Luke 24:25-27 “Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
Many prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah. Included in this number are Samuel, Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and Zechariah. Each one accurately predicted His coming and described His life on earth as well as His death and resurrection.
One of my favorites passages is Isaiah 53 written by the prophet Isaiah as he speaks of Jesus the Messiah. I have highlighted the verses which speak to my heart of Jesus..
Isaiah 53:1-12 “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.”
From this passage in Isaiah, Jesus is described as one who had no physical beauty that we would want to make Him King. He would be despised and rejected, oppressed and afflicted, sorrowful and familiar with grief. He would be wounded by beatings and scourging for our sins. He would be crucified on the cross for the sins of many and would make intercession for us in heaven. He would be placed in a rich man’s tomb after dying as a sacrifice for all sin.
For a listing of prophecies fulfilled in the Old Testament see http://www.simplybible.com/f986.htm
God’s plan of salvation would be fulfilled in the life and death of Jesus. Do you know Him as Lord and Savior? Are you part of the family of God?