Old Testament Messianic Prophecies

There are over 100 Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. While I have not personally researched all 100+, there are many that make it quite clear that Jesus was the prophet predicted in the Old Testament. While some are admittedly rather vague, others are very clear and precise, and it could be honestly said that no one who has ever existed or who will ever exist could possibly fulfill all of the prophecies, with the exception of Jesus of Nazareth.  In fact, no one other than Jesus has even come close to fulfilling half of them. For the best prophecies, I would recommend looking at Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53.
While many have made the claim that Jesus may have been an ordinary man with delusions of grandeur, who somehow came to believe that he was the predicted Messiah and set about to fulfill the prophecies, there are many that no ordinary man could have arranged. While He could have arranged a few (such as riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, or His praying for His transgressors), others neither He nor His followers had no control over (such as the circumstances of His birth, or what the Romans did to His body and with His garments after dying on the cross)

Here are just a few of the prophecies and fulfillments:

FROM ISAIAH

One of the richest batch of prophecies is in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, verses 3 through 12. These ten verses contain an incredible twenty prophecies which Jesus fulfilled.

Isaiah 53:3-12 "He is despised and rejected of men (1); a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (2): and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not (3). Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows (4): yet we did esteem him stricken (5), smitten of God (6), and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions(7), he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (8). All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all (9). He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth (10): he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb (11), so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living (12): for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked (13), and with the rich in his death (14); because he had done no violence (15), neither was any deceit in his mouth (16). Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him (17); he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days (18), and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities (19). Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (20)" (KJV)

Their fulfillments:
1) The Messiah would be despised and rejected of men. Fulfilled in Luke 23:35 "And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God." (KJV)

2) The Messiah would be acquainted with grief. Fulfilled in Luke 22:44 "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (KJV)

3) The Messiah's followers would hide their faces and not esteem Him. Fulfilled in Matthew 26:69-72 "Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man." (KJV) and also Mark 14:50 "And they (Jesus' Apostles) all forsook him, and fled." (KJV)

4) The Messiah would take up our griefs and sorrows. Fulfilled in Matthew 8:16-17 "When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (KJV)

5) The Messiah would be struck. Fulfilled in Luke 22:64 "And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?" (KJV)

6) The Messiah would be smitten of God. Fulfilled in Matthew 27:46 "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (KJV)

7) The Messiah would be wounded for our transgressions. Fulfilled in John 19:34 "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water." (KJV)

8) By the Messiah's stripes we would be healed. Fulfilled in 1 Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." (KJV)

9) The Messiah would suffer the iniquity of us all. Fulfilled in 1 Peter 3:1 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." (KJV)

10) The Messiah would not open His mouth before His accusers. Fulfilled in Matthew 27:12 "And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing." (KJV)

11) The Messiah would be a sacrificial lamb. Fulfilled in 1 Pet 1:19 "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (KJV)

12) The Messiah would die. Fulfilled in Mark 15:37 "And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost." (KJV)

13) The Messiah would die with the wicked. Fulfilled in Mark 15:27 "And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left." (KJV)

14) He would be buried with the rich. Fulfilled in Matt 27:57-60 "When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed." (KJV)

15) The Messiah would do no violence. Fulfilled in Matthew 26:52 "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." (KJV) Also, Jesus never committed violence against anyone.

16) The Messiah would not deceive. Fulfilled in Ephesians 4:21 "If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus." (KJV)

17) The Messiah's punishment would be God's will. Fulfilled in Matthew 26:39. "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (KJV)

18) The Messiah would live after having died. Fulfilled in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (KJV)

19) The Messiah would bear the iniquities of many. Fulfilled in Hebrew 9:28 "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." (KJV)

20) The Messiah would make intercession for His transgressors. Fulfilled in Luke 23:33-34. "And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." (KJV)

Other fulfilled prophecies from Isaiah:

21) The Messiah would be born of a virgin
Predicted in Isaiah 7:14. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Matt 1:18-20 "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." (KJV)

Note: As many Bible critics have pointed out, the Hebrew word for 'virgin' here ("Almah") does sometimes mean 'young woman'. Yet by the context in Isaiah 7:14, it's quite clear that 'virgin' is the appropriate translation. A young woman giving birth would hardly be a sign from God, yet a virgin giving birth is quite obviously quite a miracle. Also, some have tried to claim that the prophecy was not fulfilled since the savior was named 'Jesus', not 'Immanuel'. Immanuel is a title, not a proper name, which means 'God with us'. Jesus is often referred to by this title, even in the New Testament.

22) The Messiah would begin His ministry by bringing light to Zebulun and Naphtali.
Prophesied in Isaiah 9:1-2 "Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Matthew 4:13 "And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim." (KJV)

23) He would be a healer.
Prophesied in Isaiah 35:5 "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Matthew 11:4-5 "Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." (KJV)

24) He will be compared to a shepherd
Prophesied in Isaiah 40:11 "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." (KJV)
Fulfilled in John 10:14-15 "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep." (KJV) And also in other places in the New Testament.

25) The Messiah's followers would not hunger or thirst.
Prophesied in Isaiah 49:10 "They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them." (KJV)
Fulfilled in John 6:33 "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." (KJV) And in John 7:37 "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." (KJV)

26) The Messiah would give us spiritual freedom.
Prophesied in Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;" (KJV)
Fulfilled in John 8:36 "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (KJV)

FROM PSALMS

The book of Psalms also has many Messianic prophecies which Jesus fulfilled. One of the most stunning is Psalm 22, which echoes, far in advance, the state of Jesus upon the cross. Oddly, this was probably written long before the Jewish people were familiar with crucifixion.

Psalms 22:7-18 "All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. (27) But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help (28). Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. (29) They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. (30) My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws (31); and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet (32). I may tell all my bones (33): they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture (34)." (KJV)

27) Those watching would ask why God wasn't delivering Him. Fulfilled in Mark 15:29-30 "And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross." (KJV)

28) None would help the Messiah. Fulfilled in Mark 14:50 "And they all forsook him, and fled." (KJV)

29) Many of His foes would witness the crucifixion. Fulfilled in Luke 23:27,35 "And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him…And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God." (KJV)

30) While there is no direct New Testament passage, what is described here is what one could easily imagine being crucified would feel like.  Bones being pulled out of joint was one of the most common results of crucifixion.

31) The Messiah would thirst. Fulfilled in John 19:28. "After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst." (KJV)

32) The Messiah would have his hands and feet pierced. Fulfilled in the crucifixion, in which Jesus was nailed to the cross through His hands and feet.

33) The Messiah would not have any bones broken. Fulfilled in John 19:33 "But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs." (KJV) Also foretold in Psalms 34:20.

34) They would cast lots for his garments: Fulfilled in Luke 23:34 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." (KJV)

Other Psalms prophecies.

35) The rulers would plot against the Messiah.
Prophesied in Psalms 2:2-3 "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Matthew 26:3 "Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him." (KJV)

36) False witnesses would come against the Messiah.
Prophesied in Psalms 35:11 "False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Mark 14:57-58 "And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands." (KJV)

37) The Messiah would be given vinegar and gall to drink.
Prophesied in Psalms 69:21 "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Matthew 27:34 "They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink." (KJV)

38) The Messiah would speak in parables.
Prophesied in Psalms 78:2 "I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Matthew 13:34 "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them." (KJV)

39) The Messiah would be refused.
Prophesied in Psalms 118:22 "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Acts 4:11 "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner." (KJV) Also in Luke 20:17-19, Ephesians 2:20 and 1 Peter 2:7

Other Old Testament Prophecies

40) The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem
Prophesied in Micah 5:2 "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Matthew 2:1 "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem." (KJV)

41) The Messiah would come before the scepter (the rule or kingship) passes from Judah
Prophesied in Genesis 49:10 "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." (KJV)
Fulfilled in what we know historically. In the first decade of A.D., approximately ten years after Jesus' birth, rule over the Jewish people was passed to a non-Jew. This disturbed the Jews of that time greatly, who feared that the prophecy had been fulfilled without the Messiah having come. Little did they know, the Messiah was among them, but only a small child at the time.

42) The Messiah would be preceded by a messenger.
Prophesied in Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts." (KJV) This messenger was also foretold in Malachi 4:5, Isaiah 40:3-10, and Ezekiel 29:21
Fulfilled in Luke 7:27-28 "This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (KJV)

43) The Messiah would come from among the Israelites.
Prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15 "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." (KJV) Also foretold in Genesis 17:3-7, Numbers 24:17
Fulfilled in Matthew 1:1 "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." (KJV)
Note: That Jesus would be specifically of the branch of Jesse was foretold in Isaiah 11:1 and 11:10. Mary's genealogy in the book of Luke shows that she was of the branch of Jesse. See Luke 3:32. And that Jesus would be a descendant of David was foretold in Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15 and Isaiah 9:7, and is confirmed by Luke 3:31

44) The Messiah would ride a donkey
Prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Mark 11:7 "And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him." (KJV)

45) The Messiah would be from the branch of David
Prophecied in Jeremiah 23:5  "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." (KJV)
Fulfilled in Matthew 1:1  "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." (KJV)

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