“Messiah” means “anointed one.” To be “anointed” means to be chosen for a special purpose. God anointed Jesus – and Jesus willingly volunteered – to die as a ransom for Adam, putting into motion a plan that will bring all who have ever died back to life in God’s future kingdom.
The Old Testament Scriptures were written by various authors over a thousand years before Jesus would come. With God’s help, these Old Testament writers prophesied – meaning, foretold specific aspects about Jesus’ life – so people living in New Testament times (and all of us today) could identify that Jesus was the Messiah.
So, to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, God’s anointed one, we go to the prophecies of the Old Testament. There are hundreds, but here are just a few:
The Old Testament writer Micah (5:2) said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, (“one to rule”) and sure enough, many years later, that’s where Jesus was born! (Luke 2:4-7)
Hosea (11:1) said God’s son would flee to Egypt, and that’s exactly what happened when King Herod wickedly ordered that all baby boys should be killed. Warned about this in a dream, Joseph took Mary and the baby Jesus to safely hide in Egypt.
Psalms (78:2-4) prophesied how God’s teachings would be communicated through parables – meaning, through His son, the Messiah. A parable is a story meant to teach a lesson or show right from wrong. Jesus taught using many parables. (Matthew 13:34,35)
Isaiah (53:3) prophesied the Messiah would be rejected, and it’s true that many Jewish people – his own people – did not accept Jesus. (John 1:11, Luke 23:18)
In Psalms (41:9) and Zechariah (11:12,13), we learn how Jesus would be betrayed by a close friend (then see John 13:26-31) for 30 pieces of silver (then see Matthew 26:14,25). We know this was Judas Iscariot, who accepted that exact amount of money to reveal the location of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane so the chief priests could arrest him.
Most tragic of all, Psalms (22:14,16) prophesied that the Messiah would die by painful crucifixion. We then read about this happening to Jesus in the four gospels. (see Matthew 27:27-50; Mark 15:16-37; Luke 23:26-46; John 19:16-30)
So, how do we know Jesus was the Messiah? The many prophecies of the Old Testament, written thousands of years before Jesus came, point to the details of his life that prove no one else could have been the promised Messiah. There are many exciting prophecies in the Bible that have yet to come true, and God’s faithful people eagerly await them!
This video is from Christian Questions Podcast. For more information please go to https://christianquestions.com
