|
The Messianic Prophecies of Jesus are the passages in the Old Testament which Christians believe are prophecies of the coming of Jesus, whom Christians call "the Christ" (or the Messiah). Christians believe there are over 400 messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, with several explained below. Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh, but not Old Testament, because it does not recognize the concept of a New Testament. ...
This article is about the religous people known as Christians. ...
This article refers to the topic of prophecy as the purported telling of future events or supernatural revelations. ...
Jesus (8–2 BC/BCE — 29–36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ...
In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִ××™×—Ö· Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew , Aramaic ) initially meant any person who was anointed by a prophet of God. ...
Commonly cited messianic prophecies
Below are explanations of several Messianic prophecies.
Isaiah 53 (The Suffering Servant) Isaiah 53 is probably the most famous example of a messianic prophecy claimed by Christians. Its text, which was written over 700 years before the birth of Jesus, speaks of a sinless man known as the "suffering servant" who will atone for the sins of his people. By his voluntary suffering, he will save sinners from the just punishment of God. Jesus fulfills this prophesy, though Jewish scholars argue that the suffering servant is actually Israel. The following verse taken from Isaiah 53:5 illustrates the Christian viewpoint. Isaiah 53, taken from the Book of Isaiah, is the last of the four Songs of the Suffering Servant, and tells the story of The Suffering Servant. The passage is famous for its interpretation by some Christians to be prophesy of the coming of Jesus, being written over 700 years...
- 5But he was pierced for our transgressions,
- he was crushed for our iniquities;
- the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
- and by his wounds we are healed.
Zechariah 12:10 “And they shall look upon him whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son; and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the firstborn.”
The Gospel explains how this old prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus’ crucifixion.
“So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with Jesus; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water… For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘Not a bone of him shall be broken.’ And again another scripture says, ‘They shall look on him whom they have pierced’” (John 19: 32-37).
Daniel 9:24-27 “Seventy weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a Most Holy. 25. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an Anointed, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26. And after the sixty-two weeks, an Anointed shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war; desolations are decreed. 27. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator” (Daniel 9: 24-27).
Verse 24. The “Most Holy” to be anointed is Jesus Christ.
Verse 25. The “Anointed” prince is Jesus Christ.
Verse 26. The “Anointed shall be cut off,” – i.e., Christ shall be slain. The “people of the prince who is to come” are the Romans. They shall destroy Jerusalem and the Temple (A.D. 70).
Verse 27. “And he shall make a strong covenant with many” – i.e., “…this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26: 28). The messiah will “cause sacrifice and offering to cease;” – i.e., by his sacrifice upon the cross, Jesus abolished all the sacrifices of the Torah.
Finally, verse 27 mentions the “horrible abomination” or “abomination of desolation,” to which Jesus refers at Matthew 24: 15. “So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel…” This abomination was the Roman army, which surrounded and destroyed Jerusalem.
Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”
Because Israel pre-figured Christ, the apostle Matthew applies this text from Hosea to the calling of the Christ child out of Egypt. “An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.’ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son’” (Matthew 2: 13-15).
Isaiah 9:1 “But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.”
The apostle Matthew refers to this, since Jesus began his public mission in Galilee.
“Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘The land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned’” (Matthew 4: 15-16).
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.”
The fulfilment of this prophecy is spoken of when the angel Gabriel declared to the Virgin Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus… For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1: 31, 37).
More explicitly, the birth of Jesus is connected directly with Isaiah’s prophecy, in the Gospel according to Matthew. “‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit…’ All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1: 20, 22-23).
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.”
The messiah will come in lowliness. See the apostle John’s account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. “And they cried out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on an ass’s colt!’” (John 12: 13-15)
Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrata, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”
Bethlehem-Ephrata is the tiny city and clan from which comes the ancient Davidic dynasty with its messianic King. Hence the debate recorded in the book of John: “Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’ So there was a division among the people over Jesus” (John 7: 41-43).
Yet the mother of Jesus gave birth to him in Bethlehem, as recorded at Luke 2: 1-7. That is why the Church of the Nativity is in Bethlehem; it was built on the site where Jesus was born.
“Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, king Herod inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel’” (Matthew 2: 4-6).
Psalm 2 “Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? 2. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his Anointed, saying, 3. ‘Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.’ 4. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision. 5. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6. ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’ 7. I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you. 8. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel’” (Psalm 2: 1-9).
Verse 2. “Anointed” – in Hebrew mashiah, “anointed”; in Greek christos, whence English Messiah and Christ.
Verse 7. The LORD is the messiah’s father.
As for kings and rulers setting themselves against the Christ, both Herod and Pontius Pilate set themselves against Jesus, whom God had anointed, according to Acts 4: 25-27.
Acts 13: 33 interprets Jesus’ rising from the dead as confirmation of verse 7 (“You are my son, today I have begotten you”).
Hebrews 1: 5 employs verse 7 in order to argue that Jesus is superior to the angels, i.e., Jesus is superior as a mediator between God and man. “For to what angel did God ever say, Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee?”
Psalm 110
Psalm 16
Psalm 34:20
Psalm 22
Psalm 69:21 "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" Christians believe that this verse refers to Jesus' time on the cross in which he was given a sponge soaked in vinegar to drink, as seen in Matthew 27:34, Mark 15:23, and John 19:29. Jewish scholars, however, argue that reading further in the Psalm reveals that the psalmist is referring to someone different altogether.
External links |
Feeds |
Contact