THE RECORD OF FULFILLED PROPHECY

While Jesus appealed to the witness of the miracles which He performed to validate His claim to be God's Son there is another miracle of a different type which gives further credibility to His claims about Himself. Jesus stated that many Old testament prophesies predicted the events of His life, death and resurrection. If these statements that Jesus made are demonstrated to be accurate and the Old Testament prophets did predict the events of His life then this itself would be a miracle. This would also demand that serious consideration must be given to Jesus' other statements and claims regarding His identity and relationship to God.

JESUS CLAIMED THE PROPHETS PREDICTED HIS COMING

(John 5:39-40) "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; {40} and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.

(John 5:45-47) "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. {46} "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. {47} "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

(Luke 24:25-27) And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! {26} "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" {27} And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

(Luke 24:44-47) Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." {45} Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, {46} and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; {47} and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS

The following examples of prophecy fulfilled in the life of Jesus will serve to verify the accuracy of Jesus' claims that the Old Testament prophets predicted the events of His life.

1. His Virgin Birth:

(Isaiah 7:14) "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

(Matthew 1:18-25) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. ..........{22} Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, {23} "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." {24} And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, {25} and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

2. His Birth in Bethlehem:

(Micah 5:2) "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

(Matthew 2:1) Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

3. His Identity as God's Son:

(Psalms 2:7-8) "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee. {8} 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.

(Matthew 3:16-17) And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, {17} and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

4. He would be anointed by God's Spirit:

(Isaiah 11:1-2) Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. {2} And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

(Luke 4:16-21) And He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. {17} And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, {18} "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE DOWNTRODDEN, {19} TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." {20} And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. {21} And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (see Isaiah 61:1-2)

5. His Death by Crucifixion:

(Psalms 22:16) For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.

(Luke 23:33) And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

(John 20:25) The other disciples therefore were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

6. His Resurrection from the Dead:

(Psalms 16:10) For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.

(Acts 2:29-31) "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. {30} "And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS UPON HIS THRONE, {31} he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.