Day 31: Jesus is the Clear Fulfilment of Old Testament Prophecy

MY NAME IS LISA and I’m a recovering skeptic. My distrust began when I was a little girl and was molested by a phony of a deacon who did more damage in the dark than he could ever redeem by teaching Sunday school. Then, after finding out as a teenager that one of the pastors of the church I attended with my dad (my parents were divorced so I was involved in several different churches while growing up) had a long-running affair that was covered up by elders to mitigate potential damage to the church’s reputation and bank account, I became increasingly wary. I didn’t wonder so much about God’s character, but I formed deep suspicions about how much honesty existed within His church. By the time I was in college, I’d digressed to the point that if I couldn’t find historical and pragmatic “proof” with regard to something in the spiritual realm, I didn’t believe it. Which, of course, doesn’t bode very well for a person of faith.

Despite my aversion to dishonesty, I was rarely forthcoming about my own lack of trust. Since the few folks I’d shared my struggles with reacted with disapproval and one insisted on slathering me with oil and hollering to help rid me of such “evil thoughts,” I learned to keep my concerns largely to myself. My nose was always up (pun intended) when it came to sniffing out religious charlatans attempting to fleece unsuspecting flocks, but I stopped talking about it. I joined my friends in praying for miracles and supernatural stuff like that, but only with eyes wide-open and always on the lookout for emotive shenanigans masquerading as the Holy Spirit!

You can probably imagine my reticence when I was about thirty and a friend of a friend named Rita told me that God had spoken to her in a dream about me having a daughter. It was all I could do not to inquire about whether she’d eaten extremely spicy food prior to having that oh-so-personal dream about me! When she explained further that I would become a mother through adoption, I was outwardly polite but inwardly dismissive. By then I’d all but forgotten how my best friend in high school, Cindy, and I had studied the theme of adoption while leading a Bible study together and made a pact to each adopt children when we got older. Rita calmly and respectfully shared several more details about my impending parenthood and future daughter that she sensed were from the Lord, and while I don’t remember how I responded verbatim, my emotional eye roll could’ve caused a tidal wave. To her great credit she responded with much more grace twenty years later, after I brought Missy home from Haiti, and had the humbling joy of telling her that every single detail of her dream had come true!

Before we go any further, I do want to add a brief disclaimer because a dream or vision is much more subjective than enscripturated prophecies (which just means the ones that became actual Scripture, like the examples listed below!) because they can be misinterpreted or manipulated by whoever supposedly had it, and not all “dreamers” are as spiritually mature as my friend Rita. For instance, if I told you God gave me a dream about my future nuptials with Brad Pitt, that would be the result of too much spicy food and not a divine nudge! I’m not advocating that we kick common sense to the curb and, of course, we must always pray for discernment from the Holy Spirit about such things. However, for those of you who, like me, tend to be wary about anything you can’t nail down with facts, here are just a few biblical prophecies about Jesus that should add some fuel to your belief tank:

• Isaiah 7:14 prophesies that the Messiah will be born to a virgin, which clearly happens in Luke 1:26–35.
• Micah 5:2–5 prophesies that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem of Judea, which clearly happens in Luke 2:4–7.
• Psalm 72:10–11 prophesies that kings will bring the Messiah gifts and render Him tribute, which clearly happens in Matthew 2:7–11.
• Second Samuel 7:12–13 prophesies that the Messiah will be a king, from the line of David, which is clearly recorded in Acts 13:22–23.
• Psalm 78:2 prophesies that the Messiah will speak in parables, which is recorded throughout the Gospels.
• Isaiah 40 and Malachi 3 prophesy that someone will prepare the way for the Messiah, which clearly happens through the person and ministry of John the Baptist, as recorded in all four Gospel accounts (i.e., John 1:21–28).
• Zechariah 9:9 prophesies that the Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a colt, which clearly happened during the triumphal entry in John 12:13–15.
• Zechariah 11:12 prophesies that the Messiah would be sold for thirty pieces of silver, which clearly happens through Judas Iscariot’s betrayal (Matt. 26:14–15).
• Zechariah 11:13 prophesies that those thirty pieces of silver would then be used to buy a potter’s field, which clearly happens after Judas committed suicide (Matt. 27:3–7).
• Numbers 9:9–12 prophesies that the Messiah will be a Passover sacrifice but not a bone in His body would be broken, both of which are recorded in the crucifixion narrative (John 19:31–33).
• Deuteronomy 21:22–23 prophesies that the Messiah would be hung on a tree as a curse for us, which apostle Paul recounts in Galatians 3:13–14.
• Psalm 22:15 prophesies that the Messiah would be thirsty during His execution and Psalm 69:20–21 prophecies that He would be given sour wine, both of which are recorded in the crucifixion narrative (John 19:28; Luke 23:36).
• Micah 5:1 prophesies that the Messiah would be struck on the cheek, which is recorded in the crucifixion narrative (Matt. 27:30).
• Daniel 7:13–14 prophesies that the Messiah will not stay dead but will have an everlasting dominion and kingdom that can’t be destroyed, which is explained by apostle Paul in Romans 6 and 2 Corinthians 5, and by John the apostle throughout the entire book of Revelation!

Now may I encourage you to set your skepticism on a shelf some warm evening soon and go outside and lie in the grass (you might need to go to the roof for this exercise in putting practicality back into healthy alignment if you’re an urbanite) and look up at the stars for a long moment or two? Or watch ocean waves ebb and flow. Or hold a baby. Or watch puppies play. Or behold lightning in the distance. Or watch the sun set. Or watch the sun rise. Wariness is kind of like salt, y’all—a little bit makes some things taste better (and can keep you from getting run over in the Walmart parking lot!), but a whole lot will ruin the entire meal.

• WHAT MEMORIES IN your spiritual history have tempted you to approach the world with wariness?
• IT’S CLEAR FROM these passages that God kept His promises about Christ’s coming, even if it took thousands of years. And if God keeps His promises about something as massively important as Christ, He will certainly keep His promises to you in the details of your daily life. In what specific ways or seasons has God kept His promises to you over the years?
• THESE PASSAGES HELP us see that Christ is the fulfillment of all that was foretold in the Old Testament—of everything His people needed. What things do you run to for fulfillment of everything you need? In what ways is Christ a better fulfillment than those things?