Our Prayers Have Been Answered Series

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem … the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (Matthew 23: 37). Prophetic and chilling words given the one who spoke them. They are the last words that the Lord Jesus Christ would address to His beloved city, Jerusalem … the city that hailed Him as the Messiah just a few days earlier would soon call for His death and would mock Him as He hung from a cross on the outskirts of the city that killed the prophets, stoned those who were sent to it, and crucified the One who came to save it. “Now my soul is troubled,” Jesus would pray, “and what should I say – ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Your name” (John 12:27-28).

Throughout the Hebrew scriptures, the promise of a messiah is clearly given. These messianic prophecies were made hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years before Jesus Christ was born … and clearly Jesus Christ is the only person who has ever walked this earth who could fulfill them, amen? In fact, from Genesis to Malachi, there are over 300 specific prophecies detailing the coming of this anointed on. For example: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,” the Prophet Isaiah wrote in 786 bc, “and a branch from His roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). Matthew’s gospel opens with an “account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1) …. showing that Jesus is, in fact, a shoot from the stump of Jesse.

Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the Prophet Micah revealed where the Messiah would be born: “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathat, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient of days” (Micah 5:2). Around the time of Micah, God declared through His prophet Isaiah that He would give us a sign: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,” and shall be called what? “Immanuel” … “God With Us.” When, describing Jesus’ birth, Matthew said that all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through His Prophet Isaiah, he quotes Isaiah 7:14.

A few days before Jesus uttered His prophetic words, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem” (Matthew 23:37), Jesus rode into Jerusalem riding on a colt … a sign pointing to a prediction made by the Lord’s Prophet Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:5).

In addition to prophecies detailing Jesus’ virgin birth, His birth in Bethlehem, His birth from the tribe of Judah, His lineage from King David, His sinless life, and His atoning work for the sins of His people, the death and resurrection of the Jewish messiah was, likewise, well documented in the Hebrew prophetic scriptures long before the actual death and resurrection of Jesus Christ actually occurred in history.

Of the best know prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures concerning the death of the Messiah, Psalm 22 :17 and Isaiah 53 certainly stand out. Psalm 22 is especially amazing since it predicted numerous separate elements about Jesus’ crucifixion a thousand years before Jesus was crucified. Here are some examples: the Messiah’s bones will not be broken (Psalm 22:17; John 19:43) … his hands and feet will be ‘pierced’ through (Psalm 22:1; John 20:25) … men will cast lots for the Messiah’s clothes (Psalm 22:18; Matthew 22:35).

Isaiah 53 … the classic messianic prophesy known as the “Suffering Servant Song” or “Suffering Servant Prophecy” … also details the death of the Messiah for the sins of the His people. More than 700 years before Jesus was even born, Isaiah provided details of His life and death … details that only God could obviously know, amen? God said that His messiah would be rejected (Isaiah 53:3; Luke 13:34) … that His Messiah would be killed as a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of His people (Isaiah 53:5-9; 2nd Corinthians 5:21) … His Messiah would be silent in front of His accusers (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:32) … that His Messiah would be buried with the rich (Isiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57-60).

In addition to the death of the Messiah, His resurrection from the dead is also foretold. The clearest and best known of the resurrection prophecies was written by Israel’s King David in Psalm 16: “For You [God] will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” Psalm 22 also speaks clearly about the Messiah’s resurrection. In verses 19 to 21, the Suffering Savior prays for deliverance “from the lion’s mouth” … a metaphor for Satan. This desperate prayer is then followed immediately in verses 22 through 24 by a hymn of praise in which the Messiah thanks God for hearing His prayer and delivering Him. After prophesying that the Suffering Servant of God would suffer for the sins of His people in Isaiah 53, the prophet says that the Messiah would then be “cut off from the land of the living” (v. 8) … but then states that the Messiah “will see His offspring” (v. 10) and that God the Father will “prolong His days” (v. 10).