Jesus is the Messiah
Isaiah 53:1 - 12
Psalm 22
Intro
Slide
Happy Easter!
I know it is only Saturday evening here, but in Israel, it is already Sunday morning (about 2am), so I think it is appropriate to say, “He is Risen!”
I am so glad that you have joined us to worship the Lord and celebrate the life we have in Him through His Resurrection!
We live in a day and age where everything that is newsworthy and even things that aren’t are communicated through social media. Have you ever wondered what it might be like if Jesus’ resurrection happened in this day of Social Media?
Well, Check this out.
Video – Follow
Slide after video
Are you a follower of Jesus?
Well, today as we gather to worship Jesus and celebrate His resurrection and the hope of eternal life that we have in Him, I am sure there are some here who are not yet followers and are unsure of this whole Christianity thing and don’t really believe that Jesus is the way to eternal life that God has provided.
This is why I am glad you are here.
Slide
Because the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the One who is God and came to this earth and put on flesh and died for us is a reality that we can see through the prophecies that were made about the Messiah hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, so we could know that He is who we should follow!
Today I want to help us see the reality through the shadows of Old Testament prophecy regarding who the Messiah would be and see how Jesus has fulfilled all of those prophecies so we could truly know that Jesus is the Messiah and that He is our sure and only hope for eternal life.
Last 2 weeks
Now, over the past 2 weeks we began looking at the Feast days of the Lord talked about in the Old Testament we saw how the spring feasts had their fulfillment in Jesus’ first coming and how the fall feasts will have their fulfillment in Jesus at His second coming.
If you missed either of those messages over the last 2 weeks, you can check out on our website.
Transition
Today, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we are going to look at the prophecies that were made about the coming Messiah to see if Jesus really is the fulfillment of these prophecies.
Now the prophecies given in the Old Testament about the Messiah all relate to certain aspects of the life of the Messiah, so, I want to consider the prophecies in regard to those aspects, so we are going to start by considering the prophecies regarding
The Birth of the Messiah
Slide
Now nobody is able to control their own birth, unless, of course, you are God.
So the prophecies surrounding the birth of the Messiah are very important. And there are a number of prophecies that tell us about some of the details of the Messiah’s birth.
One comes all the way back in Genesis.
After Adam and Eve sinned against God by disobeying Him regarding not eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, there were consequences that came as a result of that disobedience to all of mankind.
And as God was speaking a curse to the serpent, He gave us a glimpse of His ultimate plan for redemption.
Slide
Genesis 3:14-15
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Here we learn that
The Messiah would be Born of a Woman
Slide
How is that prophetic since everyone is born of woman.
Well, everyone is born from a woman and a man. God only mentions the woman here, and mentions the offspring as hers, not his.
When we read through genealogies, we almost always, only find the men listed. To say that the Messiah was and offspring of the woman is saying something.
And while it may have been hard to completely understand in the Old Testament, as only a shadow, we can see the reality through the Virgin birth of Christ with the heavenly Father being the father of the Christ, with no human father involved.
Not only that, but another prophecy regarding the Messiah’s birth is that
The Messiah would be Born in Bethlehem
Slide
Micah 5:2
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Well, that just says a ruler will come out of Bethlehem. Anyone could make that prediction and have it ultimately come true.
Yes, but here it spoken of one
Slide
“whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”
This is talking about someone who is ultimately not of this creation.
And in fact, the Jews even believed that this was speaking of the Messiah.
When the Magi came looking for the one to be born king of the Jews, it says
Slide
Matthew 2:4-5
Herod “called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written”
So even the Jews at the time recognized the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem and Jesus was in fact born in Bethlehem, even though his parents did not live there.
You remember the Christmas story. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth. But because there was a census being taken, they had to go to the town that Joseph was originally from, which was Bethlehem.
Coincidence?
Man did God get lucky that there was a census being taken at that time, didn’t He?
Not at all.
Here is the thing about all the prophecies we are going to see today. God is not just making predictions with a good chance they will come true. God is in complete control and has orchestrated the events and has seen them already taking place. There is not just a good chance they will be true. They are true already when God speaks them!
From our human perspective, they just have not happened yet.
This is why we can know for sure that Jesus is the Messiah. We can clearly see that He is the fulfillment of all that God has told us about Him and He has told us so we can know Him.
So these prophecies about the Messiah are important for us to know Him.
Transition
So, we have seen that He would uniquely be born of a woman, He would be born in Bethlehem, but we also see prophecies concerning his lineage.
While we won’t look at the Scripture for every one of these, I have included them in your insert so you can study them.
We see through the Scriptures that
Slide
The Messiah would be born in the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 21:12; Numbers 24:17
We see also that
The Messiah would be born in the line of Judah and David
Regarding David, we see in Jeremiah 23:5
"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
As Jesus enters Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday, many are recognizing Him as this
Son of David
Slide
Matthew 21:9
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
The prophetic details regarding the birth of the Messiah were all fulfilled by Jesus perfectly!
Transition
But it is not just his birth that was prophesied.
It was also
The Work of the Messiah
Slide
Isaiah 53 is an unbelievable chapter from the prophet Isaiah considering it was written about 700 years before the time of Christ. In this chapter we see all kinds of prophetic information about the work that the Messiah would do.
We see it prophesied that
The Messiah would Suffer for our sins
Slide
Isaiah 53:3-5
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
It was prophesied that the Messiah would take the suffering we deserved and endure it himself!
But He would not just suffer for our sins, but we see that
The Messiah would Justify us from our sins
Slide
Isaiah 53:11
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
He took the punishment that rightly belonged to us so justice could be done and He could justify those who would look to Him believing in Him by faith.
That is exactly what Paul tells us in
Slide
Romans 3:23-24
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Transition
In this great chapter about the Messiah, we see that the Messiah would not only suffer and justify us, but that
The Messiah would Die for our sins
Slide
Isaiah 53:12
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus did all of these things. He even told the disciples these things. IN
Luke 9:22
Slide
And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
Transition
Jesus fulfills the prophecies regarding the birth including the lineage of the Messiah, he fulfills the work that the Messiah came to do, and there are many prophecies regarding the events of
The Death of the Messiah
Slide
There are all kinds of details given regarding the events surrounding the details of the death of the Messiah found in Isaiah 53 as well as other Scriptures.
In Isaiah 53, we see that
The Messiah would be Silent
Slide
Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth
We see this is exactly how Jesus responded to the high priests.
Matthew 26:62-63
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 63 But Jesus remained silent.
Transition
We also see in Isaiah that
The Messiah would be with the wicked and the rich in death
Slide
Isaiah 53:9, 12
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth…12…and was numbered with the transgressors.
Mark 15:27
They crucified two robbers with him,
Matthew 27:57, 59-60
57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus…59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock.
Transition
Psalm 22 is another place where we find many prophecies concerning the Messiah.
In Jesus’ day, they did not have Scripture numbered like we do today. People would know Scriptures by heart. And often in the psalms the first line would be like the title.
Well, in Psalm 22, there are a number of prophecies about the Messiah that find their fulfillment while Jesus is on the cross.
And it is interesting that the first line of Psalm 22 is exactly what Jesus says while He is on the cross.
Slide
Psalm 22:1 - My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Matthew 27:46 - About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
I believe that 2 things are happening here.
First, this is exactly what is happening. The Father, for the only time in eternity, is turning his back on His Son as Jesus takes on the sin of the world and endures an eternities worth of separation from the Father for our sins.
Secondly, I think He quotes this verse for the people that are around him at the cross as an indication that the things of this psalm are being fulfilled in their sight!
Because in this Psalm, we see that
The Messiah would be Mocked
Slide
Psalm 22:6-8
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8 "He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
Matthew 27:41-43
41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
We also see in Psalm 22 that
The Messiah’s clothes would be divided
Slide
Psalm 22:18 - They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
Mark 15:24 - Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
And we see that
The Messiah would be pierced
Slide
Psalm 22:16
Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
Luke 23:33
When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him
This prophecy was spoken hundreds of years before Crucifixion was a form of capital punishment!
Conclusion
These are just some of the Messianic prophecies that we find in the Old Testament. Time doesn’t permit to go through more of the genealogy, more prophecies about his life and work, and more about His death.
Jesus wasn’t just a man who got “lucky” in fulfilling these prophecies!
Jesus is the Messiah!
Slide
He is the Lord, God almighty! He is the One whom the Father planned before the foundations of the world to send to save this world and glorify Himself through His demonstration of love and His provision of Life for all who would believe.
He is the God who has demonstrated His love by the fact that While we were still sinners, He sent Jesus to die for us. (Romans 5:8)
He is the one who has demonstrated His power by not only fulfilling these prophecies, but by His resurrection from the dead, defeating death and offering life to you and me!
Believing the resurrection is not as hard as it seems, because there is so much evidence that points to the fact that it really happened.
From the precautions that the Jews and Romans took in sealing and guarding the tomb with soldiers that prided themselves on their toughness
From the fact that the disciples went from weak and faithless to bold and fearless preachers of the word, even though it cost them their lives
From the fact that they could have stopped Christianity in its tracks simply by producing the body of Jesus.
And the fact that if the God who could prophecy all of this about the Messiah because He is God and stands outside of time, the God who gives life, why could He not raise Himself from the dead!
God has demonstrated His great power and love through Sending His own Son as the Messiah who was prophesied to come and who paid for our sins through His life, death and resurrection!
Closing
Have you believed in Jesus as the Messiah, the One who was prophesied to come, the One who died for your sins, the One who resurrected from the dead, so you could have life?
If you have never confessed Jesus as your Savior, why not do that today and make this Easter a day that you don’t just remember an event in history, but experience the Life that Jesus died and resurrected to make possible for you.
Slide
The Bible tells us that “if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
I am going to close in a prayer of confession. If you are here today and have never confessed Christ as your Savior, won’t you do that today and truly celebrate today as the day you began to live the resurrected life provided by Jesus the Messiah!
Let’s pray.
