child of every household in Egypt died that night. But the Israelites were spared. God required a blood-offering as the propitiation of sin in the Old Testament. A spotless Lamb to be offered up for the sins of a Nation came from heaven in the form of a man, Jesus. He was likened to an unblemished offering, for He was without sin. He was tempted, as in Matthew 4, but He had to be sinless in order to be the perfect offering so that sins’ payment and death penalty would pass from believers onto His back.

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

11. Jesus Died on the Cross and Rose Again.

“For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol (Hell); Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” Psalm 16:10

David said in the Psalms that God’s Holy One would be unable to decay, or die.

In Matthew chapter 27, Jesus was taken after His trial to a hill, where he was nailed to a wooden cross and the cross was staked in the ground so that it would stand upright, causing a slow and miserable death to the person thereon placed. Jesus hung there for a period of time, and then allowed himself to suffocate to death by dropping his head and releasing His spirit. “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” (Matt. 27:50)

A moment later, the Jews demanded that the bodies of Jesus and the two other crucified criminals be taken down, as they did not want them hanging there on the Sabbath, which was then next day. “Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you also may believe.” John 19:31-35

John, the apostle of Jesus, was present at Jesus’ death, which is why he mentions at the end of the verse that his testimony is true. He has a first-hand account of Jesus’ death.

Later on, Jesus is buried in a tomb, with a large stone rolled over the entrance. The stone was then sealed and two guards were place by it’s entrance so that no one could steal the body and say that it had risen to life. This was because Jesus himself had prophesied several times that He would rise from the dead, and come back to life after three days.

“Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” John 2:19-22

After a few days, Mary Magdalene, a follower of Jesus, came to the tomb early in the morning to embalm his body. But  when she came to the tomb she found that the guards were gone, the seal had been broken, and the stone was rolled away from the entrance. In her shock, she ran to Peter who was one of Jesus’ disciples to tell him what had happened. Sometime after she returned to the tomb and began to weep, fearing that His body had been stolen. She went to the entrance and looked into the tomb, and saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been laid before. “Then the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He has been raised from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell His disciples He has been raised from the dead, and He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. Remember, I have told you.’” Matthew 28:5-7

Jesus later on appears to her at the tomb and assures He is alive. “Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (Which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” (John 20:16-17)

He later on appears to the other disciples, and shows them the scars of his crucifixion, amazing them with His words and sight.

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”

John 21:25

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well everyone, thanks for reading this and I hope that you all have a fantastic January and the best new year ever!

In God's Love,

- "L"