Prophecies of the Promised Messiah:
Why should anyone believe that Jesus of Nazareth was anything other than a well-meaning, though painfully disillusioned, Jewish man that lived in the ancient world's pressure cooker: the Roman province of Judea? Why should anyone believe him to be a Savior, a Messiah, or even God incarnate?
Long before Jesus of Nazareth was born in the Judean village of Bethlehem, the collection of writings now called the Torah, or Old Testament was written. The last book to be included in the Old Testament, Malachi, was written about four hundred years prior to the birth of Jesus. These Old Testament writings, or scriptures, foretold of a coming Messiah; a Savior. These messianic fortellings, or prophecies, spelled out a complex web of descriptive facts about the coming Messiah, which would serve to validate the true Messiah. These prophecies specified various facts about: (1) Messiah's ancestry; (2) his birth; (3) his life and purpose; and (4) and the nature and reason for his death.
To draw a conclusion as to whether Jesus of Nazareth is truly the promised messiah, one needs to compare the numerous and detailed Old Testament specifications with the known historical facts about Jesus to determine if and/or how he matches up. If the known historical facts about Jesus do indeed match up, then one is left with two possibilities: (1) It represents a remarkable, though benign, historical coincidence; or (2) It means that Jesus is validated as the very Messiah foretold hundreds of years before his birth.
If it is determined that the known historical facts about Jesus only coincidentally match the Old Testament specifications for Messiah, then we must not believe in him, or even think well of him. After all, he claimed to be Messiah, and even God himself! On the other hand, if the data shows more than a coincidental accidental match, then we must be open to the possibility that he is indeed the promised Messiah. Then we must consider what he said and did; to carefully consider believing in him.
In the following pages an examination of the Old Testament prophetic Messianic specifications will be made in four main categories:
For each of the four main categories there some articles that demonstrate that Jesus did fulfill the messianic prophecies concerning his ancestry, birth, life, and death. These articles are meant to be understood as a series of case-building evidential exhibits that, when understood together, make a case for Jesus as the promised messiah; the son of God.