Prophecy Fulfilled

One very outstanding and undeniably unique aspect of Jesus' life is that it fulfilled literally hundreds of predictions and prophecies written in the Bible. Made by ancient prophets and seers--many of them centuries before He was born--these prophecies gave specific details regarding His birth, life, and death that no mere mortal could possibly have fulfilled.

In the first books of the Bible, over 300 such predictions about the "Messiah" or "Savior" can be found. Twentieth-century archaeological discoveries of hundreds of ancient Old Testament manuscripts have proven without a doubt that these prophecies were indeed written centuries before Jesus was born. Here are only a few of them:

Born to a virgin

In 750 B.C., the prophet Isaiah made the following prediction:

"The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son" (Isaiah 7:14).

Seven and a half centuries later, a young virgin in Israel named Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel, who announced to her that she would bear a Son. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Mary asked the angel how this could be, seeing she had not had intercourse with any man. And the angel answered 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." (See Luke 1:26-35.)

Birthplace

A full 700 years before Jesus' birth, the prophet Micah foretold the exact town where the Messiah would be born:

"You, Bethlehem, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).

Though Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, in northern Israel, they were forced to travel to Bethlehem at the time Mary was about to give birth, in order to take part in a nationwide census. It was during their time in Bethlehem that Jesus was born.

Crucifixion

Another outstanding prophecy regarding the Messiah was made by Israel's King David around the year 1000 B.C. In his prophecy, David gave details of a cruel and agonizing death which he himself never suffered:

"I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within me... Dogs have surrounded me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet... They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots" (Psalm 22:14-18).

King David died a peaceful, natural death, so we know he was not talking about himself in this passage of Scripture. But also being a prophet, David predicted with uncanny accuracy the circumstances surrounding the cruel death on the cross of the Messiah, the Christ that was to come:

"I am poured out like water... my heart is melted within me." Jesus not only poured out His life for us spiritually, but the New Testament tells us that shortly after He died, while He was still hanging on the cross, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. (See John 19:34.)

"All my bones are out of joint." This describes one of the horrors of death by crucifixion: The weight of the victim's body literally pulls his arms out of their sockets.

"Dogs have surrounded me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me." The New Testament tells us that Jesus' wicked and vengeful religious enemies, the Scribes and the Pharisees, gathered around Him as He was nailed on the cross, mocking and reviling Him. (See Matthew 27:39-44.)

"They pierced my hands and my feet." This is probably the most astounding prediction within this prophecy. Crucifixion was not practiced by the Jews of David's time. Their religious laws demanded that criminals comdemned to die be stoned to death. But God showed His prophet, David, how the Messiah would die 10 centuries later, executed at the hands of an empire that did not even exist in David's day--Rome--whose principal means of executing criminals was crucifixion.

"They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." In the Gospels we find the fulfillment of this prophecy: "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. They said therefore among themselves, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be'" (John 19:23-24).

Betrayal

In 487 B.C., the prophet Zechariah wrote:

"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" (Zechariah 11:12).

On the night that Jesus was arrested by His enemies, the New Testament tells us that Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests 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" (Matthew 26:14-15).

Imagine!--Five hundred years before the event took place, God's prophet, Zechariah, predicted the exact price that Jesus' enemies would pay to His traitorous disciple, Judas!

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What mere human can choose his own birthplace? Or what mortal man can--or would--cause the officials of a foreign government to order his death by a terribly agonizing execution? How could anyone manipulate his bitter enemies to pay a specific price for his betrayal, mock and revile him as he was dying, and cause a band of soldiers to pierce his side after he had died and gamble for his clothing?

Yet Jesus willingly suffered these things for you and me. He took on our sins through His death at the cross, so that we, through believing on Him, might be saved. And in so doing, He fulfilled over 300 specific predictions regarding His birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection! Truly He was--and is--unique in every sense of the word!

All this is also irrefutable evidence that the Bible is indeed a source of truth and wisdom. And since the many prophecies foretelling Jesus' birth and life were fulfilled, we can only conclude that the many other prophecies in the Bible about Jesus' return to Earth, to rule and reign in love, will be fulfilled as well!