10 more fulfilled by Jesus

These 10 Old Testament passages were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. They foreshadowed and foretold details about the persecution, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. ("Resurrection" means to be "brought back to life.")

1. The Messiah would suffer and be rejected
Bible passage: Isaiah 53:3
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
In Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the prophet foreshadowed the life and mission of Jesus, who was born about 700 years later. In Isaiah 53:3, the prophet said that a servant of God would be rejected and despised. Jesus was indeed rejected by many people living in the land of Israel, and He was later crucified by the Romans.

It has been claimed by some scholars that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 actually refers to Israel as a nation and not to an individual Messiah. But, at least some of the ancient Rabbis believed that this passage from Isaiah is indeed about an individual Messiah. Hal Lindsey, in his book, "The Promise of Bible Prophecy," wrote the following: Rabbi Moshe Alshekh, one of the great seventeenth-century expositors from Safed, Israel, said "Our Rabbis with one voice accept and affirm the opinion that the prophet is speaking of the King Messiah, and we shall ourselves also adhere to the same view.

Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

2. God's servant would be wounded and whipped
Bible passage: Isaiah 53:5
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
In Isaiah 53:5, prophet described a servant as being punished for the sins of others, and that others would be healed by the wounds of this person. As explained in the Gospel - the four New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - Jesus was crucified for our sins, even though He was sinless. Christians believe that this ultimate sacrifice redeemed us all from sin in the same way that lambs were once sacrificed as a symbolic way of cleansing people from sin. And so, all of us can be accepted into the Kingdom of God, as though we were sinless, if we accept Jesus as our Savior. Christians believe that we are healed through the wounds that Jesus suffered.

Isaiah 53:5
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.

3. God's servant would be silent before His accusers
Bible passage: Isaiah 53:7
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
In the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, Isaiah the prophet wrote about a servant of God. Many people believe this was a prophecy about the life of Jesus Christ, who lived about 700 years later. In Isaiah 53:7, the prophet said that the servant would be afflicted and accused, but like a lamb being led to slaughter, he would remain silent. As explained in Matthew 27:12-14, which was recorded about 700 years after the time of Isaiah, this is what happened to Jesus. He was falsely accused but remained silent and did not protest the accusations. Jesus was crucified by the Romans a short time later.

Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

4. God's servant would be buried in a rich man's tomb
Bible passage: Isaiah 53:9
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
In Isaiah 53:9, the prophet wrote about a sinless servant being put to death with the wicked and buried with the rich. About 700 years after this was believed to have been written, Jesus was put to death along with two criminals and was buried in a tomb owned by a wealthy man, as explained in the New Testament. The New Testament says that Jesus was resurrected three days later and ascended into Heaven.

Isaiah 53:9
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

5. God's servant would be crucified with criminals
Bible passage: Isaiah 53:12
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
In Isaiah 53:12, the prophet wrote about a servant who would bear the sins of many people and be punished side-by-side with criminals. Christians believe that Isaiah's description of this servant was a prophecy that was fulfilled during the life of Jesus Christ. As explained in the book of Matthew, Jesus, though sinless, was "numbered with the transgressors" and crucified along with two criminals.

Isaiah 53:12
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

6. Jesus was spat upon and beaten
Bible passage: Isaiah 50:6
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
In Isaiah 50:6, the prophet writes about a servant of God who endures abuse at the hands of sinful people. This servant offers his back to those who beat him, his face to those who rip out his beard, and himself to those who mock and taunt him. Christians historically have believed that this Old Testament passage foreshadowed the life of Jesus Christ, who lived about 700 years after Isaiah. Jesus, as explained in the New Testament, was beaten, mocked and taunted shortly before His crucifixion by the Romans. In Matthew 26:67 NIV, for example, it says: Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"

Isaiah 50:6
I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

7. Psalm 22 foreshadowed the crucifixion of Jesus
Bible passage: Psalm 22:1,7,8,16,17,18
Written: about 1000 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
People are sometimes curious, when they read Matthew 27:46 or Mark 15:34, why Jesus, while dying on the cross, said "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Those words are actually the first line of Psalm 22, which according to Jewish tradition was written by King David about 1,000 years before Jesus was crucified.

Psalm 22 speaks of a man who cries out to God for deliverance from intense persecution. There are parallels between the details in Psalm 22 and the details written in the New Testament about Jesus' crucifixion, such as:

In Psalm 22:7, it speaks of a man surrounded by others who scorn and despise him. This is what happened to Jesus in Matthew 27:39 and Mark 15:29.

In Psalm 22:7, it speaks of a man being mocked, which is similar in the descriptions of Jesus' crucifixion given in Matthew 27:31, Mark 15:20 and Luke 22:63; 23:36.

In Psalm 22:8, it says, "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." In Matthew 27:43, Jesus’ enemies taunted him by saying, "He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him."

In Psalm 22:16, it speaks of a man who was numbered with the transgressors, meaning an innocent man being regarded as being one of a group of criminals. Jesus too was numbered with the transgressors when he was crucified next to two criminals, as described in Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27, Luke 23:32 and John 19:18.

In Psalm 22:16, it speaks of a man whose hands and feet are either pierced, or mauled, or disfigured, depending on which is truly the best English translation of the original verse. In John 19:23,34,37 - Jesus' hands and feet were pierced with nails during the crucifixion process.

In Psalm 22:17, it speaks of a man who would be surrounded by others who stared and gloated at him. This too was the situation for Jesus during the crucifixion, according to Matthew 27:36 and Luke 23:35.

In Psalm 22:18, onlookers gamble for pieces of clothing that belonged to the person being persecuted. As explained in Matthew 27:35, Roman soldiers gambled (cast lots) for articles of Jesus' clothing while he was being crucified.

There are other descriptions in Psalm 22 that sound like an accurate description of what would happen to a person being crucified, such as the disjointing of bones, the drying up of a person's strength, an intense sense of thirst, a heart melting like wax (Jesus was stabbed in the heart with a sword during his crucifixion), and being "poured out" of one's body. When Jesus was stabbed in the heart with a sword, blood and water poured out from the wound.

Many Christian scholars have written about their views of the significance of Psalm 22 and the crucifixion of Jesus. The late Charles Briggs, who had been a professor at the Union Theological Seminary, said "These sufferings [of Psalm 22] transcend those of any historical sufferer, with the single exception of Jesus Christ. They find their exact counterpart in the sufferings of the cross.... This ideal is a Messianic ideal, and finds its only historical realization in Jesus Christ."

Psalm 22:1,7,8,16,17,18
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8 "He trusts in the LORD ; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

8. Zechariah foreshadowed the crucifixion of Jesus
Bible passage: Zechariah 12:10
Written: between 520 and 518 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
In Zechariah, chapter 12, the Bible said that there will be a time when the world's nations attack Jerusalem. In Zechariah 12:10, the Bible says that after this attack fails, the people will lament over the one who was "pierced," as one mourns for the loss of a first-born son. Christians traditionally have interpreted this passage as a reference to the return of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was pierced when He was crucified by the Romans about 2000 years ago. Christians believe that Jesus will return in the future to establish an everlasting kingdom.

Zechariah 12:10
"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

9. Isaiah foreshadows the ministry of Jesus
Bible passage: Isaiah 61:1-2
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: About 27 AD
In Isaiah 61, there are passages that speak of an anointed one who preaches the good news to the poor, frees the people who are imprisoned, heals the blind and releases the oppressed. About 700 years after the time of Isaiah, Jesus relates these Bible passages to Himself:

Luke 4:15-20 (NIV translation):
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.
17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,
21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
At this point during the ministry of Jesus, he had already been preaching the good news to the poor and he had already healed many people of various afflictions, including blindness, both in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense.

But Jesus had not yet begun the other part of his mission, which includes a "day of vengeance," which Bible scholar John Gill explains as "the day of vengeance of our God; when vengeance was taken on sin, in the person of Christ; when he destroyed the works of the devil, … and who will take vengeance on antichrist at his spiritual coming, and upon all the wicked at the day of judgment."

With this in mind, it is interesting that Jesus stopped reading Isaiah 61 mid way through verse 2, immediately before the mention of a "day of vengeance."

Isaiah 61:1-2
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,[1] 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

NIV Footnote: [1] Instead of "prisoners," the Greek Septuagint renders the word as "blind."

10. Jesus' resurrection was foreshadowed in Old Testament
Bible passage: Psalm 16:10-11
Written: about 1000 BC
Fulfilled: About 32 AD
In Psalm 16:10-11, the Bible talks of God's refusal to let His "Holy One" remain in a grave after death. This Psalm is believed to have been written about 1000 years before Jesus was born. New Testament writers believed that this Psalm foreshadowed the death and resurrection of Jesus. Resurrection means "brought back to life." There are several reports in the New Testament that say that Jesus was killed and placed in a tomb, but that God brought Jesus back to life a few days later. (See Matthew 28:5-8, Mark 16:5-6, Luke 24:1-7, or John 20:1-18)

Psalm 16:10-11
because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Notes: Bible verses are from the New International Version (NIV) translation.