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Old Testament Prophecies and Verses About Jesus Christ
March 6, 2021

The past several months we studied the Book of Acts and saw the faith and devotion of the early church along with the sufferings and persecutions they faced. The Apostle Paul found himself frequently defending himself before religious authorities and for his defense cited verses from the Bible to show how what he believed was aligned to what was written in the Bible. The verses Paul used, the verses that the early church used were all what we would think of today as Old Testament verses and they focused on the prophecies and verses about Jesus Christ. As we start thinking of the Spring Holy Days and the Passover, it is timely for us to reflect on these prophecies.

Paul often found himself defending the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a central theme to the Christian Passover. During the Old Testament and immediately prior to the exodus from Egypt, a lamb was sacrificed and its blood was spread on the doorway to prevent the destroyer from entering the house. This lamb was to be memorialized as the Lord’s Passover. This accompanied the eating of unleavened bread. During the time of the Exodus, a sourdough process was used using airborne yeast particles to let the bread rise and this process would be cut short by the hasty departure. The bread did not become puffed up.

Exodus 12:15-27
Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.

Paul named Jesus Christ as our Passover lamb and urged the reader to get rid of the old leaven, which puffed us up. Today we no longer sacrifice a lamb at the Passover because Jesus Christ is our Passover who died once for all and we recognize that which puffs us up is sin. We need to instead humble ourselves before God devoting ourselves to a live without sin as we keep the Christian Days of Unleavened Bread and the Christian Passover with sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We know from the historical account that Jesus was lifted up to be crucified and it was Jesus who linked this to an event that happened with Moses during the forty years in the wilderness. God had sent fiery serpents to the people because they began to complain about God and Moses. These fiery serpents bit many of the children of Israel who would die from the snake bite. Moses knew the people were angry with him and God and continued to pray for them. God told Moses to make a fiery serpent out of brass and put it on a pole so that all who walked by could look up to see it. Those who were bitten by the serpent who looked up on the brass serpent on the pole lived. What is understood and not stated is anyone who was bitten by the fiery serpent who did not look up on the brass serpent died.

Numbers 21:6-9
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

All of mankind has been bitten by that serpent of old, Satan the Devil and without forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ, there is no hope for any of us. Each and every one of us needs Jesus Christ in our life to be saved. Without Jesus there is no hope of eternal life. Jesus explained this to Nicodemus.

John 3:14-15
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

King David was a man after God’s own heart even though he was quite imperfect. Living a life where he took bold action killing Goliath, a giant that no other warrior of Israel would dare challenge, David also had an artistic side and verses show he not only danced when happy, he wrote many of the psalms. One of these psalms foretells the crucifixion and how Jesus would be forsaken by God. It also shows that Jesus would suffer during both day and night conditions.

Psalm 22:1-2
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

Jesus was crucified and lifted up to die before the people. As He neared death, Jesus cried out with a loud voice as day turned to night and said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, a fulfillment of what David wrote in Psalm twenty-two.

Mark 15:33-34
And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Forsaken by God and lifted on a pole before the people, many who came to the crucifixion derided Jesus and scorned Him. In their mind Jesus was a fraud who got what He deserved believing He had trusted in God who let Him down. They did not understand that what they were observing was prophesied.

Psalm 22:6-8
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 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.

In Isaiah, it is recorded for us that upon whom the iniquities of mankind would be placed, that this person would be numbered with the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12
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.

Jesus was ridiculed and mocked by people when he was crucified along with two other men. These other men, the transgressors with whom Jesus was numbered also ridiculed and mocked Jesus. We can see the fulfillment of the passage from Psalm twenty-two and Isaiah in Mark chapter fifteen

Mark 15:27-32
And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. 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. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.

At the very end of his physical life, Jesus became very thirsty. During the crucifixion, none of Jesus’ bones were broken, though it was a practice used to hasten the process, this time at the request of the Jews who did not want the bodies of these men to remain crucified during the Holy Day. When the soldiers observed Jesus to be already dead, instead of breaking the leg bones, they opted instead to pierce his side with a spear to verify death, causing blood and water to spill out.

John 19:28-37
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

In Mark, we see that the Centurion who oversaw the crucifixion saw that Jesus was the son of God.

Mark 15:39
And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

The early church including the apostle Paul had to defend their faith from attacks brought on by the religious authorities, and they had to use what we think of as Old Testament verses to defend their faith. Today some ignore the Old Testament as irrelevant to the Christian faith. We know our belief in Jesus as Messiah, our Lord and Savior can also be established through these same verses, and there are more verses than what this study covers and if you wish to hear more, you can listen to the companion sermon or read the sermon transcript.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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