II Pet. 1:19-21 reads: 

“And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

The phrase, “Prophetic word made more sure” is especially worth noting. In the context of II Peter, after discussing the Mount of Transfiguration (vv. 16-18), Peter notes the significance of prophecies fulfilled in Scripture. It stands to reason, that some of the most powerful evidence for the Christian faith is the fulfillment of prophecies. 

I was recently asked by one of our children’s Bible class teachers what prophecies I would want my kids to know. This got my wheels turning. Surely there are hundreds worth knowing! But, perhaps in an effort to be tangible, what are some simple ones a person could remember? For the sake of simplicity, let’s set aside some of the national prophecies (i.e., where God told nations “this is what is going to happen to you”). 

Consider Jesus-centered prophecies only. We could take dozens upon dozens, but that would destroy our aim of simplicity. Instead, we will examine six prophecies, some of which are highly memorable, especially if we are seeing to instill them into younger minds.

Jesus would be a child of Abraham. Consider what God told him after he offered Isaac:

Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Gen. 22:15-18) 

Through the seed of Abraham, all nations would be blessed… Moses recorded those words approximately 1,500 B.C. 

How does Matthew’s gospel account begin?

“The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham…” (Mt. 1:1) 

“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations” (Mt. 1:17).

John notes the words of Jesus: “Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day, and he saw it and rejoiced” (Jn. 8:56). 

What does that mean? How could Abraham rejoice at the day of Jesus? I think when we examine the overall picture being painted, it suggests that Jesus was the completion of that promise. Thus, Jesus was. 

Jesus would be buried and resurrected. Consider the words of David in the Psalms: 

I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Ps. 16:8-11) 

David penned those words around 1,000 B.C. What does it mean? The line about the soul not being abandoned in Sheol and the Holy One not seeing corruption probably sounds familiar. It is no wonder that you read the gospels and discover that each of the four records the iconic phrase (or something similar), “He is not here, He is risen!” 

Luke notes the words of Jesus: Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day (Lk. 24:44-46). 

The psalms spoke about the resurrection of Christ… Perhaps, we could go one step further… Peter takes us to this Psalm in his Pentecost sermon and draws some powerful conclusions: For David says of Him… [quotes the passage, then says] “Brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. So because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. It is this Jesus whom God raised up, a fact to which we are all witnesses” (Ac. 2:25-32).

Peter’s point is that the text couldn’t apply to David because he was still dead, buried, and his tomb was there! Thus, the Christ would be raised… Jesus was. 

Jesus would be called Immanuel. Consider the words of the prophet Isaiah: 

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). 

Isaiah recorded those words in approximately 700 B.C. Please notice what we have done thus far. We have taken a prophetic utterance from each of the major sections of OT Scripture and different periods: Pentateuch (Genesis, 1,500 B.C.), Poetry (Psalms, 1,000 B.C.), and now Prophets (Isaiah, 700 B.C.). 

And again, how does Matthew’s work begin? 

But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he named Him Jesus. (Mt. 1:20-25). 

His Messianic name would be Immanuel. There are endless connections to this point. In John’s gospel, Jesus is described this way: “The word became flesh and dwelt among us…”  (Jn. 1:14) God dwelt among His people through the person of Jesus Christ. Called Immanuel, and Jesus was. 

Jesus would enter Jerusalem on a donkey. Consider the words of a later prophet: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9). 

Zechariah put those words on paper hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus. It is oddly specific and contrary to what any culture of any time would expect. The King would come to town riding a WHAT? Kings are escorted by an entourage of powerful images. They ride elephants or great white horses, or they are even carried by a small army of servants. Not this King, it was prophetically recorded that He would enter a particular city riding a donkey.

All four gospels record this event.

When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.” Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Mt. 1:1-11; cf. Mk. 11; Lk. 19; Jn. 12) 

How incredibly specific, and Jesus did. 

Jesus would be sold for 30 pieces of silver. Consider the same prophet: 

And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. (Zech. 11:12-13). 

This song is set to the tune of Israel’s continual rejection of God, and thus it seems so fitting to note the prophetic nature of this occasion to another event… 

What happens to Jesus in the gospel? 

“Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray Jesus” (Mt. 26:14-16). 

If we wanted to simplify the profundity of this prophecy, how much do currencies change in a few generations? How much does the price fluctuate over a period of time? Yet, the prophet noted how this would be fulfilled. This person would be… and Jesus was. 

Jesus would suffer. Go back to the previous prophet and once more dig into his words: 

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of dry ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we would look at Him, Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him. He was despised and abandoned by men, A man of great pain and familiar with sickness; And like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him. However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, And our pains that He carried; Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, Struck down by God, and humiliated. But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off from the land of the living For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due? And His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. (Isa. 53:1-9). 

Take special note of the detail and nature of the terms. This person would be hated, wounded, bruised, violently treated, oppressed/afflicted, wouldn’t defend Himself, eventually die, and then be buried in a particularly unusual way… 

Consider Matthew’s account once more: 

“At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the courtyard of the high priest named Caiaphas; and they plotted together to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him” (Mt. 26:3-4). 

But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I place You under oath by the living God, to tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God” (Mt. 26:63). 

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “So You are the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not offer any answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?” And still He did not answer him in regard to even a single charge, so the governor was greatly amazed (Mt. 27:11-14). 

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit” (Mt. 27:50). 

“Now when it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea came, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away” (Mt. 27:57-60). 

Incredible! Jesus did suffer. 

If you removed all of them but one. This would still be mathematically impossible. Take only the prophecy of Abraham’s descendant. Abraham lived roughly 2,000 years before Jesus. 2,000 years. But when you add in the complexities of not just one prophecy but six, or the additional dozens of others in Scripture this article doesn’t cover, this becomes mathematical insanity! Were it not for the fact that God authored this story, this would be lunacy. But because God authored it, not only does it make sense, it is the only thing that does. 

Can we amen Peter? The prophetic word is surely one of the most convincing proofs of the credibility of the incredible God and the immaculate word He left for us. 

Maybe these six simple ones will help you next time in your struggle. These can fit neatly in your back pocket when you are feeling particularly weak in faith, or someone around needs a boost in the faith. Perhaps, they can be at-the-ready for the next time you are discussion the reasons you believe this great Book and live your life by it. 

Our faith stands on solid ground because of the mountain of evidence that supports it.