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Is Jesus the Messiah? Give Me A Reason To Believe is a 6 part series on Biblical Apologetics. Each episode deals with a particular claim against the Bible. This episode examines if Jesus is truly the Messiah as described in Old Testament prophecies. How probable is it that someone could just fulfill these prophecies without a miracle? How many prophecies did Jesus fulfill?

From Give Me A Reason to Believe (Session #2). Explore more lessons from this series:

Is Jesus the Messiah? Here are some of the Messianic Prophecies He fulfilled:

Mathematicians in the 1990’s calculated the odds of impossibility. “If probability is less than 1:10⁵⁰, it is essentially impossible or beyond reason.” Yet when one considers all the messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament and then one tries to calculate the odds of one man fulfilling all of those prophecies, the odds are about 1:10²⁵⁰! This is well beyond the range of possibility. Yet, Jesus did in fact fulfill all the messianic prophecies, and they support his claim as being the one and true Suffering Messiah.

Messianic Prophecies in Genesis

Genesis 3:15 (ESV) The Purpose
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 49:10 (NASB) From the Tribe of Judah
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes…

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Messianic Prophecies in Paslms

Psalm 2 (ESV) The Son of God
I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Psalm 16:10 (ESV) The Resurrection
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Psalm 22 (ESV) The Death of the Messiah
Verse 1: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Jesus quotes this.)
Verse 6: scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
Verse 7: All who see me mock me…
Verse 15: my tongue sticks to my jaws (Typical of crucifixion.)
Verse 18: They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
(The Romans did this very act at the foot of the cross John 19:23-24.)

Psalm 41:9 (ESV) Betrayal of a Friend.
Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

Psalm 69 (ESV) The Suffering Messiah

Psalm 78:1-2 (ESV) The Parable Teaching Messiah
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 2 I will open my mouth in a parable…

Psalm 89:3-4 (ESV) A Descendent of David
I have sworn to David my servant: ‘I will establish your offspring forever.

Psalm 109: 6 & 8 (ESV) The Betrayal Predicted
Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand… May his days be few; may another take his office!

Psalm 118:22 (ESV) People Will Reject the Messiah
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

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Messianic Prophecies in Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14 (ESV) The Virgin Birth
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:1 (ESV) From the Land of Galilee
In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV) He Will Be God
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

Isaiah 35:5-6 (ESV) A Healing Messiah
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (ESV) A Preview of the Scourging and Burial

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Messianic Prophecies in Daniel

Daniel 6 (ESV) The Messiah’s Death and Resurrection

Daniel 7:13-14 (ESV) He will Be Called the Son of Man
…and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Messianic Prophecies in the Minor Prophets (Hosea, Micah, Zechariah, & Malachi)

Hosea 11:1 (ESV) He Will Come From Egypt
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Micah 5:2-5 (ESV) The Place of the Messiah’s Birth
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah… from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Zechariah 3:8-9 (ESV) The Messiah Takes Away Our Sin
Behold, I will bring my servant the Branch…declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

Zechariah 9:9 (ESV) On a Little Donkey
Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zechariah 11:12-13 (ESV) Betrayed for Thirty Pieces of Silver
And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”— the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD, to the potter.

Zechariah 12:10 (ESV) The One Whom They Have Pierced
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced…

Malachi 3:1 (ESV) John the Baptist Prepare the Way Before Him
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple…

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We have just covered 25 major prophecies concerning how we will recognize the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled every one of these and over a hundred more prophecies. The odds of someone fulfilling just these 25 we have covered is beyond reason and impossible by methods of science, but it happened. It is like John wrote in his Gospel…

John 20:31 (ESV)
…but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

From Give Me A Reason to Believe (Session #2). Explore more lessons from this series:

Dig Deeper into Messianic Prophecies: