Soon after the resurrection of the Lord, two of His disciples were on the road to Emmaus. As they walked, they talked about all the things that had happened to Jesus and the mystery of the empty tomb. Then Jesus Himself joined them. The scripture says, “…their eyes were restrained, so they did not know Him” (Luke 24:16).
Jesus continued with them on their journey incognito. After asking a few questions, He began to reveal His true identity from Scripture. Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
Rather than reveal Himself to them in human form, which He did later, He chose to use the Old Testament, the same one we have today, to prove His identity. If that method was helpful for them then, it will be helpful for us now.
By looking at Old Testament prophecies that were written hundreds of years before the events actually occurred, we can see the coming of Jesus from His birth to His resurrection, foretold by the prophets.
By leaving these prophetic clues throughout the Bible God is allowing us to look back and see how the coming of the Lord was divinely planned, promised, and put in motion long before it happened.
The conclusion being that Jesus is who He said He was, and He accomplished what He set out to accomplish. Nothing was left to chance.
The Apostle Paul used this same method when he met with the Jewish leaders in Rome: “So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23).
Nothing in the history of the world has been better planned, orchestrated, and executed than the coming of Lord and His earthly ministry. The effect of seeing so many of the events of His life foretold, centuries before they happened, produces a faith in Jesus and His redemptive work that is unshakable.
If you’re interested in more teaching along this line, I have an audio series titled “Jesus: The Messiah,” which goes into further detail. Let’s take time to look at a few of these prophecies.
The very first prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus was given in the garden of Eden by God Himself. After Adam’s sin, God announced to the serpent (Satan) in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
From the very beginning, God made it known that the answer was on the way. The Seed of the woman (a human) was coming to bruise the head of Satan. Not only was Jesus the Seed of the woman, He was also the Son of God, which is revealed in our next prophecy: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
In order to be the Son of man and the Son of God, Jesus had to be born of a virgin. This too is foretold in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
In Micah we find the location of His miraculous virgin birth: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
We know now that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but this was not by choice. Joseph and Mary lived in the city of Nazareth and most certainly would have wanted their baby to be born at home. But due to a mandatory census, they were forced to be in Bethlehem, over 90 miles away, at the time of Jesus’ birth. The command that the people be registered in their own city was issued by Caesar himself. This detail was not overlooked as Micah prophesied the exact location of Jesus’ birth over 700 years before it happened.
After the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph were warned by an angel to move to Egypt for a time because Herod wanted to kill Him. Soon after the death of Herod, Matthew 2:19-21 says, “…an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.’ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.”
This seemingly insignificant detour to Egypt and back was foretold in Scripture 750 years earlier by the prophet Hosea: “…out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11:1).
In the last book of the Old Testament, just before the prophets went silent for 400 years, the ministry of John the Baptist is announced in Malachi 3:1, which says, “I send my messenger before your face.”
When Jesus made His final journey to Jerusalem before His crucifixion, or His “triumphal entry,” as it has been called, He did not ride into the city on a war horse with an army; He rode on a donkey. “They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them” (Matthew 21:7).
The prophet Zechariah foretold this event over 500 years earlier: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).
Judas, Jesus’ betrayer, is mentioned 1000 years before he was born: “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9).
Even the price that was paid to Judas for betraying his Master was recorded: “…So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver” (Zechariah 11:12).
Judas later threw the money at the feet of the chief priests in the temple, and it was used to buy the potter’s field—a plot of land in which to bury strangers (Matthew 27:5-10).
The people involved here were not trying to fulfill prophecy, yet their actions were foretold in incredible detail. Zechariah 11:13 says, “And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.”
There are prophecies that describe the sufferings of Jesus in the book of Isaiah, which are so vivid, it seems as if Isaiah was an eyewitness. Let’s look at a few of these and include references to their fulfillment in the New Testament.
“I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). These actual events are recorded in Matthew 27:26-31.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Matthew 26:56 says, “…Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.”
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). Matthew 27:14 says, “But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.”
“And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth” (Isaiah 53:9). Matthew 27:57 says, “Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.” And, “When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed” (Matthew 27:59-60).
Next is the most important event in the history of the world—Jesus’ resurrection. This too is foretold in the Old Testament: “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:10).
Finally, the Lord’s ascension is also included. Luke records the actual event as an eyewitness in Luke 24:50-51: “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.”
King David prophesied of His ascension and seating at the right hand of God 1000 years earlier: “You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, even from the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell there” (Psalm 68:18).
Psalm 110:1 says, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.’”
God knows the future better than we know the past, and He went on record by giving us the answers ahead of time without giving away the secret. Now that the veil has been removed, it is exciting to uncover these truths hidden in Scripture thousands of years ago, which confirm what we already know—Jesus is the Messiah and the Savior of the world.
For more teaching on this subject, including detailed prophecies and additional history, check out the audio series, “Jesus: The Messiah” on the product page at gregfritz.org.