For hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, the Scriptures recorded prophecies about the Messiah, prophecies that Jesus would one day fulfill. At Easter, we remember Jesus’ death and resurrection and celebrate God’s faithfulness to all people through the fulfillment of His Word. As you reflect on the following passages, may you rejoice in the God who keeps His promises.

The Triumphal Entry

Promise: The Messiah would enter Jerusalem like a king riding on a donkey. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! 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 9:9).
Fulfillment: “They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he [Jesus] sat on them. . . . And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Matthew 21:7, 9).

The Betrayal

Promise: The Messiah would be betrayed by a close friend for the price of 30 pieces of silver. “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). “They weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver” (Zechariah 11:12).
Fulfillment: “Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him” (Matthew 26:14-16).

The Trial

Promise: False witnesses would testify against the Messiah, but He would remain silent. “Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know” (Psalm 35:11). “Like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
Fulfillment: “Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward” (Matthew 26:59-60). “But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he [Jesus] gave no answer” (Matthew 27:12).

The Way to the Cross

Promise: The Messiah would be abused and His friends would desert Him. “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). “My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off” (Psalm 38:11).
Fulfillment: “Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him . . .” (Matthew 26:67). “And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things” (Luke 23:49).

The Crucifixion

Promise: The Messiah would be crucified alongside criminals and His enemies would cast lots for His clothing. “A company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet . . . they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots” (Psalm 22:16, 18). “He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).
Fulfillment: “And they crucified him [Jesus] and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them. . . . And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left” (Mark 15:24, 27).

The Resurrection

Promise: God would raise the crucified Messiah from the dead. “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (Psalm 16:10). “He will swallow up death forever . . .” (Isaiah 25:8).
Fulfillment: “But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay’” (Matthew 28:5-6). “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24).

The Purpose

Promise: The Messiah would offer His life as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind so that all people might be saved. “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. . . . Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5, 11). “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32).
Fulfillment: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. . . . For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God . . .” (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18). “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:12-13).