Over the course of this entire series of drive-thru history, we’ve mentioned ancient prophecies about a future Messiah that the Gospels say were fulfilled in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. Remarkably, scholars count hundreds of these prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures – over three hundred. In fact, even more remarkable, these predictions were made by multiple authors over the course of about a thousand-year time period.
When the resurrected Jesus was eating fish with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee, he reminded them of the things that had happened during his ministry. For the first time, Jesus opened their eyes to all the prophecies that had been fulfilled by him. He said, “This is what I told you while I was still with you, everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms.” (Luke 24:44) Again, we’re talking about Jesus being the fulfilment of over 300 prophecies without missing a single note. The odds of that happening by chance are zero and so for any person to fulfil them all, it would take their circumstances being divinely orchestrated. In fact, that is the claim of the Gospels. Now while many of the prophecies of the future Messiah were general in nature, some were very specific, like where the Messiah would be born and how he would die.
The Messiah will be a descendent of Abraham of the tribe of Judah of the house of David. He will be conceived by a virgin, born in Bethlehem and taken to Egypt as a child. The Messiah will be heralded by the messenger of the Lord and anointed by the Holy Spirit to minister in Galilee, perform miracles and preach good news. He will cleanse the temple, enter Jerusalem as a king riding on a donkey, be rejected by the Jewish people and betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver. The Messiah will die a humiliating death involving rejection, mocking, beating the piercing of his hands and feet and the piercing of his side. He will be crucified with thieves and his executioners will cast lots for his clothing. They will give him gall and vinegar to drink but unlike the other victims none of his bones will be broken. In the end, he will be buried in a rich man’s tomb but will rise from the dead and ascend into heaven.