Jesus is unique in that his life was prophesied in detail by Bible prophets centuries before he was born. Below is a selection of Bible prophecies that found fulfillment during the life of Jesus the Messiah about 2,000 years ago.
The commentaries below are from the second edition of the book, 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies, by George Konig and Ray Konig, who are the authors and copyright holders of the material. The commentaries are reprinted here with written permission from the authors. The fourth edition, revised and expanded, of 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies is available through Amazon.com.
Bible prophecy: Isaiah 40:1-5,9
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 27 AD
In Isaiah 40:3, the prophet writes about a person in the desert who prepares the way for the Lord. This prophecy foreshadowed the life of John the Baptist, who played an important role in preparing the groundwork for the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born shortly after John the Baptist about 2000 years ago. The book of Matthew records many events of the life of Jesus and of John the Baptist. In Matthew 3:1-2, it says: "In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea, and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Isaiah 40:1-5,9 (NIV):
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
9 . . . say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!"
Bible prophecy: Isaiah 35:4-6
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 27-31 AD
Isaiah, who lived about 2700 years ago, prophesied that there would come a time when God would arrive and heal the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, the mobility of the lame, and the voice of the mute.
Jesus did each of these things in a spiritual sense, in offering truth and salvation, and in a literal sense by performing miracles of healing.
The web site at About-Jesus.org provides details about 34 miracles performed by Jesus.
Isaiah 35:4-6 (NIV):
4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
Bible prophecy: Isaiah 61:1-2
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 27-31 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 4:14-21 (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 (NIV):
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."
Bible prophecy: Deuteronomy 18:15-18
Prophecy written: As early as 1400 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 5 BC to 31 AD
In Deuteronomy 18:15-18, Moses told the Jews that God would raise up another prophet like Moses. After Moses, there was a succession of prophets, including Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and finally Jesus Christ. Jesus was very much like Moses. Both were delivered from death as infants. Both were prophets. Both performed miracles. Both were leaders. And both were intermediaries between God and man. Moses offered to die, if necessary, if God would forgive the sins of the people that Moses was leading (see Exodus 32:30-33). Jesus did die for our sins, so that people could enter the Kingdom of Heaven. No other prophet is as much like Moses than Jesus.
Deuteronomy 18:15-18 (NIV):
15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
16 For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die."
17 The LORD said to me: "What they say is good.
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
Bible prophecy: Zechariah 9:9
Prophecy written: Between 520 and 518 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 31 AD
In Zechariah 9:9, the prophet speaks of a future king presenting himself to Jerusalem while riding on a humble donkey. This foreshadowed something that happened about 500 years later. As explained in Luke 19:35-37, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and presented himself as the Messiah, the King.
Alfred Edersheim, a Christian Jew who lived during the 1800s, studied ancient Rabbinical writings, and said that Zechariah 9:9 was often interpreted as being about a Messiah. In his book, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Edersheim wrote: "The Messianic application of this verse in all its parts has already been repeatedly indicated. We may here add that there are many traditions about this donkey on which the Messiah is to ride; and so firm was the belief in it, that, according to the Talmud, 'if anyone saw a donkey in his dreams, he will see salvation' (Ber 56 b)."
The name "Jesus," means "salvation" in Hebrew.
Zechariah 9:9 (NIV):
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Bible prophecy: John 4:19-26
Prophecy written: During the first century
Prophecy fulfilled: Since the time of Jesus
In Matthew 5:17, John 4:25-26, and in other verses, Jesus proclaims that he was the Messiah promised by the Old Testament prophets. Jesus remains the first and only person in history to be taken seriously by people throughout the world as being the Messiah that so many of the Bible's prophets had prophesied about.
John 4:19-26 (NIV):
19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
Bible prophecy: Isaiah 9:6-7
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 5 BC
In Isaiah 9:6-7, which was written about 700 years before the time of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah speaks of a son who would be called "Mighty God" and "Eternal Father." Isaiah also indicates that this son would reign on the throne of King David and that this reign would be everlasting. King David is the great, God-obeying king who reigned from about 1050 BC to about 1010 BC. God had promised King David that the reign from David's throne would be everlasting. Christians acknowledge that this promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is a descendant of King David, and whose reign is everlasting. Today, the teachings of Jesus govern the lives of as many as an estimated 2 billion Christians worldwide. The New Testament also says that Jesus will return in the future and that his kingdom will have no end.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV):
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Bible prophecy: Isaiah 53:1-3
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 31 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 commentators that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 actually refers to Israel as a nation and not to an individual Messiah. But, there are several commentaries written by rabbis that confirm that the prophecy refers to a Messiah and not to a nation. Several examples of these writings are listed in the book, The Fifty-Third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, edited by S.R. Driver and A.D. Neubauer. Here are two examples from that book:
"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." - Rabbi Moshe Alshekh, 16th century.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the meaning of which is that since the Messiah bears our iniquities which produce the effect of his being bruised, it follows that whoso will not admit that the Messiah thus suffers for our iniquities, must endure and suffer for them himself." - Rabbi Eliyyah de Vidas, who wrote during the 16th century.
Isaiah 53:1-3 (NIV):
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
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.
Bible prophecy: Daniel 9:24-26
Prophecy written: About 530 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 31 AD
The prophet Daniel was Jewish exile who lived during the time of the Babylonian Captivity, about 500 years before the birth of Jesus. During Daniel's lifetime, the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and had taken many Jews as captives to Babylon. Daniel, while in Babylon, delivered a prophecy of what would happen during the centuries that followed. Here is our summary of Daniel 9:24-26:
1. There would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
2. Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
3. Then an anointed one (Messiah) would be "cut off" (an idiom for "rejected" or "killed").
4. Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
All of these events later happened, in the same order in which they are described in Daniel 9:24-26:
1. After the Medo-Persians had conquered the neo-Babylonian empire about 2500 years ago, they ruled a vast empire that included the land of Israel. About 2400 years ago (about 445 BC), Persian king Artaxerxes gave permission to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem, which was still in ruins after having been destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
2. The Jews rebuilt the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.
3. Then, about 2000 years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Messiah who had been promised by Old Testament prophets. But, many people rejected Jesus as the Messiah and he was crucified by the Romans.
4. About 40 years after Jesus was crucified, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. (The Temple has not been rebuilt since then).
Daniel 9:24-26 (NIV):
24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26 After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
Notes: The commentaries above are from the second edition of the book 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies, Copyright © Ray Konig, and are reprinted here with permission. The fourth edition of 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies is available on Amazon.com.