Yesterday we set our clocks ahead one hour. The spring forward motto helps us remember which direction we are going. One year I forgot to change the time and arrived for the 11:00 church service in time to hear the benediction. That was the shortest church service I have ever attended.
Likewise, Easter week springs forward Old Testaments prophesy into New Testament reality. The historical events during Christ's last week on earth provide us with fifteen documented New Testament fulfillments of prophecies recorded in the Old Testament. One of the reasons the Gospel writers believed in Jesus was the way his life fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.
Each day we will briefly explore three prophecies and their fulfillments. When all the evidence is in, you, as a member of the jury, will know that Jesus is Lord.
1. Messiah was to enter Jerusalem in triumph on a donkey.
Prophecy: Zechariah 9:9 "See the king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey . . "
Fulfillment: John 12:12-16 "The great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was
on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him . . . Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written."
2. Messiah was to be rejected by his own people.
Prophecy: Isaiah 53:3 "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering."
Fulfillment: Matthew 26:3 "Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled . . . and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him."
3. Messiah was to be betrayed by one of his followers, a friend.
Prophecy: Psalm 41:9 "Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me."
Fulfillment: Matthew 26:14 "Then one of the Twelve-the one called Judas Iscariot-went to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you." So they counted out for him thirty coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over."
To be continued . . . tomorrow we will discover more evidence that proves Jesus is the Messiah.