Time and again in the gospel accounts, we find instances where Old Testament prophecy is fulfilled in Christ. Such material serves, not only as proof that Jesus of Nazareth was the foretold Messiah, but further, bolsters the faith of those who will come to Christ. We are able to serve before the Lord in confidence, knowing that He is the One anticipated by the prophets, who "...inquired and searched carefully..." (1 Peter 1:10-11) with regard to the Christ and His salvation. Let us examine the prophecies fulfilled in Christ, as shown through the gospels.

THE VIRGIN BIRTH (Matthew 1:20-23)
An angel appeared to Joseph, revealing that Mary was with child of the Holy Spirit, in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, "...Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14).

COMING FORTH FROM EGYPT (Matthew 2:14-15)
Again, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, warning him to flee to Egypt, for Herod would seek to destroy the child. There, he remained with Mary and Jesus, until the king was dead, and then came up out of Egypt, fulfilling that which had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Hosea 11:1).

HEROD'S SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENT CHILDREN (Matthew 2:16-18)
Realizing the magi were not returning to reveal the location of the child, Herod decided to put to death all male children in the vicinity age 2 and under. So it was, there was great lamentation and weeping and mourning among the mothers of Judea for their deceased children, as had been foretold through the prophet (Jeremiah 31:15).

CALLED A NAZARENE (Matthew 2:23)
There is no Old Testament quote which indicates that Jesus would be a resident of Nazareth. Some have tried to explain this as meaning Nazirite (Judges 13:5; 1 Samuel 1:11), but there is no indication in the New Testament that Jesus had taken a Nazirite vow. Three plausible possibilities come to mind:

- 1 - Jude attributes a prophecy to Enoch (Jude 14-15), and yet there is no record of the original prophecy in Scripture. Likewise, Paul quotes a prophet of the Cretans (Titus 1:12), but again, we have no written verification of the prophecy aside from Paul's quote of it. It may be that a prophet had formerly said Jesus would be a Nazarene, but the prophecy was not recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures.

- 2 - The Greek word nazaret (Nazareth) may be derived from the Hebrew netzer (branch), and thus, this would be a fulfillment of texts such as Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12.

- 3 - There is a general theme revealed through the prophets that the Messiah would be despised and rejected by many (Psalm 22:6-8; 69:9-11, 19-21; Isaiah 53:2-4, 7-9). The word "Nazarene" in the first century certainly captured this thought.

DWELLING AT CAPERNAUM (Matthew 4:13-16)
Jesus left Nazareth, and dwelt in and around Capernaum, which is by the sea of Galilee. In doing so, He fulfilled the words of Isaiah the prophet, as recorded in Isaiah 9:1-2.

BEARING THE TROUBLES OF MEN (Matthew 8:16-17)
On many occasions, we see Jesus addressing the troubles and sorrows of those whom He came in contact with. On this particular occasion, Matthew references Isaiah, who said, "Surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows..." (53:4).

DISCREETLY DOING THE FATHER'S WILL (Matthew 12:14-21)
Jesus had the difficult task of accomplishing the work His Father had sent Him to do, in the midst of the perpetual plotting of the Pharisees, the exuberant excitement of the crowds, and the sobering responsibility of declaring the will of God to an unrighteous world. He accomplished His work, even as Isaiah foretold (42:1-4).

SPEAKING IN PARABLES (Matthew 13:34-35)
Jesus' used parables time and again in His teaching. Such was foretold by David, "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world." (Psalm 78:2)

RIDING INTO JERUSALEM ON A DONKEY (Matthew 21:1-6)
As Jesus approached Jerusalem a week prior to His death, Jesus sent His disciples before Him to get a donkey and it's colt tied in a nearby village. The disciples simply told the owner, "The Lord has need of them". Then, He road toward the city on the beast, fulfilling the words of the prophet Zechariah (9:9).

ARRESTED IN THE GARDEN (Matthew 26:52-56)
When a mob came out against Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane, Peter drew his sword to defend the Lord. Jesus commanded him to put it away, for these things were taking place so that "...the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." The prophets had foretold that Jesus would be "...as a lamb led to the slaughter..." (Isaiah 53:7), willingly yielding Himself to His oppressors.

THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER (Matthew 27:1-10)
The chief priests and elders had counted out 30 pieces of silver for Judas, in exchange for his betrayal of the Lord (Matthew 26:14-15). When Judas realized that Jesus was condemned to die (it appears that he did not think such would take place), he returned, casting away his sinful wages, which was then used to purchase the potter's field. This was foretold in Zechariah 11:12-13.

NOTE – Matthew 27:9 attributes this prophecy to Jeremiah, whereas it is actually found in Zechariah. Visit here for a discussion on this discrepancy.

DIVIDING HIS GARMENTS AND CASTING LOTS (Matthew 27:35; John 19:24)
Matthew reveals to us that after Jesus had been nailed to the cross, the Roman soldiers divided His garments among them, casting lots to seem who would get what. About 1,000 years previous, David foretold this very thing in Psalm 22:18.

NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS (Mark 15:28)
At the hill of Calvary, Jesus was crucified between two robbers. Mark calls to mind the words of Isaiah, as he foretold the death of the Messiah, who would be "...numbered with the transgressors..." (53:12).

JESUS' MISSION UPON THE EARTH (Luke 4:17-21)
In the synagogue at Nazareth on a Sabbath, Jesus stood up to read. He opened the scroll of Isaiah to what we know today as Isaiah 61:1-2, and read, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and the opening of prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD..." Having read these words, the Lord told those in the assembly, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21).

ALL THINGS MUST BE FULFILLED (Luke 24:44-45)
Following His resurrection, Jesus revealed to the disciples that the events which had transpired were necessary. He said, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." Jesus acknowledged the necessity that the prophecies about the Messiah be fulfilled, if indeed He was the Messiah. Then, He proceeded to "...open their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."

Indeed, Jesus was the suffering Messiah pictured in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. And, having risen from the dead, He would be the glorious king described in Psalm 2, and the patient Saviour depicted in Isaiah 63. There are so many Old Testament images used to reveal exactly who Jesus is, and He fulfilled them all.

UNBELIEVERS (John 12:37-38)
Even though Jesus performed many signs, there were many who would not believe, just as Isaiah the prophet inquired, "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1)

CONCERNING HIS BETRAYER (John 13:18)
Judas had conspired with the chief priests and scribes against Jesus, and Jesus was aware of it. In fact, it had been foretold in Scripture that "Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." (Psalm 41:9). Jesus identified for His disciples who it would be, for he "answered, ‘It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.' And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon." (John 13:26)

HATED WITHOUT A CAUSE (John 15:24-25)
In speaking with His disciples, Jesus spoke of those who, though they had seen His great works, were prone to hate Him. Such was a fulfilment of the words of David, "Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause." (Psalm 35:19), and "Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully; though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore." (Psalm 69:4).

THE SON OF PERDITION (John 17:12)
As Jesus prayed to His Father, He mentioned that none which had been given to Him had been lost, except the son of perdition, which was foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures. The Psalmist had written, "Let his days be few, and let another take his office." (Psalm 109:8).

I THIRST (John 19:28-29)
While on the cross, Jesus indicated His thirst, and was supplied with a sponge, filled with sour wine. The Psalmist had foretold this, writing, "They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (Psalm 69:21)

THEY DID NOT BREAK HIS LEGS (John 19:33, 36)
The soldiers came as evening approached, and broke the legs of both thieves who were crucified with Jesus, to hasten their death. However, when they came to the Lord, he was already dead, and thus they did not break His legs. Regarding the Passover lamb, the Law said, "...nor shall you break one of its bones." (Exodus 12:46, cf. Numbers 9:12). The Psalmist also wrote, "I can count all My bones." (Psalm 22:17), and again, "He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken." (Psalm 34:20)

Were we to dig further, we would find more examples of how Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in the Christ. But these will suffice, to demonstrate to us that Jesus indeed was the anticipated Messiah.