Jesus is the most talked about person in the history of the world. Why is that? Why so much controversy? Many people love Him, and many people hate Him? Why? When He came to this world, he showed nothing but love and kindness. Why do people doubt Him? He has been written about not only in the Bible, but in historical writings as well. It is hard to dispute He existed, though many do. Many doubt that He is who He says He is. But He was written about throughout the Old Testament and many prophesies pointed to Him.
Genesis 12:1-3
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
From Genesis to Zechariah, prophesies were written about Jesus Christ coming to this earth to redeem us. Ever since The Fall, when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and sin began in the world, God had a plan to send His Son to save us from our sin. He had a plan to bless the nations. And that would come through His covenant with Abraham.
Genesis 3:15
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
When Eve was deceived by the serpent in the Garden of Eden and chose to disobey God by eating of the one forbidden fruit, the world was cursed. The devil would continually deceive people and lead them astray. The world would be full of temptations, selfishness, greed, arrogance and on and on. And the devil would be there to accuse us that we are not worthy to be God’s children, and he has been doing that throughout history. But there was One who would come to defeat Satan and his lies, and conquer sin and death. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would come to this earth to pay for our sins on the cross. He would show the world the truth, He would give His life, be raised again, and sit at the right hand of God the Father and rule the world one day.
Isaiah 53:2-12
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. 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.
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
There are so many scriptures in the New Testament that show this prophesy fulfilled in Jesus. And there are so many more prophesies that have been fulfilled by Him, and many yet to come.
He was despised and rejected by men:
Matthew 13:53-58
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Luke also describes when He read a scripture in Isaiah and proclaimed that He fulfilled the prophecy. People in Nazareth became so angry with Him they were going to throw Him off the cliff (see Luke 4:16-30). Throughout the gospels the religious leaders of the day would not accept Him as their Messiah and sought to get rid of Him.
We have turned, every one, to his own way:
Romans 5:6-8
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He was wounded for our transgressions:
Mark 15:37-39
And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
Smitten by God:
Matthew 27:45-46
Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
By His stripes we are healed:
John 19:1-4
So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
We have turned, every one, to his own way:
Romans 3:23-26
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
All we like sheep have gone astray
Mark 14:48-52
Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
Then they all forsook Him and fled. Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.
He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth:
Matthew 27:12-14
And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.
Luke 23:8-11
Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.
And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death
Luke 23:50-53
Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.
He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many
Luke 23:39-43
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Even at His dying breath, he was seeking to save lost souls. And in the thief’s dying breath, He was saved by His faith. No good works, not baptism, no church membership, just faith. As Ephesians 2:8-9 says, we are saved by God’s grace through faith, not by works. It is by Jesus’ blood; by His sacrifice, giving His life and bearing all of our sins that we are saved. There are so many more scriptures in the Old Testament that point to Jesus’ life and death, and salvation to the Jews and gentiles through Christ. We will continue in the next posts. May this bless you and I pray that many will realize that Jesus is not only real, but the Son of God and our Redeemer and Savior of our sins.
My Daily Scriptures 