Messianic Prophecies:
What are They?
Introduction
Imagine that you are riding the subway in New York City and someone of the opposite sex gets on the train and sits down. That guy or girl is incredibly attractive in more ways than just their physical appearance. Their facial expressions and body language demonstrate there is something very special about this person. As you are staring at this person they notice and your eyes meet. Embarrassed you both look away but are drawn back to looking at one another several times. Each time is longer than the last. You begin to smile at each other. Providentially, you both are getting off at the same stop. Once outside in the subway station you begin talking. The conversation is so enjoyable that you agree to meet at a nearby coffee shop later in the day.
Every time you get together it is better than the last and your relationship gets more serious. One day, the person says, "Before our relationship gets deeper I need to tell you more about myself. I am a prince/princess of such and such a country. I'm here visiting New York City getting to know Americans so I might learn how our two countries could better communicate and become more friendly with each other." You might say, "Oh, that's a pretty funny joke. Your English is perfect." Your new friend responds, "I have studied and practiced so thank you for the complement. I have studied American culture and wanted to come to experience it first hand. I want you to know who I am so we can be real with each other." This person seems nice and sincere, but you wonder if they are really telling you the truth. You want to believe them but it all seems a little bizarre.
How would you determine if this person really is who they say they are? You would probably want to answer at least two questions. First, does this person act like the kind of person they claim they are? Second, what do other people say about them? As you have gotten to know your new friend your first impressions have proven to be true. There really is something special about them. Now some of their past words and actions make more sense if they are indeed royalty from another country. After some discussion you say, "I want to believe you but you must understand how difficult it is." They say, "Yes. Would it help if you come to our Embassy and meet my parents and other dignitaries to can vouch for my identity?" You nervously reply, "Sure."
Now, I know what your thinking, "Yeah, right and we would fall in love and would become royalty by marriage and we'd live happily ever after-just like in the movies." Hey, don't be so skeptical something like this can really happen. Something like this has happened.
It all began...about 2000 years ago. The King of Kings Himself came from Heaven to earth. He came with a mission and that was to repair the broken relationship mankind has with Him. He was incognito for the first 30 years of His life. Then, when the time was right, He began to tell other people who He was. A couple of things worked against His acceptance. The Jews of that time wanted political liberation from the oppressive Roman Empire. If you weren't a military liberator, they weren't interested in any other kind of a king. Jesus didn't look the part of a king either. He was born and raised in a peasant family in a little backwater town. In spite of these image problems He got some guys together and began showing them He was not like any other man they'd met.
Over a period of about four years He demonstrated that He was not just human; He was also divine. He healed and raised people from the dead. What He taught had the ring of truth. But how could they be sure He really was the promised Messiah, the King of the Jews? They asked the same questions we would ask of the person in our dream. But who would be able to vouch for His identity? The Old Testament prophets were the most credible sources they had. God had spoken through them hundreds of years earlier and amassed a large list of identifying characteristics for the promised King. So when it came to Jesus, the disciples had to determine if Jesus fulfilled those prophecies. You see, if Jesus had only risen from the dead (quite a feat itself) but not fulfilled those prophecies, they would have concluded He was a very special prophet but not the Messiah. Once they became convinced that He had, indeed, fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, they not only believed He was their Messiah but told everyone they could.
The Apostles used two themes to claim Jesus was the Messiah
There were two main themes the apostles used to persuade other Jews to believe Jesus was the Messiah: (1) that He fulfilled the Messianic prophecies and (2) that He rose from the dead (this was actually one of the prophecies). These two themes were their main defenses or reasons for their faith. And they are the main reason for my faith in Jesus, as well. Since we are rapidly approaching the day we celebrate as Jesus’ birthday I think it is fitting to look at how Jesus fulfilled those Messianic prophecies. Matthew and Luke begin their gospels show how the birth of Jesus fulfilled Messianic prophecies while Mark and John begin their gospels with the ministry of John the Baptist whose job it was to announce the arrival of the Messiah. His roll was also predicted in the Old Testament.
All four gospels begin by claiming Jesus fulfilled Messianic prophecy. All four gospels ended with claiming He had risen from the dead. Again, these were the two major themes the apostles used to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. Now that we’ve seen how important Messianic prophecies were to them we need to back up and lay some ground work before we go on. Let’s talk about the idea of the Messiah and what it meant to the Jews and to us. The term Messiah is a title. Let’s talk a little bit about why titles are important.
What is a Messiah Anyway?
Why are titles important? When you think of the title “Doctor” what do you think of knowledge, expertise, training, experience, wisdom, healer, etc? What about the title “General?” We usually think of experience, power, leadership, training, wisdom, etc. What about the title “President of the United States?” There are lots of other titles like “Your Honor,” “Lord and Lady,” “Senator,” “Reverend,” etc. We may not like the person who bears the title; we may not think the title is necessary; we may agree or disagree with the decisions of the person with the title, but the title is given for a reason. In essence, a title says that this person has learned a certain level of knowledge, has prepared for the job in accepted ways, passed certain tests and received a certain amount of experience and training. They have credentials that give them a certain amount of credibility and authority. Of course, if the person carries out his or her job in a manner unworthy of the title, that title can even be revoked. So the person must prove they are worthy of the title.
What about the title Messiah? What does the title Messiah mean? Messiah as a title means “the Anointed One.” To be anointed is to be consecrated for a very special purpose. The Greek word for anointed is Christos or Christ in the English. Christ is a title not Jesus’ last name. When we say Jesus Christ we are saying Jesus, the Anointed one. There are lots of Jesus’ but only one of them is the Anointed One. And using the translation “Christ” also signifies that He is the Anointed one, not just for the Jews but also for all Gentiles. So: Jesus Christ, Jesus, the Christ and Jesus, the Messiah all mean the same thing. The nation of Israel had prophets, priests and kings that represented different ways the nation was to relate to God. And each of these offices would, in turn, be fulfilled by God’s Anointed One who would be the ultimate prophet, the ultimate priest, and the ultimate king for Israel and all people. The prophets bore the message of God whether it was for the present, near future, or long-term future. Jesus, as the Messiah, was the last prophet, the ultimate prophet because He was the fulfillment of the prophecies. He was both the messenger and the message.
The priests made sacrifices on behalf of the people. They mediated God’s forgiveness, grace and mercy to the people. Jesus, as the Messiah, was not only the final mediator, he was the final sacrifice. The king was to lead the people in wisdom, power, love, justice and mercy. Jesus, as the Messiah leads His Church now and will more directly and tangibly lead us in the future. The title of Messiah, or Christ, is a very unique title for a very unique individual. Whereas there can be many Doctors, Generals, Presidents, Reverends and Rabbis there can only be one Messiah for the whole world. Only one Messiah can be the ultimate prophet, priest and king.
Of course, it follows that the title “Christian” means “one who is a follower of or identified with that Christ, the Anointed One.” So the title Christian takes on a very special meaning, a very special status, not because of who we are or what we have done but because of who we are identified with. It is a title we can be proud to bear rather than an embarrassment. What were some other titles for the Messiah in the Old Testament? (Some were: “Seed of Abraham,” “Son of David,” “Son of Man,” “My Son,” “My Servant,” “My Elect,” “The Branch,” “The Prince of Peace,” and “the Wonderful Counselor.”) Each one of these has a special connotation that describes what the Messiah would be like. All of what He would do and be like simply could not be expressed using one title.
Some Messianic Prophecies and their importance
I’d like us to look at some of the prophecies to see how they were important in identifying the Messiah. Specifically we’ll see how we can use Jesus’ fulfillment of these prophecies to confirm to ourselves and others we have every good reason to believe that Jesus is the Anointed One of God. The Messianic Prophecies were given during a span of time covering approximately 1000 years, that was from at least the time of Moses around 1440 BC and ending about 450 years before Jesus was born. These predictions were facts revealed by God to His prophets and others in Old Testament times about the promised Jewish Messiah. These would be the credentials He would have to have.
The first prophecy was given all the way back in Genesis 3:15. As soon as man sinned against God, thereby plunging the whole future human race into spiritual ruin, God promised to provide the solution which would make it possible for us to once again have peace and fellowship with Him. God cursed the serpent saying, “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.” This meant that Satan and his demons would cripple mankind but there would come a descendant of Eve who would strike Satan with a fatal blow, thereby delivering men and women from the curse of their sin. Over the next thousand years God provided more and more details about this Savior.
Why do people consult horoscopes, palm readers, psychics and so on? They do it to feel good about themselves and their lives. They think that by knowing what the future holds for them they’ll have more control over it. The purpose of predictive prophecy in Old Testament times was not to satisfy people’s curiosity about the future so they could feel like they had more control of their lives. Instead, predictive prophecy showed God’s sovereign guidance of history and His inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. It established that there is one true God and He is the God of the Jews as revealed in the Bible. That Jesus fulfilled the Messianic Prophecies proves that He was, indeed, the promised Messiah. It is difficult to count the number of Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament because the whole Old Testament and the history of Israel it records is itself prophetic in nature. It is one big prophecy. It describes how God worked step by step to prepare Israel for the Deliverer promised all the way back in Genesis. That said, some scholars have identified over 400 specific predictions. Many of these are rather obscure and you have to possess an extensive knowledge of the Old Testament and the history of the Jews. And I don’t pretend to know a lot about it. I wish I did, however, because it sheds so much light on Jesus and what the NT says about Him. However, there are several the gospel writers used that are so clear they could use them to show the Jews of their day that Jesus was the Messiah.
A little later we’ll discuss why the Jews as a whole then and since then did not and do not accept Jesus as the Messiah. In your notes you’ll find a chart of several of these specific prophecies. These were not all the ones the apostles appealed to but I’ve selected these for a specific reason. They represent concrete, observable actions and attributes which could be witnessed by people and thus verify if Jesus had fulfilled them or not. They are very useful to us today because most people are not familiar with Old Testament Judaism and it would take a lot of explaining in order to talk about the more abstract and theological prophesies. Remember these and all other Messianic prophecies were the credentials Jesus would have to have in order to prove He was the Messiah.
| Prophecy | Original | Fulfillment |
| A descendant of Abraham | Genesis 22:18 | Luke 3:34, Galatians 3:16 |
| A descendant of Isaac | Genesis 21:12 | Luke 3:34 |
| A descendant of Jacob | Numbers 24:17 | Luke 3:34 |
| A descendant of Judah | Genesis 49:10 | Luke 3:33 |
| A descendant of Jesse | Isaiah 11:1 | Luke 3:32 |
| A descendant of King David | Jeremiah 23:5 | Luke 3:31 |
| Born at Bethlehem | Micah 5:2 | Luke 2:4-7 |
| Presented with gifts by Magi from Persia | Psalm 72:10 | Matthew 2:1, 11 |
| Called Immanuel, which means "God with us." | Isaiah 7:14 | Matthew 1:23 |
| His ministry was to begin in Galilee | Isaiah 9:1 | Matthew 4:12-17 |
| Enters Jerusalem on a donkey | Zechariah 9:9 | Luke 19:35-37 |
| Betrayed by a friend | Psalm 41:9 | Matthew 26:49-50 |
| Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver | Zechariah 11:12 | Matthew 26:15 |
| Crucified | Psalm 22:16 | Luke 23:33 |
| Crucified with thieves | Isaiah 53:12 | Matthew 27:38 |
| Clothes were gambled for | Psalm 22:18 | John 19:23-24 |
| His bones would not be broken | Psalm 34:20 | John 19:33 |
| His side pierced | Zechariah 12:10 | John 19:34 |
| Buried in a rich man's tomb | Isaiah 53:9 | Matthew 27:57-69 |
| Resurrected from the dead | Psalm 16:10 | Acts 2:31, Matthew 28:6 |
| Ascended into heaven | Psalm 68:18a | Acts 1:9 |
Click here to see answers to the skeptics' questions, references and more resources.
Copyright 2005. Gary C. Burger and New Media Ministries. This article may be reproduced and distributed freely as long as it is done so in its entirety. If quoted it must be properly cited as a reference.
