Prophetic Blue-Print
If the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the primary proof of his claims to be the Messiah, Son of God and Savior of the world, then the remarkable correspondence between the life of Jesus and the Old Testament prophetic blueprint of the coming Messiah and suffering servant is the remarkable confirmation of that proof.
The prophets Micah and Isaiah, writing hundreds of years before Jesus, predicted concerning the Messiah that he would be a descendant of David, that he would be born of a virgin and that he would be born in Bethlehem (Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2). Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem from the virgin Mary in the line of David (Luke 2:1-7; Matthew 1:1-25). These prophecies also say concerning the Messiah that his “origins are from of old, from ancient times,” and call him by the name “Mighty God,” which are consistent with the New Testament identification of Jesus as the incarnation of God (John 1:1-2). The prophets also predicted concerning the Messiah that he would be preceded by a forerunner who would prepare the way before him (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3) and that he would do miracles such as restoring sight to the blind and causing the lame to walk (Isaiah 35:5-6). Jesus was indeed preceded by a well-defined forerunner, John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-6; John 1:35-42), and he did these predicted miracles and many more (Matthew 11:2-6).
Jesus fulfilled these and other prophecies about the Messiah and he also fulfilled a second set of prophecies about the suffering servant. It was not commonly understood in the Old Testament era that both sets of prophecies would be fulfilled in one person. By fulfilling the prophetic blueprint of both the Messiah and suffering servant, Jesus demonstrated that he was the one sent by God to fulfill both roles—as Messiah to bring God’s kingdom to the world, as suffering servant to be the Savior who pays for the sins of the world.
The most clear and amazing of these suffering servant prophecies is found in Isaiah 53. Written about 700 years before Christ, this prophecy describes the purpose for which Jesus would die:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6).
Not only so, but the same prophecy predicts that the people of his time would not understand that he was suffering for this purpose but would reject him and consider him forsaken by God. It predicts that he would die without descendants, that he would be silent before his accusers, that he would be buried in a rich man’s tomb, and that, in the end, he would be honored as great (Isaiah 53:3-4; 7-9, 11-1). Every detail was fulfilled exactly in the experience of Jesus, 700 years later.
Several other details fulfilled in the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus are also described in the Messianic psalms, written by David about 1,000 years before Jesus. Most notable of these is Psalm 22, which opens with the very words spoken by Jesus on the cross:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
The Psalm continues to describe how Jesus would be mocked and insulted, how he would thirst, how his hands and his feet would be pierced and even how people would cast lots for his clothing (see note 1 below). Can it be a mere coincidence that all these things happened, in precise detail, just as written 1,000 years earlier and 700 years earlier? Does this not show that there was in fact a pre-determined plan being worked out, as also spoken of by Isaiah when he says:
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer? (Isaiah 53:10).
Understanding that Jesus fulfilled the prophetic blueprint of both Messiah and suffering servant explains why Jesus did not fully take on the role of king as many expected him to. At one time, the crowd was determined to make Jesus king by force, but he slipped away (John 6:14-15). When Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:33,36). It was not then his purpose to rule with political power, for he knew he had to die for the sins of the world. He clearly identified himself as the Messiah—a king, but deferred the full realization of that role to the future. Thus, when the high priest said to him, “Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God,” he answered:
You have said so. But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:63-64).
The Second Coming
In speaking of his coming on the clouds of heaven, he is referring to his second coming, a topic on which he taught at considerable length on the Mount of Olives just two nights before his arrest. His disciples asked him: “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” He responded by giving eight signs of the end. When the time is ripe, as indicated by these signs, the end will come. There will be great tribulation, such as has never been since the beginning of the world, followed by the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. When this will all happen, he said, no one knows, but we must be ready, lest that day should catch us unprepared (Matthew 24:36-44).
Can we really believe that Jesus is coming again? To see whether we can trust his prediction about his return we should see whether his other predictions came true. Jesus predicted that one of the Twelve would betray him, and Judas did so, even though none of the others suspected Judas, but were shocked that any of them could do such a thing (Matthew 26:20-25; 26:47-50). Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times, which he did, even though he insisted that he would not (Matthew 26:31-35; 26:69-75). Jesus predicted that he was going to Jerusalem to be killed and said he would rise on the third day, and he did (Luke 9:22)! Has anyone else ever dared to call his own resurrection, and succeed in doing so? He predicted that the culmination of God’s judgment would fall on the Jewish people for rejecting the prophets, and that it would happen within one generation. More specifically, he predicted the destruction of the Jewish temple, with not one stone being left on another (Matthew 23:33-36; 24:1-2). Within 40 years, this came true—Roman armies, led by Titus, surrounded Jerusalem and destroyed it in 70 A.D., including the complete destruction of the temple (See “Siege of Jerusalem (70AD)” in Wikipedia, or any other standard encyclopedia).
If Jesus’ past record is any indication, one would be foolish to ignore his prediction that he is coming again. The uncanny correspondence between the signs of the end predicted by Jesus and the situation in the world today also serves to bolster the viability of his prediction and leads many to believe he is coming soon. These eight signs of the end are: (1) that others will falsely claim to be Christ, (2) there will be many wars and rumors of wars, (3) there will be famines, (4) earthquakes, (5) persecution of Christians, (6) many will turn away from the faith, (7) wickedness will increase and (8) the gospel will be preached in the whole world (Matthew 24:3-14). Search for yourself and see if it is not true that all of these signs are being fulfilled in the world today, and with increasing frequency and intensity.
The Apostle Paul speaks also of the sixth sign when he says that the day of the Lord will not come “except there come a falling away first.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, KJV). Note that Jesus predicted that the decline of the faith and the spread of the faith would occur simultaneously. This may seem like a contradiction, and yet it is exactly what we see in the world today. In the Western world, previously the domain of “Christendom,” the Christian faith has been and is declining—first in Europe and now in America. But in the global south, including Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, which Philip Jenkins describes as the “New Christendom” (Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity) as well as in unlikely places like China, Christianity has grown and is growing tremendously.
In America, the decline has been most notable in your generation. From 2001 to 2014, the percentage of Americans who identified as Christians fell from 84% to 70%.(see note 2 below). Much of that decline was due to the turning away from the faith by those now in their 20s and 30s. Isn’t it interesting that by turning away from the faith, your generation is actually fulfilling one of the signs of the end predicted by Jesus 2,000 years ago? Even in denying the faith, you cannot help but to confirm it.
When Jesus comes, will he find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8). He will find it, for he will not come until the gospel has spread to every people group, but will he find it in the places where it once thrived? Will he find it in your generation? Will he find it in you?
Next page: What is faith?
For further study (click and listen)
(1) Bible prophecies fulfilled about Christ (youtube)
(2) John MacArthur on the signs of the end (youtube)
Book resources: (order on amazon or CBD)
(1) David Jeremiah, Is This the End?
If the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the primary proof of his claims to be the Messiah, Son of God and Savior of the world, then the remarkable correspondence between the life of Jesus and the Old Testament prophetic blueprint of the coming Messiah and suffering servant is the remarkable confirmation of that proof.
The prophets Micah and Isaiah, writing hundreds of years before Jesus, predicted concerning the Messiah that he would be a descendant of David, that he would be born of a virgin and that he would be born in Bethlehem (Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2). Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem from the virgin Mary in the line of David (Luke 2:1-7; Matthew 1:1-25). These prophecies also say concerning the Messiah that his “origins are from of old, from ancient times,” and call him by the name “Mighty God,” which are consistent with the New Testament identification of Jesus as the incarnation of God (John 1:1-2). The prophets also predicted concerning the Messiah that he would be preceded by a forerunner who would prepare the way before him (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3) and that he would do miracles such as restoring sight to the blind and causing the lame to walk (Isaiah 35:5-6). Jesus was indeed preceded by a well-defined forerunner, John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-6; John 1:35-42), and he did these predicted miracles and many more (Matthew 11:2-6).
Jesus fulfilled these and other prophecies about the Messiah and he also fulfilled a second set of prophecies about the suffering servant. It was not commonly understood in the Old Testament era that both sets of prophecies would be fulfilled in one person. By fulfilling the prophetic blueprint of both the Messiah and suffering servant, Jesus demonstrated that he was the one sent by God to fulfill both roles—as Messiah to bring God’s kingdom to the world, as suffering servant to be the Savior who pays for the sins of the world.
The most clear and amazing of these suffering servant prophecies is found in Isaiah 53. Written about 700 years before Christ, this prophecy describes the purpose for which Jesus would die:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6).
Not only so, but the same prophecy predicts that the people of his time would not understand that he was suffering for this purpose but would reject him and consider him forsaken by God. It predicts that he would die without descendants, that he would be silent before his accusers, that he would be buried in a rich man’s tomb, and that, in the end, he would be honored as great (Isaiah 53:3-4; 7-9, 11-1). Every detail was fulfilled exactly in the experience of Jesus, 700 years later.
Several other details fulfilled in the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus are also described in the Messianic psalms, written by David about 1,000 years before Jesus. Most notable of these is Psalm 22, which opens with the very words spoken by Jesus on the cross:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
The Psalm continues to describe how Jesus would be mocked and insulted, how he would thirst, how his hands and his feet would be pierced and even how people would cast lots for his clothing (see note 1 below). Can it be a mere coincidence that all these things happened, in precise detail, just as written 1,000 years earlier and 700 years earlier? Does this not show that there was in fact a pre-determined plan being worked out, as also spoken of by Isaiah when he says:
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer? (Isaiah 53:10).
Understanding that Jesus fulfilled the prophetic blueprint of both Messiah and suffering servant explains why Jesus did not fully take on the role of king as many expected him to. At one time, the crowd was determined to make Jesus king by force, but he slipped away (John 6:14-15). When Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:33,36). It was not then his purpose to rule with political power, for he knew he had to die for the sins of the world. He clearly identified himself as the Messiah—a king, but deferred the full realization of that role to the future. Thus, when the high priest said to him, “Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God,” he answered:
You have said so. But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:63-64).
The Second Coming
In speaking of his coming on the clouds of heaven, he is referring to his second coming, a topic on which he taught at considerable length on the Mount of Olives just two nights before his arrest. His disciples asked him: “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” He responded by giving eight signs of the end. When the time is ripe, as indicated by these signs, the end will come. There will be great tribulation, such as has never been since the beginning of the world, followed by the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. When this will all happen, he said, no one knows, but we must be ready, lest that day should catch us unprepared (Matthew 24:36-44).
Can we really believe that Jesus is coming again? To see whether we can trust his prediction about his return we should see whether his other predictions came true. Jesus predicted that one of the Twelve would betray him, and Judas did so, even though none of the others suspected Judas, but were shocked that any of them could do such a thing (Matthew 26:20-25; 26:47-50). Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times, which he did, even though he insisted that he would not (Matthew 26:31-35; 26:69-75). Jesus predicted that he was going to Jerusalem to be killed and said he would rise on the third day, and he did (Luke 9:22)! Has anyone else ever dared to call his own resurrection, and succeed in doing so? He predicted that the culmination of God’s judgment would fall on the Jewish people for rejecting the prophets, and that it would happen within one generation. More specifically, he predicted the destruction of the Jewish temple, with not one stone being left on another (Matthew 23:33-36; 24:1-2). Within 40 years, this came true—Roman armies, led by Titus, surrounded Jerusalem and destroyed it in 70 A.D., including the complete destruction of the temple (See “Siege of Jerusalem (70AD)” in Wikipedia, or any other standard encyclopedia).
If Jesus’ past record is any indication, one would be foolish to ignore his prediction that he is coming again. The uncanny correspondence between the signs of the end predicted by Jesus and the situation in the world today also serves to bolster the viability of his prediction and leads many to believe he is coming soon. These eight signs of the end are: (1) that others will falsely claim to be Christ, (2) there will be many wars and rumors of wars, (3) there will be famines, (4) earthquakes, (5) persecution of Christians, (6) many will turn away from the faith, (7) wickedness will increase and (8) the gospel will be preached in the whole world (Matthew 24:3-14). Search for yourself and see if it is not true that all of these signs are being fulfilled in the world today, and with increasing frequency and intensity.
The Apostle Paul speaks also of the sixth sign when he says that the day of the Lord will not come “except there come a falling away first.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, KJV). Note that Jesus predicted that the decline of the faith and the spread of the faith would occur simultaneously. This may seem like a contradiction, and yet it is exactly what we see in the world today. In the Western world, previously the domain of “Christendom,” the Christian faith has been and is declining—first in Europe and now in America. But in the global south, including Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, which Philip Jenkins describes as the “New Christendom” (Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity) as well as in unlikely places like China, Christianity has grown and is growing tremendously.
In America, the decline has been most notable in your generation. From 2001 to 2014, the percentage of Americans who identified as Christians fell from 84% to 70%.(see note 2 below). Much of that decline was due to the turning away from the faith by those now in their 20s and 30s. Isn’t it interesting that by turning away from the faith, your generation is actually fulfilling one of the signs of the end predicted by Jesus 2,000 years ago? Even in denying the faith, you cannot help but to confirm it.
When Jesus comes, will he find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8). He will find it, for he will not come until the gospel has spread to every people group, but will he find it in the places where it once thrived? Will he find it in your generation? Will he find it in you?
- Psalm 22:1, 7-8, 15-18. For fulfillment, see Mark 15:21-38, especially verse 24 (casting lots for his clothing) and verse 34 (My God, why have you forsaken me?).
- Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World, 6th edition, Paternoster Lifestyle, 2001; Ed Stourton, “The Decline of Religion in the West,” June 26, 2015, posted at http://www.bbc.com
Next page: What is faith?
For further study (click and listen)
(1) Bible prophecies fulfilled about Christ (youtube)
(2) John MacArthur on the signs of the end (youtube)
Book resources: (order on amazon or CBD)
(1) David Jeremiah, Is This the End?