How do we know that Jesus is the promised Messiah?



The most famous passages concerning the coming of the Messiah are found in the books of Deuteronomy and Daniel.



Moses prophesied;



DEUTERONOMY 18:15-22


15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,


16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’


17 “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good.


18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.


19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.


20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’


21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’—


22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.


Note several things here.



First, God promised to raise up a Prophet who would be like Moses. Just as God gave Moses the Torah (Law) to give to the people of Israel, even so would God raise another who would give His Law (the New Testament) to the people of Israel.




The fact that God says He will put His words in the mouth of this prophet shows that what the prophet speaks will be different from the Laws given in the Torah. If the prophet were to merely reiterate the Law of Moses, why would there need to be such a prophet, when God Himself had commanded that the Law be repeated among the people continually?


 

God sent prophets to Israel and Judah during the times of apostasy among both houses, and they preached the Law to the people. Yet God makes a clear distinction concerning this prophet, namely that anyone who does not listen to this prophet, God would have an accounting (judgment) of them personally.



Also, God states that if what a prophet prophesies fails to come to pass, he is to be ignored. Jesus prophesied of His death, the manner of His death, His resurrection, the destruction of Jerusalem to name a few, and history bears out that His prophecies did indeed come to pass.



And for those who might say that the Gospels were written after all of this happened, to make it seem as if Jesus was right, NONE of the books of the New Covenant (New Testament) mention the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. which if the writers had heard of or witnessed they surely would have written about the event.



Why is there no New Testament record of the event? Because all of the writers of the New Testament were dead before Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Jews scattered to the corners of the Earth. Therefore all of the books of the New Testament (including the book of Revelation) were finished before 70 A.D.



Therefore Jesus was correct in everything He had prophesied, including His death and resurrection which will be dealt with later in this study.

The prophet Daniel was also told concerning the advent of the Messiah;



DANIEL 9:1-27


1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—


2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.



3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.


4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,


5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.


6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.


7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.


8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.


9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.


10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.


11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.


12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.


13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.


14 Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.


15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!


16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.


17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.


18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.


19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”


20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God,


21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.


22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.


23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:


24 “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.


25 “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.


26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.


27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”



Note that in verse 13, Daniel understood that the terrible curses of Moses spoken in Deuteronomy (chapter 28, verses 15 - 68) had taken hold of Israel as promised and that Jerusalem and Judah were laid waste because of the sins of the people. God had used the Babylonians as the rod of His anger, and He had shattered the whole land and the people within it.

Hold that thought for a while.


Now, let's take a look at the 70 years that Daniel spoke of concerning the prophecy of Jeremiah to understand the background of Daniel's prayer, and then we'll take a close look at the "70 weeks" that were spoke of to Daniel by the angel Gabriel.



Jerusalem had been destroyed completely by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., and it's inhabitants had been deported as conquered slaves to Babylon in fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy of;



JEREMIAH 25:1-13


1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),


2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:


3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the Lord has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened.


4 And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.


5 They said, ‘Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever.


6 Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’



7 Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord, “that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.


8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words,


9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.


10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.


11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.


12 ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation.


13 So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations.



God had finally had enough of Judah ignoring His pleas for them to repent. In His fury He declared that Jerusalem and all of Judah would be destroyed by the Babylonians, and would remain desolate for 70 years, in fulfillment of His dire warning that he gave to Israel through Moses in Leviticus;


LEVITICUS 26:14-35


14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,


15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,


16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.


17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.



18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.


19 I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.


20 And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.


21 ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.


22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.


23 ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me,


24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.


25 And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.


26 When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.


27 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,


28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.


29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.


30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you.


31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.


32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.


33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.



34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.


35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest— for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.



Note that Jeremiah had prophesied and had called for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah to repent for over 40 years, and they had not listened. God then fulfilled His promise in verse 24 above to punish them seven times for their sins, and in verse 34 that the land would enjoy it's Sabbaths while Israel languished in the land of their enemies.



So as Judah ignored God's words and the land enjoyed 10 Sabbaths while the inhabitants of the land served the king of Babylon for 70 years.


Daniel in reading the Scriptures understood that the curse of God through Moses as recorded in Leviticus had come to pass as promised, and that the 70 years prophesied by Jeremiah were coming to an end, so he petitioned God to remember His promise to the people that they would return to Jerusalem and Judah when the 70 years were finished.



Now, a closer look at Daniel's "70 weeks".



Daniel was told by the angel Gabriel that 70 "weeks" (periods of seven years) were determined after which point the Messiah would come as promised. 70 "weeks" would equal 490 years. And from the time that the commandment came to rebuild Jerusalem until the appearing of the Messiah would be 483 years (69 "weeks").


 

The 70th "week"? That will be fulfilled when the one known as the Antichrist, the one that Jesus called "the prince that shall come" makes a 7 year peace treaty with modern Israel, an event yet to take place. For more on this event, please see the End Times studies in this web site.



In 539 B.C. Persian emperor Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, capturing the city virtually intact. The city of Babylon had straddled the great Euphrates river, and while regent Babylonian king Belshazzar was partying and seeing the famous writing on the wall (Daniel chapter 5), in a fantastic feat of engineering the Persians had diverted the waters of the river, and were marching under the walls and attacking the city from the riverbed. Belshazzar was killed that very night by the Persians.




And in 538 B.C. Cyrus decreed that all Jews within his empire (including those living in conquered Babylon) be allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.



It is interesting to note that Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple in 586 B.C. and the new Temple that Cyrus decreed be built in 516 B.C.......exactly 70 years after the people of Judah were carried captive to Babylon, in fulfillment of God's prophecy through the prophet Jeremiah.

 

Now, the decree to rebuild Jerusalem the city came in the 7th year of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus (son of Xerxes (Ahasuerus) the husband of Queen Esther of the Old Testament), which decree came in 457 B.C. when he ordered the scribe Ezra to return to Jerusalem, and rebuild it.



EZRA 7:1-13


1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,


2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,


3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,


4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,


5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest—


6 this Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him.


7 Some of the children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.


8 And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.


9 On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.


10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.


11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest, the scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of His statutes to Israel:


12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: perfect peace, and so forth.


13 I issue a decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you.               



When Ezra returned to Jerusalem, he found out that the people who had returned earlier to rebuild the Temple had intermarried with the nations around them in disobedience to God's commandments to not marry among the nations in which they dwelt.



Ezra was appalled and tore his clothes in mourning for what the children of Judah had done. They had just spent 70 years as captives in Babylon because of their disobedience and within 50 years of their return they had disobeyed His commandments yet again!

Scripture then records;


 

EZRA 9:5-9


5 At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God.


6 And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.


7 Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day.


8 And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.


9 For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.


Verse 9 shows that Ezra had been given authority to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. This is very important here, as the prophecy for the coming of the Messiah had read;



DANIEL 9:25


25 “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.



Remember, the 70 weeks of Daniel's prophecy had said;



DANIEL 9:25-26


25 “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.


26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.



Now;



Persian King Artaxerxes reigned from 464-423 B.C. The 7th year of his reign would have been 457 B.C. (464 - 7 = 457). Hold onto that number for a few minutes.



Jesus was born in September of 7 B.C. as Idumean king Herod the Great who was ruling Judea at the time died in 4 B.C. after he had slaughtered the children 2 years old and under in Bethlehem, trying to destroy Jesus whom he saw as a future threat to his throne.



As Scripture records;



MATTHEW 2:1-21



1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,


2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”


3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.


4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.


5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:


6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”


7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.


8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”


9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.


10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.


11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.


12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.


13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”


14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,


15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”



16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.


17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:


18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”


19 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,


20 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.”


21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.


Who were these "wise men from the East"? King David in Psalms makes a fascinating reference to this when he said concerning the future reign of the Messiah;



PSALMS 72:10-11


10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts.


11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him.

Seba was the son of Cush, and Sheba was Cush's grandson. Sheba settled in modern day south-western Saudi Arabia bordering the Red Sea (about where modern-day Yemen exists), and Seba is associated with the Sabeans, a warlike nomadic tribe just to the north of Yemen. And both nations were east of Judea, so it seems that David may have been referring to these kings when he wrote the passage from Psalms quoted above. Thus the "wise men" truly came from the East.



The location of Tarshish has been much disputed among scholars, and no one knows it's exact location to this day. The name "Tarshish" is translated as being "smelters", a place where metals were refined, and has been placed as far north as Spain, and as far south as Ezion-Geber in southern Judea at the northern tip of the present-day Gulf of Aqaba.




King Herod the Great of Judea died in 4 B.C. and Jesus was at least 2 years old when Herod ordered the slaughter of the children. Babylonian astrological charts show a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in March and September of 7 B.C. of which the second conjunction was the most significant.


 

Luke the physician who was also an extremely meticulous historian records;



LUKE 2:1-20


1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.


2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.


3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.


4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,


5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.


6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.


7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.


8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.


9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.


10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.


11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.


12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”


13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:



14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”


15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”


16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.


17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.


18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.


19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.


20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.


The fact that the shepherds were watching their flocks of sheep in the fields at night indicates that it was still before winter, thereby supporting the September birth date.



Remember, there were two planetary conjunctions in 7 B.C., one in March, the other in September. The “wise men” were astrologer / astronomers and could have seen the September conjunction as the “Star of Bethlehem”. And remember, John the Baptist, Jesus’ physical cousin was born 6 months before He was.



Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. and before he died he had the children of Bethlehem who were 2 years old and under killed. And Matthew says that when the “wise men” arrived they came to the house where Joseph, Mary and Jesus were, after speaking with king Herod;



MATTHEW 2:9-11


9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.


10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.


11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.



So by this, we know that the Christmas manger scenes with the wise men kneeling before the manger containing Jesus are false.



For more about Jesus’ birth, the Star of Bethlehem and the “wise men” please see the study on Christmas in this site.


There has also been some controversy over the "Cyrenius" (some versions read Quirinius) being the governor of Syria during the time of Jesus’ birth as recorded in Luke, as Roman records show him ruling Syria in 6 A.D., about 13 years after Jesus’ birth. However coins have been found with the name "Quirinius" dating from 11 B.C. to after 4 B.C. Scholars think he may have been the governor of Syria twice.



There has also been controversy over the fact that during a census, citizens were required to return to their birthplaces to be counted, and taxed.



A Roman document from Gaius Vibius Maximus, Roman governor of Egypt, which has been dated at approximately 104 A.D. was found decreeing that all citizens residing outside of the country return to their ancestral cities to be counted and taxed. So, this bears out Luke's words as written in the Gospel which bears his name, again showing his meticulous attention to accuracy.



Jesus began His public ministry when He was 30 years old (23 A.D.)and would have been 33 years old in September of 26 AD, (there is no "0" year; it went from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D.). He was crucified the following spring on the afternoon of Passover in 27 A.D.


About 600 years earlier Daniel the prophet had prophesied that Jesus (“Messiah the Prince”) would appear to Israel. As God the Father is King, His Son Jesus would be a prince to Him even though Jesus is King over Mankind.



As the New Testament records;



MATTHEW 21:1-11


1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,



2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.


3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”


4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying


5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”


6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.


7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.


8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.


9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”


10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”


11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”



(Note: the term ‘Son of David’ refers to the promised Messiah who would be a descendant of king David)


Now, remember Daniel's prophecy concerning the appearance and "cutting off (death of Messiah).....


DANIEL 9:24-26


24 “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.


25 “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.



26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.



Daniel is told that 483 years after the command to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, Messiah would be "cut off, but not for Himself" (die for our sins).



And remember, the command to rebuild Jerusalem came from Artaxerxes in 457 B.C.

Therefore, 457 B.C. minus 483 years, equals 27 A.D. (remember, there is no "0" year).



And Jesus, born in September of 7 B.C. was crucified (cut off) when He was 33 years old, on the eve of Passover in March of 27 A.D., 483 years after Artaxerxes' decree to rebuild Jerusalem.



Prophecy fulfilled.



The Old Testament prophet Malachi was also told concerning the Messiah;



MALACHI 3:1


1 “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.


 

Malachi prophesied approximately 400 B.C. therefore the Lord had to come to His Temple between 400 B.C. and 70 A.D. when the Temple was destroyed. Remember, Jesus was crucified in 27 A.D.



And no man is recorded to have made the claim of being the Messiah with supporting miracles as Jesus did during the time between Malachi and the destruction of the Temple.

 


The New Testament records that in accordance with Malachi's words, a messenger came before Jesus's appearance to predict His coming. As Luke, the ever-careful historian records;



LUKE 3:1-6



1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,


2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.


3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,


4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.


5 Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth;


6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”



John the Baptist, as he was called warned the people that he himself was not the promised Messiah, but was the herald of the One who was indeed the promised Messiah.



(For those of you who may be offended by the word "Christ" used in the text below, remember the New Testament was written for the most part in Greek, and the word "Christ" (Christos) is a Greek translation of "Messiah".)



LUKE 3:15-18


15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not,


16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.


17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”


18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.



JOHN 1:19-34



19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”


20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”


21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”


22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”


23 He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”


24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.


25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”


26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.


27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”


28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.


29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!


30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’


31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”


32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.


33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’


34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”




Note that Luke said that all men wondered if John were the promised Messiah. This indicates that the Messiah had not yet appeared between the years about 400 B.C. and 23 A.D., when Jesus began His public ministry! And between 23 A.D. and the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., no man other than Jesus claimed to be the promised Messiah!


 

Therefore only Jesus fulfilled Malachi's prophecy concerning the Messiah coming to His Temple as He had to come to His Temple before it was destroyed!

Let's look at some other considerations of this issue.



God was silent during the 430 years that Israel was in Egypt, after which he instituted the Torah (Law of Moses).



The Torah was God's Covenant with the Jews until the last words of the prophet Malachi, after which came what is called "the 430 years of silence"between the Old and New Testaments in which again nothing was heard from God at all.



It is interesting to note that Jesus was born about 400 years after the last words of the prophet Malachi and seeing He started His ministry when He was 30 years old, just as there was 430 years of silence between Israel's bondage in Egypt and the rise of Moses, it was 430 years after the last words of Malachi that Jesus began His ministry. Coincidence? There are no coincidences with God.



I find it odd that the Jewish people are willing to accept that God replaced the Covenant with Abraham with the Torah, and yet they are intensely resistant to the idea that God could replace the Torah with a new Covenant.



Was the replacement of the Abrahamic Covenant by the Torah an insult to Abraham? No one seems to think so. Yet Jewish people become instantly outraged when someone speaks of a Covenant that replaces the Torah, as they feel it disrespects Moses.



Abraham is greatly respected as being the father of the Jews. Moses is considered greater than Abraham for he gave the Torah to the people. Is it so strange then, that Jesus the Messiah, God in the flesh, should be considered greater than Moses? Remember, Moses was God's servant, performing his Master's will, just like Abraham.




JEREMIAH 11:1-6


1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,


2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;


3 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant


4 which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’


5 that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.” ’ ” And I answered and said, “So be it, Lord.”


6 Then the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them.



Why would God put such a burden on the Jews, seeing that there is no possible way for them to observe all 613 of the laws He had given?



Two reasons;



First, God made sure that no one could keep the Law unless they were perfect, thereby putting all Mankind under sin. That way no one could attain salvation by their own works. In this way, God could offer His gift of salvation to all men at once.



Secondly, He would send One who could keep all of the 613 laws all the days of His life, namely Jesus, thereby making Jesus the author of salvation for all men.


And every Jew who tries to follow the Torah today comes under the curses listed in the Torah because there is no Temple to perform sacrifices in, neither are there any more sacrifices offered as required by the Torah!



As James, Jesus’ physical brother warned concerning the Law;



JAMES 2:10

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

 


The Temple was destroyed by Roman general (later Emperor) Titus in 70 A.D. (actually Titus wanted the Temple preserved, but a Roman soldier threw a torch into the sanctuary, and the Temple was destroyed). The stones of the Temple were thrown down the mountainside and the ground was plowed up to recover the Temple gold that had melted from the fire.



With the destruction of the Temple, several events were set into motion.



First, the genealogical records were destroyed so that no Jew from then to today knows what tribe they are from. Therefore no man today can claim to be the Messiah, because he cannot trace his direct lineage to king David, through whose line the Messiah would come.



As God had told king David through Nathan the prophet;



2 SAMUEL 7:12-17


12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.


13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.


14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.


15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.


16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne

shall be established forever.” ’ ”


17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.



Many believe that this prophecy concerned king Solomon who was David’s physical son.



HOWEVER;



Solomon was never beaten by rods or other blows.



The united kingdom of Israel was split and 10 tribes were torn from the grasp of Solomon’s son Rehoboam because of Solomon’s sins (1 Kings, chapter 11).



His throne was not established forever either for because of his sins his lineage ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Judah’s last king (Zedekiah) died in Babylon and his sons were killed by the Babylonians. The lineage of the Messiah then continued through Solomon’s brother Nathan (Luke, chapter 3), ending in Jesus Christ whose throne WILL last forever.



It is interesting that today the Rabbis teach that the lineage of Jews is to be traced through the mother's ancestral line, whereas the Jews of both the Old Testament and New Testament invariably traced their ancestry through the father's line.



The reasoning of the modern Rabbis is that while the race of the mother of a child can be known, the paternity of the father could be in doubt.



However if this is the case, king David would have his lineage traced back to Moab because Ruth, the Moabite wife of Boaz was his great-grandmother, and also to the Canaanites of Jericho, as Rahab the harlot, wife of Salmon was his great-great-grandmother. Therefore the entire line of kings would be invalidated, as Jacob had decreed that the scepter would come only through the line of Judah!


 

Therefore the Rabbis are wrong to trace family lineages through the mother.



Jacob had prophesied;         



GENESIS 49:8-10


8 “Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you.


9 Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him?


10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.



NOTE: “Shiloh” was another name for the Messiah.


Note that Jacob says that when Shiloh (God) comes then, and only then, would the line of kings cease. Where are the kings of Israel or Judah today? After 70 A.D. there were no more kings in the land of Israel. And remember, Jesus was born in 7 B.C. and died in 27 A.D. so the prophecy of Jacob was indeed fulfilled.

Another thing to consider. Without a Temple, there is no longer a need for a priesthood.



And here is where things become somewhat complex.

Before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, God told the prophet Jeremiah;


 

JEREMIAH 31:31-34


31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—


32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.


33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.


34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”


Why is there no longer a priesthood? Because the need for priests was removed with Jesus's death and resurrection. Now, before you reject what I have to say, allow me to explain, and please consider what I say with an open mind. Then make your decision. That's all I ask.



The purpose of the priesthood in the Torah (Law of Moses) was to offer sacrifices for the people, for the forgiveness of their sins.



EXODUS 28:1-4, 43


1 “Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.


2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.


3 So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest.


4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.

43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.



The priests would offer sacrifice to the Lord for the sins of the people under the office of the High Priest who had to be a direct descendant of Aaron. As each high priest died, one of his sons would take his place.



NUMBERS 20:22-29


22 Now the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.


23 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying:


24 “Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah.



25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;


26 and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there.”


27 So Moses did just as the Lord commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.


28 Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.


29 Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.


The fact that sacrifices needed to be offered continually showed that the sacrifices themselves weren't sufficient to take away sin, for if they had been sufficient, there would have been the need for only one sacrifice forever. Therefore the sacrifices of animals put the Jews in obedience through faith in God and like Abraham, that belief was counted as righteousness;



GENESIS 15:1-6


1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”


2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”


3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”


4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”


5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”


6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.



The animal sacrifices could only defer (set aside) the sins of the people who performed them in obedience until the perfect sacrifice would be made before God, a sacrifice which would remove sin forever. For as Man could never rid himself of the sin nature that he inherited from Adam in the Garden of Eden, only God could bring about the perfect sacrifice.



Now comes an important point.



Sin can only attack the flesh, but the spirit suffers the consequences of sin.



Without a body, where is lust? Greed? Envy? As the New Testament states;



ROMANS 6:7


7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.


Therefore in order to destroy sin, ALL of the sins of all men would have to be contained within one perfect body, then that body would have to die so that the sins might be destroyed with it.



Even the Torah (Law of Moses) speaks of this concept;



LEVITICUS 16:21-22


21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.


22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.



The "scapegoat" which bore the sins of Israel was offered yearly, to atone for the High Priest, his sons and the people of Israel. Therefore again, like the sacrifices this was not a perfect atonement as it needed to be repeated again and again.


But these were a reminder, a foreshadowing of the One to come who would become both scapegoat and sacrifice, and who would remove sin from mankind forever, Jesus, the Son of God.



For as the goat bore the sins of the people, and lambs were sacrificed to cover the sins of the people even so Jesus bore the sins of the world in His flesh and died for our sins. And with the death of His body the sins of Mankind that had been deferred which God had placed within His flesh were destroyed with it.


But the spiritual price of sin still needed to be paid.



All sin offerings for the people except the scapegoat were to be killed, their blood used as an atonement and they were to be burnt on the altar as an offering for the forgiveness of sins. The fire of the sacrifice represented cleansing of the sins, for fire has often been called "God's cleanser".



Therefore just as animals are considered sinless and their blood was shed for the sins of the people, even so Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God was sacrificed and His blood shed for our sins, the perfect sacrifice required by God for the removal of sin.



And just as the lamb was burnt on the altar even so Jesus went to Hell after His death and was cleansed through fire of our sins. When the cleansing was finished, God raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in Heaven.



King David prophesied of this event when he said concerning the Messiah;



PSALMS 16:8-10


8 I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.


9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.


10 For You will not leave my soul in Hell, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.


As we know, king David died about 1,000 B.C., was buried and underwent decay as all men do. But Jesus was resurrected by God after His crucifixion and His body never suffered decay, as was reported in the New Testament by eyewitnesses. The apostle Paul reported;




1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-8


3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,


4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,


5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.


6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.


7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.


8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.



Note that by claiming that over 500 people saw Him at once Paul was inviting people to verify the event by talking to those still living who had seen Him after His resurrection. And while some may claim this is “mass hallucination”, remember, the disciples were willing to face terrible tortures and death because of what they saw. Hardly a “hallucination”!



David could not have been speaking of himself in the Psalm above either for he never went to Hell, being a righteous man before God. Besides, Hell is reserved for sinners and God spoke of David over 500 years after David’s death, saying;



EZEKIEL 34:10-24


10 Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”


11 ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.


12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.


13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.


14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.


15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God.


16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”


17 ‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.


18 Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet?


19 And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”


20 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep.


21 Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad,


22 therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.


23 I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.


24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.



God was referring to the religious authorities who set themselves up as “elites”, who corrupted the Law, who taught their own man-made doctrines as God-given commandments, who extorted the poor for their own gain, etc.



He promises to resurrect king David to rule over them in the regeneration and will allow no more corruption among His people.




The prophecy of Messiah not seeing corruption nor remaining in Hell was confirmed in the New Testament, when the apostle Peter told the men of Israel shortly after Jesus's resurrection;



ACTS 2:22-32


22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—


23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;


24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.


25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.


26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.


27 For You will not leave my soul in Hell, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.


28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’


29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.


30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,


31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hell, nor did His flesh see corruption.


32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.



Several things here.




First, in verse 22 Peter indicated that he was speaking to men who knew of Jesus, and had either seen or heard of the miracles He performed while alive.



Secondly, some take offense at verse 23, saying that is it "anti-Semitic". Peter is not saying anything of the sort. He is saying that the Jewish nation was consenting to Jesus's death, a statement of fact. He then reiterates David's prophecy concerning Messiah.



Those who take offense at Peter's words above need to read the rest of his exhortation as shown below.



ACTS 2:36-39


36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”


37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”


38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.


39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”



Note that instead of bringing a railing accusation against them, Peter through the Holy Spirit shows them how to become saved and through God's grace and mercy have peace with God through Jesus His Son.

Now, let's look at some of the proofs of Jesus being the promised Messiah.



A statistician once stated that the odds of a man to have fulfilled just 8 Old Testament prophecies in his lifetime would be like covering the state of Texas two feet deep in silver dollars, stir the mass thoroughly then having a blind man pick out 1 marked coin the very first time.



Remember, that's only 8 prophecies! And scholars estimate that He fulfilled over 350 during His lifetime.



Prophecies and their fulfillment;



Prophecy: He will be called the Son of God



PSALM 2:7


7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.



Fulfillment:



Jesus had come to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist;



MATTHEW 3:13-17


13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.


14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”


15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.


16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.


17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”



Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee, and when He got out of the boat;



MATTHEW 8:28-29


28 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.


29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”



Jesus had taken 3 of His disciples up into a mountain;



MARK 9:2-8


2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.


3 His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.


4 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.


5 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—


6 because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.


7 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”


8 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.



When He was placed on trial before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin;



MARK 14:55-62


55 Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.


56 For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.


57 Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying,


58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.’ ”



59 But not even then did their testimony agree.


60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?”


61 But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”


62 Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Prophecy: He shall be from the tribe of Judah, be a descendant of king David and be born in Bethlehem Ephrata of Judah as was king David



GENESIS 49:10


10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.


MICAH 5:2


2 “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.”


Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 1:1


1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.



Note: the rest of Jesus’ genealogy going back to Abraham can be found in Matthew, chapter 1)



Prophecy: He shall be from the line of Jesse, the father of king David



ISAIAH 11:1



1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:


ISAIAH 11:10


10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious.

Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 12:9-14; 22-23


9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.


10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.


11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?


12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”


13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.


14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.


22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.


23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?


Prophecy: He shall be Heir to David's throne



2 SAMUEL 7:8-17


8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.


9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the Earth.


10 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously,


11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house.


12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.


13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.


14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.


15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.


16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”


17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.


ISAIAH 9:6-7


6 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.


7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.



JEREMIAH 23:5-6


5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,“that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the Earth.


6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.


Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 1:1


1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.


MATTHEW 21:1-11


1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,


2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.


3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”


4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:


5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”


6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.


7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.


8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.


9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”


10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”


11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”




LUKE 1:26-35


26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,


27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.


28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”


29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.


30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.


31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.


32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.


33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”


34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”


35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.


LUKE 2:1-18


1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.


2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.


3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.


4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,



5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.


6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.


7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.


8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.


9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.


10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.


11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.


12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”


13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:


14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”


15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”


16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.


17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.


18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.


JOHN 7:37-43


37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.


38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”


39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.


40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.”


41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee?


42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”


43 So there was a division among the people because of Him.



Note: if the people had checked the Temple records they would have seen that Jesus indeed had been born in Bethlehem of Judea.



REVELATION 22:12-16


12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.


13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”


14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.


15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.


16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

Prophecy: His Pre-Existence



PSALMS 102:25-27


25 Of old You laid the foundation of the Earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.



26 They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed.


27 But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.


ISAIAH 44:6

6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.



Note that the Father not only speaks for Himself, but also speaks of His chosen Redeemer, the Lord f Hosts (Jesus)



MICAH 5:2


2 “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.”


Fulfillment:



JOHN 1:1-2


1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


2 The same was in the beginning with God.

HEBREWS 1:1-2


1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,


2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;


COLOSSIANS 1:15-17


15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.



16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on Earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.


17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.



REVELATION 22:13

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Prophecy: His Birth Place



MICAH 5:2


2 “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.”



(Note, there were two towns called "Bethlehem", one to the north in the northern kingdom of Israel and one in the southern kingdom of Judah (Judea). Micah was careful to name which Bethlehem that the Messiah would be born in, namely the same Bethlehem as king David.)

Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 2:1-8


1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,


2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”


3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.


4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.


5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:


6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”


7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.


8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”


LUKE 2:1-7


1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.


2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.


3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.


4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,


5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.


6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.


7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.


Prophecy: He would be the seed of woman, not of man



God, speaking to the serpent (and to Satan inhabiting the serpent) when promising a Savior to come said;



GENESIS 3:15


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.”



It is interesting that God says the Messiah will be the seed of the woman, but Adam is not mentioned.This is to show that the Messiah would have a human mother, but have God as His Father.


 

Remember, God had already said to king David concerning the Messiah;



2 SAMUEL 7:12-16


12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.


13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.


14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.


15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.


16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 1:18-25


18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.


19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.


20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.


21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”


22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:



23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”


24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,


25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.



Prophecy: He shall be born of a virgin



ISAIAH 7:14


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.



(The Hebrew word used here for "virgin" is "almah" , meaning "veiled"; a young woman of marriageable age; maid or virgin")

Fulfillment:



LUKE 1:26-35


26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,


27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.


28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”


29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.


30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.


31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.



32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.


33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”


34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”


35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.



While many ridicule the concept of the “virgin birth”, it does indeed happen although usually in invertebrate organisms (having no spine). This is where a female can become pregnant without male interaction, called parthenogenesis (Greek: “virgin creation”).


Prophecy: He shall be called Immanuel



ISAIAH 7:14


14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 1:18-23


18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.


19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.


20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.


21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”



22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:


23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Prophecy: like the kings of old, He would have a herald, a forerunner to warn the people of His coming.



ISAIAH 40:3


3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.



MALACHI 3:1


1 “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.



Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 3:1-3


1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,


2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”


3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.’ ”



JOHN 1:19-34


19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”


20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”


21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”


22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”


23 He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”


24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.


25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”


26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.


27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”


28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.


29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!


30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who [k]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’


31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”


32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.


33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’


34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

Prophecy: He shall enter His Temple



MALACHI 3:1



1 “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.



Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 21:12-14


12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.


13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”


14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.



Prophecy: He shall be a shepherd



ISAIAH 40:9-11


9 O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”


10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.


11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.

Fulfillment:



JOHN 10:11-16


11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.


12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.


13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.


14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.


15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.


16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.



Prophecy: He shall be a prophet



DEUTERONOMY 18:15-19


15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,


16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’


17 “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good.


18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.


19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.



Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 21:1-11


1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,


2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.


3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”


4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:


5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”


6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.


7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.


8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.


9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”


10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”


11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”


LUKE 7:11-17


11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.


12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.


13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”


14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”


15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.


16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”


17 And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.



Prophecy: He shall be a Priest



PSALMS 110:1-4


1 The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”


2 The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!


3 Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.


4 The Lord has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”


Fulfillment:



HEBREWS 3:1-6


1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,


2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.


3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house.


4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.


5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward,


6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.



HEBREWS 5:1-11


1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.



2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.


3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.


4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.


5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.”


6 As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”;


7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,


8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.


9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,


10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,”


11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

HEBREWS 7:14-28


14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.


15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest


16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.


17 For He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”


18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,


19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.


20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath


21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek’ ”),


22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.


23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.


24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.


25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.


26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;


27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.


28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

Prophecy: He shall be a Judge



ISAIAH 11:1-5


1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.


2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.


3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears;


4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the Earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.



5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.


Fulfillment:



JOHN 5:24-30


24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.


25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.


26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,


27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.


28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice


29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.


30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.


2 TIMOTHY 4:1-4


1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:


2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.


3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;


4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

Prophecy: He shall be a King




PSALMS 2:1-12


1 Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?


2 The kings of the Earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,


3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”


4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.


5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure:


6 “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.”


7 “I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.


8 Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the Earth for Your possession.


9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.


10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the Earth.


11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.


12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.



JEREMIAH 23:5-6


5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the Earth.


6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.


ZECHARIAH 9:9


9 “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.


Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 21:1-11


1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,


2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.


3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”


4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:


5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”


6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.


7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.


8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.


9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”


10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”


11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”



MATTHEW 27:15-37


15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.


16 And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.


17 Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”


18 For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.


19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”


20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.


21 The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!”


22 Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”


23 Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”


24 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”


25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”


26 Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.


27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.


28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.


29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”


30 Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.


31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.


32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.


33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull,


34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.


35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”


36 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.


37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.


REVELATION 19:11-16


11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.


12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.


13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.


14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.


15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.


16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Prophecy: He shall be the Anointed One



PSALMS 45:1-7


1 My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.


2 You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.


3 Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Your majesty.


4 And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; and Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.


5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; the peoples fall under You.


6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.


7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.


ISAIAH 61:1-3


1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;


2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,


3 To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”


Fulfillment:



LUKE 4:14-21


14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.


15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.


16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.



17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:


18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed;


19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”


20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.


21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”



Prophecy: He shall perform miracles



ISAIAH 35:5-6


5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.


6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.


Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 9:1-8


1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.


2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”


3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”


4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?


5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?


6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”



7 And he arose and departed to his house.


8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.


MATTHEW 9:27-33


27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”


28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”


29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”


30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.”


31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.


32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.


33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”


MATTHEW 11:1-6


1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.


2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples


3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”


4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:


5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.


6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”



JOHN 11:1-44


1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.


2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.


3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”


4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”


5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.


6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.


7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”


8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”


9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.


10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”


11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”


12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”


13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.


14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.


15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”


16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”


17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.



18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.


19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.


20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.


21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.


22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”


23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”


24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”


25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.


26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”


27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”


28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”


29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.


30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.


31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”


32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”


33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.


34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”


35 Jesus wept.


36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”


37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”


38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.


39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”


40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”


41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.


42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”


43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”


44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Prophecy: He shall be a stumbling block (offense) to the Jews



PSALMS 118:22-23


22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.


23 This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.


ISAIAH 8:13-15


13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.


14 He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.



15 And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and

taken.”


ISAIAH 28:16


16 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.


Fulfillment:



ROMANS 9:30-33


30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;


31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.


32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.


33 As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

ROMANS 10 :1-21


1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.


2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.


3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.


4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.


5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”


6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)


7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).


8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):


9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.


10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.


11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”


12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.


13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”


14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?


15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”


16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”


17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.


18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: “Their sound has gone out to all the Earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”


19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: “I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.”


20 But Isaiah is very bold and says: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”


21 But to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”


1 PETER 2:1-10


1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,



2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,


3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.


4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,


5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.


6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”


7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”


8 and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.


9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;


10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.


Prophecy: He shall be betrayed by a friend



PSALMS 41:9-10


9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.


10 But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.


Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 10:1-4


1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.


2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;


3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;


4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.


Prophecy: Jesus’ betrayal for 30 pieces of silver



ZECHARIAH 11:12-13


12 Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.


13 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.


Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 26:14-16


14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests


15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.


16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.


Prophecy: The money would be thrown in God's house



ZECHARIAH 11:12-13


12 Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.


13 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.

Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 27:1-10


1 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.


2 And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.


3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,


4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”


5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.


6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.”


7 And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.


8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.


9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced,


10 and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

Prophecy: He will be rejected by His people



PSALMS 69:6-12


6 Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.


7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face.


8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children;


9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.


10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach.


11 I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them.


12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, and I am the song of the drunkards.


ISAIAH 49:1-10


1 “Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.


2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me.”


3 “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’


4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God.’ ”


5 “And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength),


6 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles. That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”


7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You.”


8 Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the Earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;



9 That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ “They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.


10 They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them.


ISAIAH 53:1-12


1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?


2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.


3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.


4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.


5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.


6 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.


7 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.


8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.


9 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.


10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.


11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.


12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


Fulfillment:



JOHN 1:1-14


1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


2 He was in the beginning with God.


3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.


4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.


5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.


6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.


7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.


8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.


9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.


10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.


11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.


12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:


13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.


14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.



JOHN 7:1-5



1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.


2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.


3 His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.


4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”


5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.


JOHN 7:31-49


31 And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”


32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.


33 Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.


34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”


35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?


36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”


37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.


38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”


39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.



40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.”


41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee?


42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”


43 So there was a division among the people because of Him.


44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.


45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”


46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”


47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived?


48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?


49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”



JOHN 15:22-25


22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.


23 He who hates Me hates My Father also.


24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.


25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’



Prophecy: The Gentiles will seek Israel's Messiah



ISAIAH 11:1-10


1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.


2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.



3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears;


4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the Earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.


5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.


6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.


7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.


8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.


9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.


10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.”


ISAIAH 42:1


1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.


Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 12:9-21


9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.


10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.


11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?


12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”


13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.


14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.


15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great [c]multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.


16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known,


17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:


18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.


19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.


20 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory;


21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”



Prophecy: He will be forsaken by His disciples



ZECHARIAH 13:7


7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones.


Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 26:30-56


30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.


31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’


32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”


33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”


34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”


35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.


36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”


37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.


38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”


39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”


40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?


41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”


42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”


43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.


44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.


45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?

Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.


46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”


47 And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.


48 Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.”


49 Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.


50 But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.


51 And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.


52 But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.


53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?


54 How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”


55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.


56 But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.


Prophecy: He would be accused by false witnesses



PSALM 35:11-19


11 False witnesses rise up; they ask me things that I do not know.


12 They reward me evil for good, to the sorrow of my soul.


13 But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; and my prayer would return to my own heart.


14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.


15 But in my adversity they rejoiced and gathered together; attackers gathered against me, and I did not know it; they tore at me and did not cease;


16 With ungodly mockers at feasts they gnashed at me with their teeth.


17 Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, My precious life from the lions.


18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people.


19 Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.


Fulfillment:



MARK 14:55-59


55 Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.


56 For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.


57 Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying,


58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.’ ”


59 But not even then did their testimony agree.

Prophecy: He would not respond to His accusers



ISAIAH 53:6-11


6 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.


7 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.


8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.


9 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.


10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.


11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.



Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 27:11-14


11 Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”


12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.


13 Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?”


14 But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.

Prophecy: He would be tortured



ISAIAH 50:5-7


5 The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.


6 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.


7 “For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.

ISAIAH 52:13-14


13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.


14 Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men;


ISAIAH 53:2-10


2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.


3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.


4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.


5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.


6 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.


7 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.


8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.


9 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.


10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.



PSALMS 22:14-18


14 I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me.


15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.


16 For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;


17 I can count all My bones. they look and stare at Me.


18 They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.



ZECHARIAH 12:10


10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

 

Fulfillment:



MATTHEW 26:59-68


59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death,


60 but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward


61 and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”


62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?”


63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”


64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”


65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!


66 What do you think?” They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.”



67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands,


68 saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”


MARK 15:3-20


3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.


4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!”


5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.


6 Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.


7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.


8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.


9 But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”


10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.


11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.


12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”


13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”


14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”


15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.


16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.


17 And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head,


18 and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”


19 Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.


20 And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.



Prophecy: Men would cast lots cast for his clothing



PSALMS 22:18


18 They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.


Fulfillment:



JOHN 19:23-24


23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.


24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.


Prophecy: He would be given vinegar and gall



PSALMS 69:21


21 They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Fulfillment:




MATTHEW 27:32-37


32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.


33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull,


34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.


35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”


36 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.


37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

JOHN 19:28-30


28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”


29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.


30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Prophecy: His would be a substitutionary death



ISAIAH 53:1-12


1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?


2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.


3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.


4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.


5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.


6 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.


7 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.


8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.


9 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.


10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.


11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.


12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.



Fulfillment:



JOHN 11:45-53


45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.


46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.


47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.


48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”


49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,


50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”


51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,


52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.


53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.



2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-21


17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.


18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,


19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.


20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.


21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

GALATIANS 3:7-14


7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.


8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”



9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.


10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”


11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”


12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”


13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),


14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.



Prophecy: He would die with transgressors, and be buried in a rich man's tomb



ISAIAH 53:9


9 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.


Fulfillment:



MARK 15:25-28


25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.


26 And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS.


27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.


28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”



MATTHEW 27:57-61


57 Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.


58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.


59 When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,


60 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.


61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.

Prophecy: Darkness would cover the land during the daytime



AMOS 8:9


9 “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God, “‘that I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the Earth in broad daylight;


Fulfillment:



LUKE 23:44-46


44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.


45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.


46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.


SPECIAL NOTE: The 6th hour was noon in the ancient world. Greek historian Thallus recorded the phenomenon, writing about 50 A.D. calling it a "super-eclipse". However it could not have been an eclipse, as an eclipse can only happen during a "new moon" and Jesus was crucified during the period of a full moon. And the maximum totality of an eclipse is at the most 20 minutes. The darkness recorded in Scripture and by Thallus lasted for 3 hours.



Prophecy: He would ascend back to Heaven



PSALMS 68:18


18 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.



Fulfillment:



ACTS 1:9-11


9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.


10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,


11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”



These are only a few of the many prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during His lifetime. A statistician once calculated that the odds of a man fulfilling just 8 prophecies in his lifetime would be like covering the State of Texas 2 feet deep in silver dollars. Mark just 1coin, stir the coins throughly and then have a blind man select the marked coin on the first try.



According to the Rabbis if I accept Jesus as the Messiah, I'll no longer be a Jew!



Really? If a person of Chinese ancestry moved to Africa and became a citizen of one of the countries there and adopted the customs of that country, would they become black? They would still be Chinese, would they not?



When Abraham obeyed God and left his homeland, did he change his nationality? Where would the Jewish race be, if Abraham had told God, "I'll no longer be a Chaldean if I believe in You!"

But what did God say to him?



GENESIS 12:1-5


1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.


2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.


3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”


4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.


5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.


Abraham had no idea where God was leading him, and yet he obeyed God. As the author of the New Covenant (New Testament) book of Hebrews states;



HEBREWS 11:8


8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.



And what does Scripture say about his obedience?



ROMANS 4:1-3


1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?


2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.


3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”


I have heard that Jews who accept Jesus as Messiah are rejected by their families, some to the point of where the families and friends disown, spit on and actually hold “funerals” for family members who accept Jesus. They consider these people to be "traitors" to Judaism and to their heritage, and the impact is devastating.



However, if you think about it, the Jews have been a separate race since the time of Abraham.  



Jesus Himself knew of the problems that would develop for those who believed in Him, when He said;



MATTHEW 10:32-36


32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.


33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.


34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.


35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;


36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’


Critics immediately claim “Isn’t He supposed to be the Prince of Peace?” referring to the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 which says;



ISAIAH 9;6


6 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.



He is indeed the Prince of Peace to those who accept Him. But He also knew that families would be divided over Him, with non-believers persecuting believers. Remember the Jews who reject members of their own family members who believe Jesus to be the Messiah?



However this peace is conditional, given to those who accept Him and follow His commandments. God also said through Isaiah;



ISAIAH 48:22


22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”



On the surface, Isaiah’ quote in verse 34 and 35 above may appear as an arrogant, belligerent statement, but if you think about it, Jesus is indirectly referring to Isaiah's prophecy of;



ISAIAH 8:13-15


13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.


14 He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


15 And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.”


Knowing this would happen, He also said;



MATTHEW 5:10-12


10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.


12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.


LUKE 6:22-23, 26


22 Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.


23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.


26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.


The crux of the whole matter is this: Is Jesus the promised Messiah? And if so, are you willing to follow Him, no matter what it may cost you here on Earth?



Consider carefully what you do, though. If He is indeed the promised Messiah and you reject Him, then you will fall into the same condemnation as the Pharisees of His time, to whom He said;



JOHN 8:21-24


21 Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”


22 So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”


23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.


24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”


Christianity and Judaism have nothing in common!



Really? Have you checked it out for yourself to be sure?



The above objection says that you either know little or nothing about Christianity, you have been exposed to some of the many bad examples of those claiming to be Christians but who are misguided, or servants of Satan, doing their own wills in Jesus’ name.



You have undoubtedly heard horror stories of persecution and slaughter of Jews by those who labeled themselves "Christians".



Remember, taking a label doesn't change who you are. The brutal Nazis called themselves "Christians". The equally brutal Crusaders called themselves "Christians" too. Yet they never practiced the teachings of the One they claimed to follow. They did their own will in God's name.



For example, Jesus Himself said;



MATTHEW 5:43-48


43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’


44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who

hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,


45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.


46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?


47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?


48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Does that sound like the doctrine that the Nazis and Crusaders followed? Of course not! Just as the Arabs are not Jews even though they are descended from Abraham, even so those who claim to be Christians are not always followers of Jesus Christ, or they follow a Jesus of their own making.



Note something else here. Jesus said in verse 43: "You have heard it said...." (referring to oral tradition), He did not say "It is written...." as He did when He quoted the Torah or the Prophets. The oral law was and still is subject to corruption, whereas the written Scriptures are not.



Also, tax-collectors were hired by the Romans to collect taxes from the people to send to Rome as tribute. These men were among the most hated in Judea, for the Romans allowed them to collect whatever they could above the set tax for their own profit, and many had become quite rich by this corrupt practice. And with the military power of Rome backing them, who could stop them?



And Jesus stated that if we love only those who love us, are we any different from the tax-collectors of His time?



He also said;



MATTHEW 7:16-23


16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?


17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.


18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.


19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.


20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.


21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.


22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’


23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’



In other words, by their works men will know if those who call themselves "Christians" truly follow Jesus's teachings or not. Just as a rotten tree cannot bear good fruit because it is rotted within, even so evil men cannot do good works, for they are corrupt within.



He also prophesied just before He went to the cross concerning the works of these people;



JOHN 16:1-4


1 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.


2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.


3 And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.


4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.



Jewish scholars and historians who have studied Christianity have been surprised at it's doctrines and teachings, and have called Christianity "another of the first-century Judaisms", showing that Christianity indeed has it's roots in Judaism.



Christianity was first preached to Jews by Jews, and only after the Jews as a nation rejected Jesus and His teachings, did they turn to the Gentiles who readily accepted both.



The promise of the Messiah was to the Jews first, and God sent His Son to Israel as He had promised. Even Jesus was careful to observe this when He told His disciples;



MATTHEW 10:1-15


1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.


2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;


3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;


4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.


5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.


6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.


7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’


8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.


9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,


10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.


11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.


12 And when you go into a household, greet it.


13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.


14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.


15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!


Jesus's mission was to Israel alone at the beginning.



As Scripture records;



MATTHEW 15:21-28


21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.


22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”


23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”


24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”


25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”


26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”


27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”


28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.


Did you catch what Jesus said? His mission was to the lost sheep of the House of Israel! In other words, His mission was to preach the good news of the New Covenant to the Jews! And if you read history, His teachings began to be preached to the Gentiles only after the Jews as a nation had rejected Him!



But just as God adopted the Jews into His family, He has also adopted believing Gentiles into His family. Remember, Jesus died for the sins of ALL men, not just the Jews.

When the apostle Paul was preaching to the Jews, Scripture records;



ACTS 28:24-29


24 And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.


25 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,


26 saying, ‘Go to this people and say: “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;


27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” ’


28 “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!”


29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.



Persecutions against the Jewish Christians by their fellow Jews in Judea had driven some of them into Asia Minor where they began preaching to both Jews and Gentiles alike. It wasn't until the Jews in Asia Minor began resisting and persecuting Christian Jews, that the Christian Jews finally began turning fully to the Gentiles and preaching salvation through Jesus to them.



As Scripture records, the apostle Paul, who formerly persecuted the Christians until he became a convert himself, said of these men;



ACTS 13:38-50


38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;


39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.


40 Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:


41 ‘Behold, you despisers, marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you.’ ”


42 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.


43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.


44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.


46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.


47 For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”


48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.


49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region.


50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.



SUMMARY




And that persecution continues to this day, as Jesus prophesied. For He is the greatest problem the Jews as a nation have yet to resolve, fulfilling God's words about His being a trap and a snare to both the houses of Israel. As Isaiah prophesied;



ISAIAH 8:13-15


13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.


14 He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


15 And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.



Note that God says He will be a snare to BOTH of the houses of Israel. When Isaiah prophesied of this event, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had already been destroyed by the Assyrians 135 years earlier.


 

So he was referring to a time when both houses of Israel would be together again, an event which happened when the Babylonians conquered Judah in 586 B.C. (For more information, please see the study on the 10 “lost” tribes in this Website.)



The Babylonians had conquered Nineveh the capital of Assyria in August of 612 B.C., and had absorbed the remnants of the Assyrian people, including the Jews who had been deported there in 721 B.C. when the Assyrians had destroyed Samaria.



Thus when the Jews were carried captive to Babylon, they were met by the remnants of the Jews from the Northern Kingdom who were already there. And when the Jews were allowed to return to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem in 516 B.C. some of the Jews from the former Northern Kingdom returned with them, as shown by the actions of Ezra when the temple was finished.



EZRA 6:15-18


15 Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.


16 Then the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the descendants of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.


17 And they offered sacrifices at the dedication of this house of God, one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.


18 They assigned the priests to their divisions and the Levites to their divisions, over the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.


Note that sacrifice was made for all 12 tribes, something that Scripture had not recorded since Israel broke from Judah in 931 B.C. some 415 years earlier. This indicates that remnants of the 10 "lost tribes" had returned, as God spoke through Jeremiah over 70 years earlier.



As Scripture records;



JEREMIAH 3:6-15


6 The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.


7 And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.


8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.


9 So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.


10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.


11 Then the Lord said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.


12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: ‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not remain angry forever.


13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God, and have scattered your charms to alien deities under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.


14 “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.


15 And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.


Therefore when Jesus performed His ministry and died for the sins of the world, both the houses of Israel were again together, just as God had prophesied. And sadly enough, He is still a stumbling stone for the united house of Israel today.

Concerning Christianity and the Gentiles............



If God is the God of all flesh, is He unjust to adopt the Gentiles into His household as He has the Jews?



One fact will always remain: The Jews are God's chosen people, will be forever and His promises to them still stand. God has through Jesus also adopted the Gentiles into the same family, thus fulfilling His promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.



This does not in any case take away anything from the Jews, for the Jews still have the rich history and heritage of the Torah and the Prophets, something the Gentiles can never experience. And if you reject God's grace and mercy to the Gentiles, will He not remove His grace and mercy from you? And if you consider the Gentiles unworthy of salvation, aren't you setting yourself up as equal to God, who alone has the power to make this decision?

True Christians love the Jews, and hold them in deepest respect, for it was from them that the rich history of God's dealings with men came, and it was from them that Messiah came, by which the Gentiles have received salvation through redemption in His blood.



God Himself laments the fact that the Gentiles accept Him more readily than the Jews, when He told Isaiah;



ISAIAH 65:1-6



1 “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by My name.


2 I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts;


3 a people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on altars of brick;


4 who sit among the graves, and spend the night in the tombs; who eat swine’s flesh, and the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;


5 who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.


6 “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay— even repay into their bosom—


The apostle Paul sadly speaks of this also, when he says of the Jews of his time;



ROMANS 10:8-21


8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):


9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.


10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.


11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”


12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.


13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”


14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?


15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”


16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”


17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.


18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: “Their sound has gone out to all the Earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”


19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says:n“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.”


20 But Isaiah is very bold and says: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”


21 But to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.



The Rabbis continually warn against Christian "missionaries", especially "Messianic Jews" who seek to "convert" the Jews to Christianity.



First of all, have you considered that the Christians may be right? And if they are, are you willing to reject eternal life in God's kingdom on the say-so of the Rabbis? Will they defend you before the Throne of Judgment?



I have proven through many Scriptures that Messiah has already come, and that He fulfilled the prophecies concerning Him. In fact, I have listed Old Testament prophecies concerning Him, and their fulfillment in the New Testament. There are many more, but I have listed the above prophecies as examples. And remember the odds of a person fulfilling just 8 prophecies in his lifetime (1 x 1017th power). Good luck in calculating the odds of fulfilling as many as Jesus did (scholars estimate over 400 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus)!!!!!!



And as Paul says above, how shall people hear, unless someone preaches to them? The Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah not only have the rich traditions and history of the Jewish race, but they also have the joy of knowing that Messiah did indeed come as promised, and that He will soon return in power and glory as promised, having first fulfilled God's will that He be the required sacrifice for the redemption of mankind as prophesied in Isaiah who said;


 

ISAIAH 53:1-12



1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?


2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.


3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.


4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.


5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.


6 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.


7 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.


8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.


9 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.


10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure

of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.


11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.


12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.



Apparently many Rabbis skip this chapter of Isaiah in synagogue readings as it “creates too many arguments”. Those who know Christian history can immediately see the parallels between this chapter and what happened to Jesus Christ.




And as for Christianity itself and it's doctrines and teachings, consider the words of Gamaliel, a doctor of the Law who spoke to the Sanhedrin when they had decided to kill the apostles of Jesus shortly after His death and resurrection because they accused the Sanhedrin of railroading Him to the cross;



ACTS 5:34-39


34 Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while.


35 And he said to them: “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men.


36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing.


37 After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed.


38 And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing;


39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”



No one has been able to overthrow Christianity, as you can see today for yourself. Granted, Satan has created many false versions of Christianity in a desperate attempt to discredit the true doctrine of God, which is why there are so many "Christian" religions, each one claiming to hold the truth, thereby generating much confusion.



However, true Christianity is that which follows the teachings of Jesus as written in the pages of the New Testament. Other parallel forms of Christianity either insert and follow man-made doctrines and traditions that cannot be supported by Scripture, or twist the Scriptures to suit their beliefs. Even worse, some, like the brutal Nazis and Crusaders have done their own wills in His name.

I have already proven from Scripture that the sacrifices of the Old Testament Law were insufficient to take away sin. The sacrifices could only defer (or cover) the sins until the perfect sacrifice required by God, namely Jesus, would come who would take away sins forever with the sacrifice of Himself as the Lamb of God.



The Law put the Jews in obedience to God's commandments, which like Abraham was counted to them as righteousness.



The Law was consecrated by the blood of sinless animals, whereas the New Testament was consecrated by the blood of a perfect sinless Lamb, namely Jesus Christ.



The Law was imperfect, as a testament can only have effect after the death of the testator. Neither God nor Moses died when the Law was sanctified, thereby it was imperfect, and could never take away sins, nor was it meant to.



The Law was a physical law of works and didn’t require faith. And if the sacrifices of the Law could remove sins, sacrifice would need to be offered once. But the Law required continued sacrifices for sin until the perfect sacrifice could be made.



Remember, God had made the Law impossible for Man to follow all of the days of his life as the Law required, thus putting all men under sin, and requiring the continual sacrifices for sin. It only covered sins, and deferred them until the true sacrifice which could take away sin forever would come.



The replacement of the Law by a perfect covenant was prophesied by Jeremiah approximately 600 years before Jesus was born when God told him;



JEREMIAH 31:31-33


31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—


32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.


33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.




With the death of Jesus, the Son of God, the New Covenant became effective, as the death of the Testator occurred. And just as the Law was sanctified by blood, even the New Testament was sanctified by blood, in this case the blood of the Lawgiver, Jesus Christ.



And with the death of Jesus and the establishment of the New Covenant there was no longer a need for sacrifices, as the perfect sacrifice had been made already. And without sacrifices, there was no longer a need for a priesthood. And without a priesthood, there is no need for a Temple.



Remember, the Temple had a veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, where God dwelt. The veil was a symbol of the separation between God and Man caused by sin. But with the atoning death of Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, the New Testament records;



MATTHEW 27:50-54


50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.


51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,


52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;


53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.


54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”



MARK 15:37-39


37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.


38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.


39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”



LUKE 23:44-48


44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the Earth until the ninth hour.


45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.


46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.


47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”


48 And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.


Note that the veil was torn from top to bottom, showing that no human agency was involved. Besides, the veil was quite thick, so it would have required someone with the legendary strength of Samson to tear it.



And with the tearing of the veil, God showed all of mankind that the barrier of sin was finally removed, and that Man could now approach God directly without the need of a human priesthood as Man was now justified by faith and cleansed by Jesus's atoning blood.



And as I stated before, the destruction of the Temple ended the priesthood forever, as well as the now meaningless animal sacrifices, and the genealogical records were also destroyed to ensure that no one could now claim to be the Messiah, as no Jew now knows what tribe they are from, and therefore cannot trace their lineage to king David.



As the New Testament author of the book of Hebrews states concerning the Law;



HEBREWS 10:1-31


1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.


2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.


3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.


4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.


5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.


6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.


7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— in the volume of the book it is written of Me— to do Your will, O God.’ ”


8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law),


9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.


10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.


11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.


12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,


13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.


14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.


15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,


16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”


17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”


18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.


19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness[f] to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,


20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,



21 and having a High Priest over the house of God,


22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.


23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.


24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,


25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.


26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,


27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.


28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.


29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?


30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”


31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.



I have offered proof from Scripture that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah, sent by God to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. I have proven that He appeared 483 years after the command to build Jerusalem as prophesied, and that he died for the sins of mankind as prophesied by Daniel, (chapter 9).



I have shown Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during His life, again proving that He was who He said He was. I have also shown that by living a perfect life as required by the Law, He was able to replace the Law with a new Covenant, also as prophesied.



Now, it is up to you to decide whether He is indeed the promised Messiah, or not.




Remember, the Law cannot take away sin. It was never meant to do so. It was meant to put the Jews under obedience until the perfect sacrifice would come as required by the Law, as the animal sacrifices could only cover and defer the sins of mankind.



Also, the Law didn't require faith, as it was a Law of works. Basically God said do these commandments, and you shall live. But with the death and resurrection of Jesus, the focal point changed from the physical to the spiritual, in that faith is required now instead of sacrifice.



Works could never get anyone into Heaven, which is why the Law was imperfect, and why God made it impossible for Man to keep the Law, so that Man could not make it to Heaven by his own works. That way God could show mercy to all men through the sacrifice of His Son who could keep the entire Law.



So, it's up to you to decide. If he is indeed the Messiah, you need to read the entire New Testament, and see what is required of you to have peace with God. If you're still unsure if Jesus is the Messiah, read the New Testament anyway, and see for yourself what it has to say.



Remember, you're gambling with your eternal destination after death, if you don't check it out for yourself. The Law, being replaced, cannot save you from sin and if you follow the Law, you will fall under it's condemnation, as no one can keep the entire Law before God.

And with Jesus's atoning sacrifice, the Law has been removed to make way for a new, permanent Covenant as prophesied by Jeremiah. And if there is a new Covenant, the Old Covenant has been taken away, and is no longer in effect.


(For further information about Jesus’ atoning death, please see the study “Why did Jesus have to die for our sins?  in this Web site. 



Jesus summed the whole matter when He said;



JOHN 3:16-18


16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.


17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.


18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.


Heed carefully the words of John the Baptist concerning Jesus;



JOHN 3:27-36


27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.


28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’


29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.


30 He must increase, but I must decrease.


31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is Earthly and speaks of the Earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.


32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.


33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.


34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.


35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.


36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”


The choice is yours. Choose carefully!

 


 

Questions? Comments? E-mail: watchmen_777@yahoo.com




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