The belief in the Messiah, which has lived in the collective consciousness of humanity since ancient times, became completely obscured among the Gentiles, and only remained with the Jewish people, who were later chosen by God, as the prophecies of the prophets kept it alive. There was only one great promise in the Old Testament from God, which awaited fulfillment! Only one great desire was there in the Old Testament on the part of man, longing for satisfaction. Christ, Χριστός, the Mashiach, lived in the ancient narratives and songs of humanity, but his figure and role appeared before our eyes in all its dazzling beauty only in the inspired visions, fervent words, and promising prophecies of Israel's prophets. He truly lived vividly only in the collective consciousness of the Old Testament people, and there is no book of this covenant – whether it be Moses's or the other prophets' – that would speak only to its own people, which would not promise, not encourage, and at the people's joyous days as well as in their bloody stormy minutes, would not at least momentarily lift the curtain of a happier future, the tapestry of Messianic times, to further increase the joy or to lift from the dust of dejection and encourage the disheartened soul of the people.
And the Old Testament messianic prophecies concerning the promised Savior's person, work, and the kingdom to be established were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Their significance lies in being powerful evidence of Jesus' divine mission and motives of the Christian faith (motiva credibilitatis).
The series of messianic prophecies is opened by the so-called protoevangelium (Gen. 3:15), immediately after the Fall of the first parents. The last messianic prophecies were uttered in the 4th century BC when the prophetic institution ceased, and with it the messianic prophecies.
The main prophecies about the Messiah relate to:
- The Savior's Descent: the Messiah will come from a sinless woman's offspring (protoevangelium, Gen. 1:3, 15); Shem (Gen. 1:9, 19-29), Abraham (Gen. 1:22, 18), Jacob (Gen. 1:28, 13. 14) will be his ancestor, specifically from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 1:49, 8-10), and the line of David.
- The Time of His Appearance and Death: He will establish His kingdom when the princely scepter (religious and legislative autonomy) is taken from Judah (Gen. 1:49, 10); He will appear when the rebuilt, or second Jerusalem temple, the Zerubbabel, which Herod restored, still stands, whose glory will be much greater than the first, for it will not be gold and silver, but His glory that fills it, whom all peoples desire and who restores peace between heaven and earth (Hag. 2:7-9). He will publicly appear, precisely 69 weeks of years (69 x 7) or 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem; and in the middle of the 70th week, He will be killed after having already led many to God (Dan. 9:24).
- Place and Circumstances of His Birth: He will be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5, 2); wondrously from a virgin (Isa. 7:14-18); at the time of His birth, children will be killed in Bethlehem (Jer. 31:15); His public work will be preceded by a herald, who will prepare His ways by preaching in the wilderness (Mal. 3:1; Isa. 40:3-5).
- His Dual Nature (Human Nature and Divine Dignity): He will be not only a true man (the “son of man” Dan. 7:13) but also a true God: He will be the wondrously born “Immanuel” = “God with us,” or the one through whom and in whom God will be with us (Isa. 7:14); the Holy Spirit's every gift will pour upon Him, He will be the holiest, the most righteous (Isa. 11:1-5); indeed, He will be the son of God from eternity (Ps. 2, 7), Himself the mighty God, the everlasting Father (Isa. 9:6).
- His Triple Office, Person, Redemptive Work, and Kingdom: He will be a prophet, teacher (Deut. 18:18); king, prince of peace, to whom the whole of humanity will pay homage (Ps. 2:6; 72, Zech. 9:9; Isa. 9:6; Num. 24:17-19), and will be a high priest forever (Ps. 110:4; Zech. 6:12), who frees people from sin (Isa. 61:1-3); performs many miracles (Isa. 35:4, etc.); establishes a new covenant between God and man (Jer. 31:31-33; 33:34); will be the teacher and legislator of all peoples (Isa. 60:2, etc.); who will gently lead sinners and sufferers to salvation (Isa. 42:1-7); His words will irresistibly penetrate people's souls; among the people of Israel, however, His success will be small, but all the greater among the Gentiles (Isa. 49:1-9).
- Concerning his suffering, death, and exaltation: as the Prince of Peace, he will modestly enter Jerusalem, seated on a donkey (Zech. 9:9); but the people's leaders (chief priests and scribes) will reject him (Ps. 118:22-23); one of his table companions will betray him (Ps. 41:9) and deliver him to his enemies for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12), but the money will be thrown into the house of the Lord “to the potter” (Zech. 11:13); his disciples will abandon him at his arrest (Zech. 13:7); as “the man of sorrows,” he will suffer, be scorned, mocked, beaten, spat upon, tortured, given gall and vinegar to drink, his hands and feet pierced; killed; his garments divided and lots cast for his robe (Ps. 22:69; Isa. 50:6; 52:14-15; 53:1-3; Zech. 12:10); he, however, as “the servant of the Lord” (Isa. 49; 50; 53) will patiently suffer for the sins of men and willingly sacrifice his life to save them (Isa. 53:4-8). His grave will be assigned with the wicked, but he will be buried with the rich (Isa. 53:9); his soul will not be left in the underworld, nor his body see decay; his tomb will be glorious, for he will rise from the dead and sit at God's right hand (Ps. 16:9-11; Isa. 11:10) and from there he will pour out the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).
- Concerning the effects, consequences, and eternal dominion of his appearance: the Jewish people will cease to be the chosen people, for they will kill the Messiah; Jerusalem and the Jewish temple will be destroyed, and the latter will never be rebuilt (Dan. 9:26); in place of the Old Testament sacrifices, a new food offering will be presented all over the world (Mal. 1:11); the Messiah's proclamation of peace will spread throughout the world, enlightening and transforming people; all Gentiles will enter the spiritual kingdom established by the Messiah, which will endure forever (Mic. 4:1-3; Isa. 2:2-4; 4:2-6; 66:1; Ps. 72; Isa. 9:1-7; 11:1-10; Dan. 7:14).
These prophecies all came true in Jesus and were fulfilled only in him:
- The fulfillment of the prophecy concerning his descent is shown in the genealogy of Jesus provided in Mt. 1:1-17 and Lk. 3:23-38. The former traces from Abraham to Joseph, the latter from Heli (= Joakim), the father of the Virgin Mary, to Adam, revealing Jesus' human ancestors. The differences in the two genealogies can be explained in several ways. Matthew probably provides the genealogy of Joseph, while Luke provides that of the Virgin Mary.
- The fulfillment of the prophecies concerning his appearance and the time of his death is proven by history. Jesus' earthly life falls exactly within the time when the prophecies said the Messiah must come. Jesus appeared when the scepter was taken from Judah (which first ruled as a tribe, then as kings from David, and after the captivity, as a people), as the Jewish people (Judah) lost their religious and legislative autonomy, with the foreign Idumean Herod sitting on the Jewish royal throne (Lk. 2:1-3; Jn. 19:15). Jesus indeed visited the Second Temple and glorified it with his presence (Lk. 2:22-52; Jn. 2:20). Jesus appeared 69 weeks or 483 years after the publicly issued decree. This decree was issued by Artaxerxes I Longimanus in 299 BC; Jesus' public appearance was in the 15th year of Tiberius' reign, AUC 782, exactly 483 years after the decree; his death occurred in the middle of the 70th week (AUC 783-789), in AUC 786, after 3 and a half years of public ministry.
- The prophecies concerning the place and circumstances of the Messiah's birth were also fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Mt. 1:1-11; Lk. 2:4, 15) to the Virgin Mary, who conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18-25; Lk. 1:26-38). Herod, fearing for his throne, sought to kill Jesus and slaughtered the infants in Bethlehem (Mt. 2:16-18). John the Baptist, preaching repentance on the banks of the Jordan and pointing to the already arrived and soon to publicly appear Jesus and his kingdom, was Jesus' forerunner (Mt. 3:1ff; Mk. 1:2-8; Lk. 3:2-18).
- The prophecies concerning his dual (human and divine) nature were also fulfilled in Jesus. Christ repeatedly emphasized his humanity as the "Son of Man" (various references provided). That he is also true God is testified by the heavenly Father, who declared Him as His Son at Christ's baptism in the Jordan (Mt. 3:17; Mk. 1:11; Lk. 3:22) and at His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Mt. 17:5). Christ Himself repeatedly stated that He is the Son of God, not in a metaphorical sense but in a literal one (various references provided).
- The fulfillment of prophecies concerning Jesus' threefold office, His redemptive work, and His kingdom is shown in the story of Jesus' life, His actions, and His religion. His entire teaching activity refers to His prophetic office, where He declared and portrayed Himself as the authorized proclaimer of great divine mysteries, particularly future things (Jn. 1:45; 5:45; 6:14; 13:13; Mt. 23:10; Acts 3:22). His priestly dignity is evidenced by the fact that He is the only natural mediator between God and man, mediating truth and grace on the one hand, and priestly prayer and sacrifice on the other (Mt. 22:44, and Paul the apostle's letter to the Hebrews, which deals with this issue from 4:14 to 10:29). His royal dignity is already heralded by the angel to the Blessed Virgin (Lk. 1:32), the Magi pay homage to Him as king (Mt. 2:2); in His public work, the people want to make Him king (Jn. 6:15), He Himself admits being a king before Pilate (Jn. 18:37); even His crucifixion inscription proclaimed Him king of the Jews (Mt. 27:37; 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:23-25; Rev. 19:16). The Gospels also bear witness to Jesus' great miracles, His founding of a new covenant (Mt. 26:28; Mk. 14:24; Lk. 22:20), as He proclaimed a new law (Mt. 5:3-7:29), new priesthood (Lk. 22:19, 1 Cor. 11:24.25), and a new sacrifice (Lk. 22:19; Mt. 26:28; Lk. 22:20), and established a Church (Mt. 16:18) for the salvation of all (Mt. 28:19; Mk. 16:15.16), to spread and endure until the end of time (Mt. 28:20; 16:18). Most Jews turned away from Him, but the Gentiles accepted Him. The fact that His work in Israel, to whom He was primarily sent, had so little success, is well known.
- The prophecies regarding His suffering, death, and glorification were fulfilled in Jesus to the last letter. The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles classically prove this, detailing Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the behavior of the Jews towards Him; Judas, who betrayed His Master for 30 pieces of silver, and then threw the money at the chief priests' feet in remorse; the disciples fleeing at Jesus' arrest; Jesus' suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 26-28; Mk. 14-16; Lk. 22-24; Jn. 18-21; Acts 1, etc.).
- The fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the effects and consequences of His appearance is brilliantly corroborated by history. Shortly after Jesus' crucifixion, in AUC 823 (70 A.D.), the Roman soldiers under the command of Titus destroyed Jerusalem and reduced its temple to ashes forever; the Jewish priesthood and the Old Testament sacrifices ceased (see Mt. 27:51), making way for the New Testament's new, universal, bloodless sacrifice in the Mass; the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world; the Gentiles entered Jesus' kingdom, the Church, which spread throughout the whole world, blessing all its adherent peoples with the fruits of redemption.
That the prophecies concerning the Messiah were precisely fulfilled in Jesus is a clear and irrefutable proof that Jesus is indeed the Messiah promised by God, but also that Jesus is God. Jesus himself referred to these Old Testament prophecies as evidence of his divinity when he spoke to the Jews, saying: “Search the Scriptures, for... they testify of me” (Jn. 5:39); “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me” (Jn. 5:45-46).
A striking phenomenon is that although the prophecies were fulfilled precisely in Jesus, the majority of the Jews still did not believe in him and did not recognize him as the redeeming Messiah.
The explanation for this is primarily that the Jewish community of Jesus' time had morally decayed; this was brought about by their adherence to the letter of the Mosaic ceremonial law, the so-called tradition, and generally the excessive attachment to mere externalities (of which the Mishnah is an astounding proof). Furthermore, the clear vision of the Jews during Christ's time was hindered by the fact that the people were under the influence of the worldly and corrupt clergy, particularly the Pharisees, who were so enraged by Jesus' relentless condemnation of their hypocrisy that they decided to destroy this hated and despised moral judge in their wounded pride.
However, the main reason for Israel's bias against Messiah-belief was the distortion of the Messiah-idea, a fatal misunderstanding and misinterpretation that shrunk the spiritual and universal messianism of the prophets into political and narrow-minded national messianism. This was exacerbated by the fact that Jesus appeared in a time filled with political tension, in an atmosphere heated by constant Roman tyranny, when the Jews expected a powerful and invincible national freedom-fighter, a glorious earthly king, who would liberate the oppressed and humiliated people of Israel from the hated Roman rule, and even make the Romans, along with other pagan nations, obedient slaves to the Jews, or annihilate them, restoring the national kingdom and realizing the Jews' world domination.
Those who dreamt of such a Messiah naturally had no need for the Nazarene Jesus Messiah, who appeared in holy simplicity, not dealing with politics, but preaching repentance and conversion, self-denial and humble faith, meekness, peace, and love extending to all people, liberating the whole of humanity from the power of the evil spirit, founding a spiritual kingdom and a religious association that welcomed both Jews and non-Jews, and who suffered and sacrificed himself on the cross. In fact, with such great contradictions, the Jews necessarily clashed with Jesus... yet, the rejection of the Messiah (Dan. 9:26) and the stubbornness of the Jews (Isa. 49:4) were also prophesied, and thus, this circumstance, having been fulfilled in Jesus, argues for, not against him.
This fatal misinterpretation of the prophets' Messiah-idea was the cause of Israel's shocking tragedy, rejection, and national downfall... And since then, wherever they have wandered on the globe, both in the past and the present – despite all emancipation and acceptance – the social position of the Jewish people is everywhere awkward, feeling like an unwelcome foreign element among the nations, unable to adapt inwardly due to a completely different mentality; their soul, despite all economic success, is constantly restless, fluctuating, never finding true peace; and this will continue as long as they oppose Him, or until they lift Him up, humbling themselves, repenting, and returning to Him whom their blinded ancestors rejected, cursed, and crucified two millennia ago – Jesus of Nazareth, the redeeming and saving Messiah-King.
The Pharisees and scribes considered themselves perfect; Jesus lovingly but openly exposed their sins. The Pharisees and scribes were convinced that they – and only they – as descendants of Abraham, naturally deserved all the glory and privileges of the Messianic kingdom; Jesus told them that due to their blindness, the repentant tax collectors and sinful women would precede them in the Kingdom of God, for being descendants of Abraham alone does not give one the right to be citizens of the Messianic kingdom. The Pharisees and scribes eagerly awaited the moment that would free them from Roman rule; Jesus did not want to be a leader of political change and even openly said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Jesus so avoided anything that could promote the overheated national desires of the Jews that he did not even use the name “Messiah” for himself but called himself “the Son of Man,” which was also a messianic name but without any political undertones. According to the Pharisees, the Gentiles would either become slaves to the Jews or perish; according to Jesus, every person is called to the Kingdom of God.
The hatred of the Jewish people's spiritual leaders gradually grew against Jesus, eventually leading to Jesus' arrest, condemnation to death, and crucifixion.