So the Prophets Said, So He Has Done

 

 

 

Since the beginning of this world, God has pointed to the coming of Jesus the Messiah, who would be both Son of God and Son of Man. Consistently in Scripture the inspired writers of God’s Word made it clear; the people of our world need God’s intervention to overcome the problem of sin and death. So, God would provide a Savior who would live His life, a man, a teacher, a healer, a willing sacrifice, a victor over death, a triumphant Lord over evil, the Lord over all, confessed by all as Lord to the glory of God.

The record is clear. Many specific prophecies described the nature, the personality, the power, and the mission of the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled them all. From the day of His miraculous birth, throughout His life among the people in Israel, then in Egypt, and in Jerusalem—Jesus embodied the longings of those who wrote the Holy Scriptures under God’s inspiration. In His birth, in His childhood, in His Ministry, in His Death, and in His Resurrection, Jesus lived out for all to see, then and now, God ‘s eternal plan. This is the Gospel, God’s intention to bring redemption to every person in the world who  believes with their whole heart in Him.

Only those who ignore Scripture. Only those who ignore the Love of God and the sin of man. Only those who pick and choose their way through the Bible with their bias against God and His miracles all around us. Only those who prefer darkness over light. Only those who meticulously ignore the Truth. Only those who presume themselves to be arbiters over God. Only those who would choose a prejudiced so-called science over facts. Only the foolish who imagine themselves wiser than God. Only these continue in their insistence that Jesus was just a man. Let us examine the evidence:

The nations will be blessed through Abraham’s lineage:

Prophecy:
“I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“And you are heirs of the prophets
and of the covenant God made
with your fathers.
He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring
all peoples on earth will be blessed.
’When God raised up his servant,
he sent him first to you to bless you
by turning each of
you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:25–26).

Christ’s ministry will destroy the devil’s work:

Prophecy:
“And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“The one who does what is sinful
is of the devil, because the devil
has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God
appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).

Christ will be our Passover Lamb:

Prophecy:
“Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel
and said to them,
‘Go at once and select the animals
for your families and slaughter
the Passover lamb.
Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top
and on both sides of the doorframe.
None of you shall go out of the door
of your house until morning.
When the Lord goes through the land
to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood
on the top and sides of the doorframe
and will pass over that doorway,
and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance
for you and your descendants.
When you enter the land that the Lord will give you
as he promised, observe this ceremony.
And when your children ask you,
‘“What does this ceremony mean to you?”’ then tell them,
‘”this is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord,
who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt
and spared our homes when he
struck down the Egyptians.’”
Then the people bowed down and
worshiped (Exodus 12:21–27).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“Get rid of the old yeast,
so that you may be
a new unleavened batch—as you really are.
For Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The Messiah’s blood will be spilled for our atonement:

Prophecy:
“For the life of a creature is in the blood,
and I have given it to you
to make atonement for yourselves on the altar;
it is the blood that
makes atonement for one’s life” (Leviticus 17:11).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“This is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).

A virgin will give birth, and he will be called
Immanuel (God with us):

Prophecy:
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel”
(Isaiah 7

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God”
(Luke 1:35).

The Christ will be born in Bethlehem:

Prophecy:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them
where the Messiah was to be born.
‘In Bethlehem in Judea, ’they replied,
‘for this is what the prophet has written:
‘“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:4–6).

The Messiah will spend time in Egypt:

Prophecy:
“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11:1).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“So he [Joseph] got up, took the child and his mother
during the night and left for Egypt,
where he stayed until the death of Herod.
And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said
through the prophet:
‘Out of Egypt I called my son’” (Matthew 2:14–15).

Jesus would have a miraculous ministry:

Prophecy:
“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:5–6).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“When John, who was in prison,
heard about the deeds of the
Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him,
‘Are you the one who is
to come, or should we expect someone else?’
“Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John
what you hear and see: The blind receive sight,
the lame walk, those who have
leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
Blessed is anyone who does not stumble
on account of me’” (Matthew 11:2–6).

Jesus would be despised and rejected:

Prophecy:
“He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem”
(Isaiah 53:3).

Fulfillment by Jesus:

“All the people in the synagogue were furious
when they heard this.
They got up, drove him out of the town,
and took him to the brow of the hill
on which the town was built,
in order to throw him off the cliff” (Luke 4:28–29).

Jerusalem will rejoice as the Messiah
comes to her upon a donkey:

Prophecy:
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,
while others cut branches from the trees
and spread them on the road.
The crowds that went ahead of him
and those that followed shouted,
‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’
‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
“When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city
was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’” (Matthew 21:8–10)

Jesus will be lifted up, and everyone
who looks on Him will live:

Prophecy:
“So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake
and looked at the bronze snake, they lived”
(Numbers 21:9).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
‘“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,
so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
that everyone who believes may have
eternal life in him.’
“For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already
because they have not believed
in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:14–18).

They would pierce Christ’s hands and feet:

Prophecy:
“Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“These things happened
so that the scripture would be fulfilled:
‘Not one of his bones will be broken,
’and, as another scripture says,
‘They will look on the one they have pierced’”
(John 19:36–37).

The Messiah’s resurrection is predicted:

Prophecy:
“I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death”
(Psalm 118:17–18).

Fulfillment by Jesus:
“In their fright the women bowed down
with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living
among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!
Remember how he told you,
while he was still with you in Galilee:
“The Son of Man must be delivered
over to the hands of sinners, be crucified
and on the third day be raised again”’ (Luke 24:5–7).

How many prophecies from the Old Testament did Jesus fulfill? Various scholars count somewhere between three and four hundred. We do know the number is at least three hundred. Now, that’s way too many to be any kind of coincidence. God has always known what He is doing. His Word makes it absolutely clear. His plan has always been the redeeming presence of Jesus among us. Jesus was born. He grew up into manhood. He ministered. He taught mighty truths—each one related to the Gospel Truth—that He had come to live and die and rise again to defeat sin and death for people everywhere who lay down their lives and follow Him. So the God-inspired prophets said. So He has done. Praise the Lord! Amen!

(I gathered some of the background information for this post from the following on-line article: 55 Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus .11/17/2021. FOLLOWING JESUS, JESUS CHRIST, THE BIBLE)