6 Things You Didn't Know About the Prophecies of Jesus

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About 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to earth in a humble manner. The Savior of the world and God of all creation put on humanity to die for our sins and conquer death, giving the hope of salvation to all who turn from their sin and believe in Him. The Old Testament is filled with passages about the Messiah – all prophecies of Jesus Christ fulfilled. One example is the crucifixion of Jesus which was foretold in Psalm 22:16-18 approximately 1,000 years before Christ was born, long before this method of execution was even practiced. A number of Bible scholars suggest there are more than 300 prophetic Scriptures completed in the life of Jesus. After the resurrection, preachers of the New Testament church collectively declared that Jesus Christ was the Messiah by divine appointment. The Bible tells us, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). There are a number of messianic predictions clearly fulfilled in Jesus Christ along with supporting references from the Old and New Testament. Here are six things you didn’t know about the prophecies of Jesus.

The Very First Prophecy of Jesus Came in Genesis

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The very first prophecy of Jesus came in Genesis 3:15 after the fall of man, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” This was a prophecy given directly to Satan after He caused Adam and Eve to sin. The reference “He shall bruise your head” is where Jesus conquered Satan at Calvary and made possible the redemption of mankind. It occurs immediately after the moral fall. The reason the very first messianic prophecy occurs within the context of the fall is because if sin had not entered the world, there would never have been a need for a redeeming Messiah.

Prophets Foretold Details of His Birth

For hundreds of years, from the time of Moses through the time of Malachi, the prophets of the Old Testament foretold details about the bloodline, birth, life, mission, death, resurrection and return of the Messiah. The writing of the Old Testament spanned as many as a thousand years and was completed a few centuries before the time of Jesus. In Jeremiah 23:3-6, the prophet indicated that the Messiah would appear sometime after Jews returned from exile, which was about 25000 years ago. And in Daniel 9:24-27, Daniel indicated that the Messiah would appear before the second Temple would be destroyed, which happened about 1900 years ago. The birth of Christ occurred during that interval, after many Jews had returned from exile and before the second Temple was destroyed by the Romans.

The Clearest Prophecy About Jesus is the 53rd Chapter of Isaiah

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The clearest prophecy about Jesus is likely the entire 53rd chapter of Isaiah. In chapter 53 of the book that bears His name, Isaiah unveils God’s message of salvation of the world and in so doing, He reveals the identity of the Messiah. Verses 3-7 tell us that He was despised and rejected by men. They also tell us that He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we didn’t esteem Him. The Bible tells us, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteem Him stricken, smitten by God” (Isaiah 53:4). Because of Jesus, a multitude throughout the ages will be counted as righteous. Because of the fulfilled prophecy of Isaiah 53, a human race that once lived in darkness can now move forward with hope.

Prophets Foretold Details of His Nature

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The Old Testament also has prophecies about Jesus’ true nature, that He would be able to die for the sins of others and yet also be eternal. For example, the prophet Isaiah wrote in the 53rd chapter of the Old Testament book of Isaiah that the Messiah would die for the sins of others, indicating that the Messiah would be mortal. Isaiah also wrote in chapter 9 that the Messiah would be referred to as God and as being eternal. In regards to His nature, Jesus is both man and God, fully human and yet fully God – God incarnate as a human. As God, He is eternal. As a man, He was mortal and died by death on a cross, and was later resurrected.

An Important Ceremony Stopped Working after His Death

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Around the year that Jesus was crucified, an important ceremony at the Temple in Jerusalem is said to have stopped working, according to a Judaic collection of writings called the Talmud. Jesus was crucified sometime between 27 and 32 AD, according to various scholars. That ceremony, called Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement, involved the yearly sacrifice of animals a symbolic and temporary atonement for the sins of people. If the sacrifice was successful, meaning if God accepted it, certain events were to take place, such as a red piece of wool turning white and the gates of the Temple opening by themselves. According to the Talmud, Judaism’s yearly atonement ceremony stopped working properly in or about the year 30 AD. That would correspond to either the same year, or about the same year, that Christians believe Jesus became the permanent atonement for sin.