When would the Messiah come?

• According to the Old Testament (OT), the Messiah would die 483 years from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Also, the city and temple would be destroyed.1,2

  • Old Testament: Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times. After those 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming prince will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed. (Daniel 9:25-26 CSB)

  • New Tesatment: Jesus fulfills by dying ~A.D. 33, 483 years after King Artaxerxes provided the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.1,2 Subsequently, the city and temple were destroyed in 70 A.D.2

What would be the genealogy from which He would be born?

• The Messiah would be born of the seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3), Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Numbers 24:17) and David’s throne (Isaiah 9:7).3 Below is one example – God’s promise to Abraham.

  • OT: I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3 CSB emphasis added)

  • NT: Jesus fulfills all of these – lineage documented in Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38.3

Would the Messiah be born of a virgin?

• According to the OT, the Messiah would be born of a virgin, clearly a divine event.

  • OT: Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 CSB emphasis added)

  • NT: Jesus’ mother Mary was a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to Him – Luke 1:26-31.

Where would the Messiah be born?

• According to the OT, the Messiah would be born in the Town of Bethlehem, which Jesus fulfills.3

  • OT: Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity. (Micah 5:2 CSB emphasis added)

  • NT: Jesus (who is God – origin from eternity) is born in Bethlehem – Luke 2:4-7.

Would a prophet come prior to the Messiah, preparing the way?

• According to the OT, a forerunner would come prior to the Messiah which was fulfilled by Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist.3

  • OT: A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. (Isaiah 40:3 CSB)

  • The last book of the OT prophecies about the forerunner coming (~400 years before Jesus):

    • OT: "See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire-see, He is coming," says the Lord of Hosts. (Malachi 3:1 CSB)

  • NT: In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea and saying, "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!" For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!" (Matthew 3:1-3 CSB)

What are a couple prophecies that Jesus pointed to as confirmation that He is the Messiah?

• When Jesus started His ministry, He pointed to this prophecy as fulfillment the Messiah arrived.

  • OT: The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners; (Isaiah 61:1 CSB)

  • NT: The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him. He began by saying to them, "Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled. (Luke 4:17-21 CSB emphasis added)

• When disciples of John the Baptist asked for confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus referenced a prophecy from Isaiah regarding healing the physically disabled.

  • OT: Say to the faint-hearted: "Be strong; do not fear! Here is your God; vengeance is coming. God's retribution is coming; He will save you." Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy, for water will gush in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; (Isaiah 35:4-6 CSB)

  • NT: When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent [a message] by his disciples and asked Him, "Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" Jesus replied to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. (Matthew 11:2-5 CSB)

How would the Messiah present Himself to Jerusalem?

• The triumphal entry is prophesied in the OT book of Zechariah and fulfilled by Jesus.3

  • OT: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 CSB)

  • NT: Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey – Mark 11:7-11.

What are the prophecies regarding Jesus’ crucifixion that He fulfills?

• Chapter 53 of the book of Isaiah prophecies about a suffering servant that would be punished in order to bring peace to humankind. It is a strong correlation to ministry and sacrifice of Jesus. Below is one specific verse:

  • OT: But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. (Isaiah 53:5 CSB)

  • NT: He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by His wounding you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24 CSB)

• Psalm 22 (written by David ~1000 B.C.) describes the Messiah suffering with characteristics similar to a crucifixion, including piercing hands and feet, centuries before such a punishment was even invented.

  • “…the first historical record of Crucifixion was about 519 BC when "Darius I, king of Persia, crucified 3,000 political opponents in Babylon.”4

  • OT: For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people look and stare at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. (Psalm 22:16-18 CSB)

  • NT: When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let's not tear it, but toss for it, to see who gets it." [They did this] to fulfill the Scripture that says: They divided My clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for My clothing. And this is what the soldiers did. (John 19:23-24 CSB)

The near sacrifice of Isaac foreshadowed the actual sacrifice of Jesus.

• In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his one and only son. God does not allow Abraham to actually do it (as God detests child sacrifice), but the test provides a prophecy that very closely mirrors the actual sacrifice of Jesus. Christian apologist, Ralph Muncaster provides a good summary of the parallel:5

  • Miracle birth: Given Sarah’s old age, Isaac’s birth was a miracle; Jesus birth was a miracle (born of a virgin).

  • Both considered one and only beloved son and to be sacrificed: Isaac (Genesis 22:2); Jesus (John 3:16).

  • Both carried the wood for their sacrifice: Isaac (Genesis 22:6); Jesus (John 19:17).

  • Dead for 3 days: Isaac dead in Abraham’s mind for 3 days (Genesis 22:4); Jesus was risen on day 3 (Matthew 27:63,64).

  • Substitute: Isaac’s substitute is a ram (Genesis 22:13); Jesus is mankind’s substitute (Titus 2:14).

An event that occurred with the Israelties, when they spoke against God and Moses and were pushished and then saved, foreshadowed Jesus' sacrifice.

• At God’s direction, Moses hung a snake on a pole to save people from poisonous snakes; At the Father’s direction, Jesus was hung on a cross to save people (verses below). Jesus actually referenced Moses’ event hundreds of years later regarding what He must do.6

  • Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake [image] and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover." So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered. (Numbers 21:8-9 CSB)

  • Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, (John 3:14 CSB emphasis added)