PROPHECIES ABOUT THE MESSIAH FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT
- The prophet Micah, around 700 BC, wrote, "But you Bethlehem Ephrata, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Micah 5: 2).
- The prophet Isaiah (ca. 700 BC) prophesied, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
- Zechariah wrote in 500 BC, "Rejoice greatly, 0 Daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zech. 9: 9).
- In the tenth century BC David wrote, "Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me" (Psalms 41: 9).
- Isaiah further adds, "He was despised and rejected by men . .. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53: 3).
- Isaiah recounts, "He ... was numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 43)
- In Psalms we read, "They have pierced my hands and my feet" (22:16).
- Again from Psalms: "You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay" Isaiah (16:10).
PROPHECIES ABOUT THE MESSIAH FULFILLED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Gospel of Matthew records, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea" (2:1).
Matthew says, "His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:18).
In his gospel, John says, "They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!' Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it" (12:13-14).
In his gospel, Mark writes, "Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them" (14:10).
John notes, "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him" (John 1: 11).
Matthew tells us, "Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left" (Matt. 27: 38).
John writes, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side" (John 20: 27).
In Acts, the book describing the history of the early Church, it says, "You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead" (3:15).