Jesus and the Fulfillment of the Prophecies

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The previous chapter laid out the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. This chapter shows the fulfillments in Jesus’s life. The work here is to lay the predictions and the fulfillments side by side, in the order they happened, so you can see the cumulative pattern at a glance.

Birth

Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 1:26-27). Caesar Augustus ordered a Roman census that required Joseph to register in his ancestral town of Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7). Jesus was born there. Micah 5:2 fulfilled.

Davidic lineage. Both Matthew (1:1-17) and Luke (3:23-38) trace Jesus’s lineage to David. The various genealogical issues (Joseph’s legal line vs Mary’s biological line) do not undermine the basic claim that Jesus was a son of David. 2 Samuel 7:12-16 fulfilled.

Virginal conception. Both Matthew (1:18-25) and Luke (1:26-38) record the virginal conception. The Quran agrees (Q 19:19-22, Q 3:45-47). Isaiah 7:14 fulfilled.

“Immanuel.” Matthew 1:23 explicitly identifies the name “Immanuel” with Jesus.

Out of Egypt. Matthew 2:13-15 records the family’s flight to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of the Bethlehem infants and their return after Herod’s death. Hosea 11:1 fulfilled.

Forerunner

John the Baptist as Elijah. All four Gospels identify John the Baptist as the Elijah-figure of Malachi 4:5-6. Jesus says explicitly: “If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:14). John himself quotes Isaiah 40:3 about his own ministry (John 1:23).

Ministry

Galilean ministry. Jesus settled in Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Matthew 4:13-16 records this and cites Isaiah 9:1-2: “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.”

Healings. When John the Baptist in prison sent disciples to ask whether Jesus was the coming Messiah, Jesus answered by listing his works: “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:2-6). This is the list of messianic signs in Isaiah 35:5-6 and Isaiah 61:1.

Anointed by the Spirit. Luke 4:16-21 records Jesus reading Isaiah 61:1-2 in the Nazareth synagogue and saying “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Teaching in parables. Matthew 13:34-35 cites Psalm 78:2: “I will open my mouth in parables.”

The triumphal entry

The triumphal entry into Jerusalem is recorded in all four Gospels (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19). Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, in direct fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9: “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The donkey rather than a war horse is the specific detail. A king coming on a donkey is a peaceful king, not a conquering general. The fit between Zechariah’s specification and Jesus’s actual entry is precise.

Betrayal

A close friend. Judas was one of the twelve. Jesus cites Psalm 41:9 (“He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me”) as fulfilled in Judas’s betrayal (John 13:18).

Thirty pieces of silver. The chief priests paid Judas thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16). The amount matches Zechariah 11:12 exactly.

Thrown into the temple and used for the potter’s field. After his remorse, Judas threw the silver into the temple. The chief priests would not put blood money in the treasury, so they used it to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers (Matthew 27:3-10). Zechariah 11:13’s “Throw it to the potter” is fulfilled in concrete detail.

Trial

Silent before accusers. Jesus refused to answer many of the charges against him at the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:62-63) and before Pilate (Matthew 27:13-14). Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.”

False witnesses. Matthew 26:59-60 records the false-witness testimony before the Sanhedrin. Psalm 35:11: “Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know.”

Crucifixion

The crucifixion is the densest concentration of prophetic fulfillments in Jesus’s life.

Pierced hands and feet. Psalm 22:16. Roman crucifixion put nails through the hands or wrists and through the feet.

Casting lots for clothing. All four Gospels record the soldiers casting lots for Jesus’s clothing (Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:34, John 19:23-24). John 19:24 cites Psalm 22:18 explicitly: “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

Forsaken cry. Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 record Jesus’s cry from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The opening line of Psalm 22, spoken word for word.

Thirst and sour wine. John 19:28-29 records that Jesus said “I thirst” and was given sour wine, fulfilling Psalm 69:21 and Psalm 22:15.

Bones not broken. John 19:32-37 records that the Romans broke the legs of the two men crucified beside Jesus to hasten their deaths but did not break his because they found him already dead. John explicitly cites Exodus 12:46 and Psalm 34:20 (“Not one of his bones will be broken”) and Zechariah 12:10 (“They will look on him whom they have pierced”) as fulfilled.

Spear thrust. John 19:34 records the soldier piercing Jesus’s side with a spear. Zechariah 12:10’s “him whom they have pierced” is fulfilled.

Mocked while dying. Psalm 22:6-8 had predicted: “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; ‘He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him.’” Matthew 27:39-43 records exactly this: passersby wagged their heads and said “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now.”

Burial

Buried with the rich. Isaiah 53:9 had predicted that the suffering servant would be “with the wicked and with a rich man in his death.” Jesus was crucified with the wicked (two criminals beside him) and buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, “a rich man” (Matthew 27:57). Both halves of the double-prediction fulfilled in one event.

Resurrection

Not see corruption. Psalm 16:10: “You will not let your holy one see corruption.” Peter cites this at Pentecost (Acts 2:25-31) and argues that David himself died and his body decayed, so he must have been speaking as a prophet of the Messiah.

Third day. Jesus repeatedly predicted his resurrection on the third day (Matthew 16:21, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22). This fits Hosea 6:2 (“on the third day he will raise us up”) and Jonah 1:17 (the three days and three nights Jesus cites as the sign of Jonah, Matthew 12:39-40).

The historical case for the resurrection itself is the subject of The Resurrection.

The cumulative pattern

The list above is not complete. Standard catalogues of messianic prophecies and fulfillments contain between 40 and 300 items depending on the criteria. Three observations about the pattern:

Some prophecies could not be deliberately fulfilled. Jesus could not arrange to be born in Bethlehem. He could not arrange his Davidic lineage. He could not arrange Daniel’s seventy-weeks timing. He could not arrange the Roman census or the timing of Augustus’s decrees. These prophecies are independent of any choice he made.

Some prophecies could only be fulfilled by his enemies. The casting of lots for his clothing, the piercing, the mocking words, the burial arrangement, the silence before accusers: these were the actions of Roman soldiers, Jewish religious authorities, a Roman governor, and a wealthy disciple. None of them were conspiring with Jesus to fulfill prophecy.

Some prophecies could only be fulfilled after his death. The resurrection appearances, the founding of a global movement, the spread to the Gentiles, the seating at the right hand of the Father: these are fulfilments that no impostor could manufacture by his own action.

The convergence of the pattern of prophecy on the pattern of one life is the central evidence. The probability that any other figure in history has matched this set is the question for the reader to weigh.