The unique prophecies that announced the Messiah

Summary:

The coming, life and mission of the Messiah were heralded by numerous prophecies, figures and images that must, of course, be contextualized and understood within the framework of Jewish tradition at the time of Christ. Without going into overly complicated explanations, a quick overview of these prophetic texts makes it plain that Jesus fulfilled absolutely all Messianic prophecies.

Here are a few of them (taken from the book Jésus le Messie attendu par Israël selon les prophéties bibliques, published by Marie de Nazareth Productions):

• He was to be born in Bethlehem: "And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are not the least of the clans of Judah, for from you will be born to me the One who is to reign over Israel" (Mic 5:1-2). 
• A miraculous birth was alluded to: "Before she was in labor she gave birth, before the pains came to her she was delivered of a son. Who has ever heard such a thing? Who has ever seen such a thing?" (Is 66: 6-8).
• Bethlehem would also be a place of sadness, with the killing of the Innocents: "A voice in Ramah was heard, weeping and long lamenting: it is Rachel weeping for her children, and she does not want to be comforted, for they are no more" (Jer 31:15).
• The Chosen One would go to Egypt: "At that time, there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and on the border a monument dedicated to the Lord. It will be a sign and a testimony to the God of hosts in the land of Egypt" (Is 19:19).

• He will be preceded by the coming of a mysterious Forerunner: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of fathers to their sons, and the hearts of sons to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with anathema" (Mal 3:23-24).
• The Messiah will be a son of Israel: "I see him - but not for now, I see him - but not at close range: a star from Jacob becomes ruler, a scepter rises from Israel" (Num 24:17).
• He will be of the tribe of Judah: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute is brought to him and the peoples obey him" (Gen 49:10).
• He will be the son of David: "I will keep the lineage of your womb after you, and establish its kingship. He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. Thy house and thy kingdom shall stand before me for ever, and thy throne shall be established for ever" (2 Sa 7:5-19); "A shoot shall come forth from the stock of Jesse, a bud shall grow out of his roots" (Is 11:1). Christ was indeed "Son of David" through Joseph who was "of the house and seed of David" (Lk 2:4) and through Mary (cf. explanatory article), even though the lineage of David is lost today.
• He will be the Son of God: "I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me" (2 Sa 7:5-19); "You are my son; today I have begotten you" (Ps 2:7).
• He will indeed be a man, described "like a son of man" (Dan 7:9-14): "Yes, a child is born to us, a son is given to us" (Is 9:5).
• But divine in nature, "coming on the clouds of heaven" (Dan 7:9-14): "The young woman shall name him Emmanuel, that is to say: God-with-us" (Is 7:10-14); "They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace" (Is 9:5); "And the lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple" (Mal 3:1-3); "From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times." (Mic 5:1-2); "I am the Lord, there is no savior but me" (Is 43:11).
• He will be anointed with the Spirit of the Lord, as the Spirit rests on the Son of God from all eternity: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me" (Is 61:1); "Upon him will rest the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord" (Is 11:1-2).
• He will be presented in the Temple: "And suddenly he will enter his sanctuary, the Lord whom you seek; and the Angel of the covenant whom you desire, behold, he comes! says the Lord of hosts. Who will stand the day of his coming? Who will stand upright when he appears?" (Mal 3:1-3).
• He will come to found a new covenant: "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. I will put my Law in the depths of their being and write it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they will be my people. Everyone will know me, from the smallest to the greatest - the Lord declares - because I will forgive their crime and remember their sin no more" (Jer 31:31-34).
• This New Covenant will give rise to another priesthood (cf. Heb 10:4-10): "The Lord has sworn it in an irrevocable oath: 'You are a priest for eternity, according to the order of Melchizedek'" (Ps 110:4).
• The Messiah will first illuminate Galilee: "Where once he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, now he has glorified the way of the Sea, the land across the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations [...] The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone." (Is 8:23 ; 9:1).
• His preaching will reveal the mysteries of God: "I will open my mouth in a parable, unfold the puzzling events of the past" (Ps 78:2); "Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted" (Is 11: 3-4).
• This New Covenant will give rise to another priesthood (cf. Heb 10:4-10): "The Lord has sworn that His dominion will extend over all the earth: "His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth" (Zech 9:10); "You will rule them with a scepter of iron; like pottery vessels you will break them" (Ps 2:1-9).
• His salvation will reach to the ends of the earth (Is 49:5-6): "Ask, and I will give you the ends of the earth as your domain" (Ps 2:1-9); "He will rule from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth" (Ps 72:8).
• He will inaugurate an eternal Kingdom beyond the Earth: "He received dominion, splendor, and kingship; all nations, peoples and tongues will serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed" (Dan 7:9-14); "The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people; rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever." (Dan 2: 39-44).
• All the nations will come to him: "Ask, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance" (Ps 2:1-9); "I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." (Is 49:3-6), the messianic work that Christ has accomplished once and for all.
• In him, all nations will be blessed: "In your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing, because you obeyed my command." (Gen 22:18); "May he be like rain coming down upon the fields, like showers watering the earth, that abundance may flourish in his days, great bounty, till the moon be no more…May his name be forever; as long as the sun, may his name endure. May the tribes of the earth give blessings with his name; may all the nations regard him as favored." (Ps 72:6-7; 17); "I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earthI will make you the light of the nations" (Is 49:5-6). 
• He will be the Savior of the world: "The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior" (Zeph 3:14-17); "Fear not, Jacob, poor worm, Israel, poor mortal. I am coming to help you - the Lord's oracle; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel" (Is 41: 14); "Then a redeemer will come to Zion, for those in Jacob who turn from their crime. Oracle of the Lord" (Is 59: 20).
• He will be King: "Shout for joy, daughter Zion! sing joyfully, Israel!...The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst" (Zeph 3:14-17); "But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathaha least among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel" (Mic 5:1-2); "Upon his shoulder dominion rests" (Is 9:5).
• He will be peaceful: "He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; The warrior’s bow will be banished, and he will proclaim peace to the nations." (Zech 9:10). 
• He will be humble: "Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zech 9:9).
• For a time, he will be despised, misunderstood, abandoned by men and, in a way, by God: "Object of scorn, avoided by men" (Is 53:3); "Like one from whom you turn your face, spurned, and we held him in no esteem." (Is 53:3); "And we regarded him as punished, smitten by God and humiliated" (Is 53:4); "Among his people, who cared that he was cut off from the land of the living, that he was smitten for the crime of his people?"(Is 53, 8); "The insult broke my heart to the point of collapse. I hoped for compassion, but in vain, for comforters, and I found none" (Ps 68, 21); "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Ps 21, 2); "All who see me scorn me, they sneer and shake their heads: 'He counted on the Lord: let him deliver him! Let him save him, since he is his friend" (Ps 21:8).
• He will suffer: "A man of sorrows, familiar with suffering" (Is 53:3); "Ill-treated, he humbled himself, he did not open his mouth, like a lamb that lets itself be led to the slaughter, like a mute sheep before the shearers, he did not open his mouth" (Is 53:3); "O you who pass along the way, look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow" (Lm 1:12).
• He will be burdened with our sins and sufferings: "He bore our sufferings and was burdened with our sorrows" (Is 53:4); "The Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all" (Is 53:6).
• He will be betrayed: "He who shared my bread raised his hand against me" (Ps 41:10).
• He will be rejected by his people: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this is the work of the Lord, a marvel in our eyes" (Ps 118:22-23). 
• He will be judged: "By constraint and judgment he has been seized" (Is 53:8).
• He will be nailed to the Cross: "They have pierced my hands and my feet, I can count all my bones" (Ps 22:17). 
• He will be pierced: "They will look upon him whom they have pierced" (Zech 12:10-12). 
• Water will come out of his side: "Behold, water came out of the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He said to me: 'This water is going to the sea, so that its waters will become fresh. Wherever the river passes, every living thing that swarms in it will live, for this water comes from the sanctuary" (Ez 47:1-12). 
• He will be surrounded by thieves: "Dogs surround me; a pack of evildoers closes in on me" (Ps 22:17).
• They will give him vinegar to quench his thirst: "For my thirst they gave me vinegar" (Ps 68:22).
• They will divide his clothes among themselves and cast lots for his garment: "They will divide my clothes among themselves and cast lots for my garment" (Ps 21:19).
• He will die and be buried in a rich man's tomb: "They gave him a grave with the ungodly, and his grave is with the rich, though he did no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth" (Is 53:9).
• He will be mourned: "They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and they will grieve for him as one grieves over a firstborn." (Zech 12:10).
• He will conquer death and rise again: "After the trial his soul has endured, he will see the light and be filled" (Is 53:11); "For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol nor let your devout one see the pit" (Ps 15:10); "He will make death disappear forever" (Is 25:8).
• He will be man's Redeemer: "He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities" (Is 53:5); "The chastisement that gives us peace is upon him, and in his wounds we find healing" (Is 53:5); "Through him the will of the Lord will be accomplished" (Is 53:10); "Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify the multitudes by burdening himself with their iniquities" (Is 53:11); "I will give him his portion among the many, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death, was counted among the transgressors, bore the sins of many, and interceded for the transgressors." (Is 53, 12).
• The Spirit of God will be sent: "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even upon your male and female servants, in those days, I will pour out my spirit." (Joel 3:1-5).
• He will call other peoples: "I will call 'my people' a nation that was not my people" (Hos 2:25, quoted in Rom 9:25).
• We are saved by the wood of his Cross: like the wood of Noah's Ark, like Moses' staff, it is always the wood (the Cross) that helps us cross the water (baptism) to reach the Promised Land.
• Jesus fulfilled the true Sabbath: the Sabbath, from Friday evening to Sunday morning, celebrated God's rest at the end of creation (Gen 2:2; Ex 16:29; 20:8). In the end, it is revealed as an anticipation and announcement of Christ's death and perfect rest. From Friday evening to Sunday morning, Christ rested in death after the new creation.
• He also fulfilled the figure of Moses: Moses announced the coming of a prophet "like himself": "A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen" (Dt 18:15-18). Christ appears as the new Moses, who draws man from the land of sin through the waters of baptism. He leads us through the desert of this world to the Promised Land of the Kingdom of God, offering the help of the Law of the Spirit engraved in our hearts, the fulfillment of the Law on stone; he offers the nourishment of his Body, the true Bread from heaven, the fulfillment of the manna.
• He fulfilled the figure of Joseph: sold by his brothers, Joseph saves the universe, then finally makes himself recognized by his brothers and weeps, clasping them to his heart (Gn 50:20).
• He fulfilled the figure of Isaac: he is the only Son, whom the Father gave up, like Abraham. He is the Lamb chosen by God, sacrificed on Mount Moriah (Gen 22:8).
• Christ is the priest, altar and victim of the new and eternal Covenant. The New Covenant is made in his own blood. He is the High Priest who has entered the true Temple, in Heaven, once and for all.
• The Church is the bride drawn from Christ's side, plunged into death, just as Eve was drawn from Adam's side, as he was plunged into a mysterious sleep.
• He has announced his coming in glory, which will complete all the prophecies: "All nations will see him" (Mt 24:30). The whole earth will be filled with his glory, the forerunners of this coming being the Gospel preached to the ends of the earth (Mt 24:14), the great apostasy of the world (2 Thess 2:3), and the return of Israel to its land (Lk 21:24).

And that's without taking into account the prophecies concerning the Most Blessed Virgin and the time of the Messiah's coming, which are subjects too broad for this article and which we will present in another chapter.

In conclusion, aside from a few prophecies that will only be fulfilled in eternity, in Heaven - for example, those concerning universal peace, "The wolf shall be a guest of the lamb" (Is 11:6), or the universal knowledge of God, "Everyone will know God, from the smallest to the greatest" (Jer 31:34), "No more evil will be done on my holy mountain" (Is 11:9), etc. -  we cannot find a single Messianic prophecy that Jesus did not fully fulfill. That is why the extraordinary fact of the prophecies is one of the great reasons to believe. All that Christ did was indeed done "according to the Scriptures" (cf. Mt 2:5; 11:10; 21:42; 26:24; 26:31; 26:54; Mk 1:2; 7:6; 14:21; 14:27; 14:49; Lk 7:27; 18:31; 20:17; 24:32-46; Jn 1:45; 2:17; 5:39; 5:46; 12:14; Acts 13:29, etc.).

Beyond reasons to believe:

The Church's common prayer and liturgy, throughout the year, demonstrate the extent to which Christ fulfilled and surpassed Israel's expectations, letting us glimpse "the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph 3:18-19).

Going further:

Video  Top 30 Prophecies That Jesus Christ Fulfilled by A&Ω Productions (3 episodes)

More information:

• Book: Hypotheses about Jesus by Vittorio Messori – Sophia Institute Press, April 16, 2024
• Website https://jewsforjesus.org/learn/5-prophecies-that-yeshua-fulfilled-at-passover
• Article Messianic prophecies by Catholic365