This is the fifth and final post in a five-part series titled “Jesus in the Old Testament,” showing different ways Jesus appears in the Old Testament.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Luke 24:44
Before the Canon of the Bible closed, God spoke through prophets. These people had His Spirit upon them and acted as a mouthpiece for the Lord (Exodus 4:13). They often declared things that would happen in the future, and these predictions are called prophecies. Jesus appears throughout the Old Testament, in over 300 prophecies.
These prophecies give accounts of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth! A mathematician said the chances of one person fulfilling only 48 of these prophecies are 1 in 10 to the 157th power. Jesus fulfilled all 300! (mic drop)
Here are just a few of these prophecies grouped into six main categories and how He fulfilled them.
1. The first prophecy (Genesis 3:15)
The first prophecy about the Messiah appears as early as Genesis 3:15.
After the serpent deceived Eve, sin and death entered the world. But God in His grace announced He would send His Son to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring: he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The offspring of the woman is Jesus, who was born of a woman (Galatians 4:4-5). The serpent bruised Jesus’ heel when He was crucified (1 Peter 2:24). However, Jesus bruised the serpent’s head when He rose from the grave and conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
2. The birth of Jesus (Jeremiah 23:5-6, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2)
The Messiah would come from David’s lineage.
The prophet Jeremiah said, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)
Jesus fulfilled this prophecy as He was born through David’s line (Matthew 1:1, Luke 1:32-33)
The Messiah would be born from a virgin
The prophet Isaiah said, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
Jesus fulfilled it when Mary a virgin, gave birth to Him (Matthew 1:20-23, Luke 1:35)
The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem
The prophet Micah said, “But you O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2)
Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1, Luke 2:1-7)
3. The life of Jesus (Isaiah 35:5-6; 61:1, Zechariah 9:9)
The Messiah would perform miracles
Isaiah said, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:5-6).
Jesus repeatedly performed miracles during His ministry. And when John the Baptist asked if He was the Messiah, Jesus replied, “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” (Matthew 11:2-6)
The Messiah would set the captives free
Isaiah said, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” (Isaiah 61:1)
Jesus Himself said He fulfilled this prophecy (Luke 4:16-21).
The Messiah will have a triumphant entry in Jerusalem
The prophet Zechariah said, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9).
Jesus fulfilled this prophecy when He rode on a donkey into Jerusalem with shouts of praise (Matthew 21:8-11, Luke 19:35-37, John 12:12-15).
4. The sufferings of Jesus (Zechariah 11:12-13, Isaiah 53:1-3, Psalm 22:7-8)
The Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver
Zechariah said, “Then I said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.’ And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So, I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.” (Zechariah 11:12-13).
Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16; 27:3-10).
The Messiah would be rejected by His people
Isaiah said, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:1-3).
The Jews rejected Jesus and even conspired to kill Him (John 1:10-11, John 12:37-38, Matthew 26:3-4)
The Messiah would be mocked
King David was not a prophet, but he had the Spirit of the Lord and prophetically said, “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” (Psalm 22:7-8)
The crowd, Herod, and his soldiers mocked and ridiculed Jesus with the same language. (Matthew 27:39-40, Luke 23:11; 35)
5. The death of Jesus (Psalm 22:16-17, Isaiah 53:5-6; 9)
The Messiah would be crucified
David said, “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones; they stare and gloat over me.” (Psalm 22:16-17)
Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced when the soldiers nailed Him to the cross (Matthew 27:31, John 19:15-16), and unlike other crucifixions, His bones remained intact (John 19:33-36)
The Messiah would die for our sins
Isaiah said, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6).
Jesus died for the sins of the world (John 1:29, 1 Peter 2:24)
The Messiah would be buried in a rich man’s tomb
Isaiah said. “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death.” (Isaiah 53:9).
After Jesus died, Joseph, a wealthy disciple, took Jesus’ body and laid Him in his new tomb (Matthew 27:57-60).
6. The resurrection of Jesus (Psalm 16:10; 110:1, 1 Corinthians 15:54)
The Messiah would not remain dead
David said, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your holy one see corruption.” (Psalm 16:10
Jesus rose from the grave! (Matthew 28:5-6, Mark 16:6). Peter and Paul even quoted this Psalm about the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:27-31; 13:35-37)
The Messiah would sit the right hand of God
David said, “The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1).
When Jesus resurrected, He ascended and sat down at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19, Hebrews 10:12-13)
The Messiah would swallow up death forever
Isaiah said, “And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:7-8)
Jesus died on a mountain (Luke 23:33), tore down the veil (Matthew 27:51), and conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:54).
7. The return and reign of Jesus
Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies concerning Him in the Old Testament. However, there are some prophecies about the Messiah’s reign that Jesus will entirely fulfill when He returns.
For example, Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
When Jesus comes again (Revelation 22:7; 12; 24), He will establish His kingdom forever, judge the world, and bring world peace. On that day, He will “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4).
Christians today still hope for the return of Jesus, who is coming soon to reign on the throne of David as it is written in the Word.
The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed
Saint Augustine
This concludes the series “Jesus in the Old Testament.” Throughout these series, we have seen Jesus in a variety of ways, such as Christophanies, types, illustrations, symbols, and prophecies. And with so many options, it is not a stretch to say Jesus is on every page of the Bible, including the Old Testament.
I hope this series encouraged you not to unhitch from the Old Testament but dig deeper and discover the fantastic ways Jesus appears in it. And may God open the Scriptures for you and cause your heart to burn within you.
