Old Testament Prophecies Point to Jesus of Nazareth

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Throughout the past 2,000 years, there have been about 40 cases of individuals claiming to be the Messiah, but only one is backed 100% by Scripture: Jesus of Nazareth. And only He has used those Scriptures to prove His claims and has fulfilled every prophecy in thorough detail.

Recorded hundreds of years before Jesus’ arrival, as many as 60 major prophecies concerning the Christ can be found in the Old Testament. Twenty-nine of these were fulfilled within the final 24 hours before Jesus’ crucifixion. Here is a sampling:

Jesus would be betrayed by a trusted friend. Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus was prophesied in Psalm 41:9: “Yes, My own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, has lifted up His heel against Me.” In John 13:18 and 26, Jesus explains this prophecy would be fulfilled by Judas Iscariot. He said that the disciple to whom He would give a piece of bread would be His betrayer: “He that eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me. He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.”

Jesus explained why He informed the disciples of this prophecy: “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, you may believe that I am He [the Christ]” (Jn 13:19). Jesus knew He was the long-awaited Christ, but wanted to ensure that His disciples, both then and throughout the centuries, would believe Him.

The price of the betrayal would be 30 pieces of silver. The silver paid to Judas for the betrayal of Jesus was prophesied in Zechariah 11:12: “So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.”

The fulfilment is found in Matthew 26:1-75 “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver” (Mt 26:14-15).

Jesus’ disciples would forsake Him. “Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered” (Zech. 13:7). Upon being arrested, the disciples (sheep) of Jesus (Shepherd) “all forsook Him, and fled” (Mark 14:50).

Jesus would not retaliate when being accused. “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth” (Isa. 53:7).

Matthew 27:12 indicates that “when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.” Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, also tried to get Jesus to answer His accusers: “Then said Pilate unto Him, Hear You not how many things they witness against You? And He answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly” (Mt 27:13-14).

Jesus would be executed with criminals. “And He was numbered with the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12). In Matthew 27:38 we find there “were…two thieves crucified with Him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.”

Jesus’ body would be pierced. The books of Psalms and Zechariah reveal that the Christ would be pierced. “They pierced My hands and My feet” (Psa. 22:16). “They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced” (Zech. 12:10). These were fulfilled when Jesus was crucified, His hands and feet nailed to a stake, and when a soldier pierced Jesus’ side. The apostle John explains part of the fulfilment:

“One of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). John was an eyewitness to this event, as indicated in Jn 19:35, and verifies this was fulfilment of the prophecy in Zechariah: “And again another scripture says, They shall look on Him whom they pierced” (John 19:37).

None of Jesus’ bones would be broken. “He keeps all His bones: not one of them is broken” (Psa. 34:20). The fulfilment is indicated in John 19:1-42 “Then came the soldiers, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they broke not His legs” (Jn 19:32-33).

Once again, John verifies that this prophecy was fulfilled: “For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken” (Jn 19:36).

Those witnessing Jesus’ crucifixion would cast lots for His clothing. “They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture” (Psa. 22:18). John testifies, in John 19:1-42, that this was fulfilled by Roman soldiers: “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says, They parted My raiment among them, and for My vesture they did cast lots” (Jn 19:23-24).

Jesus would be offered vinegar and gall. Matthew 27:34 indicates that Jesus was offered vinegar before dying on a stake. This was prophesied in Psalm 69:21, centuries beforehand: “They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.”

Various studies have been performed calculating the odds of these prophecies being randomly fulfilled by one individual. The odds of just eight being fulfilled in any one person are one chance in 1017, which equates to the number 1 with 17 zeros behind it!

To comprehend the enormity of this number, we can compare it to the probability of a blind man locating a marked silver dollar in a sea of silver dollars scattered across Texas two feet deep, each one stacked on top of the other! What about the probability of 48 of the 60 major prophecies on the Christ being fulfilled by one individual? 1 in 10157, or the number 1 with 157 zeros behind it! This is greater than the number of atoms in the entire known universe!

As you can see, though many still raise numerous objections and reject Him, many prophecies exist that point to one individual as having fulfilled the role of the Christ—the Jesus found in the New Testament.

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