Prophecy Points to Jesus

I've been reading through the book of Zechariah in the mornings, and it is impressive how often messianic prophecies connected to Jesus by the Gospel penmen pop up.  The fulfillment of biblical prophecy supplies strong evidence of the veracity and trustworthiness of Scripture.  Bible prophecy is not like general predictions people make, who proudly claim they "called it" when they were not specific and ignore the fact they also contradicted themselves numerous times.  In God's word, He provided many statements over a thousand years meticulously recorded for our benefit so we could identify the promised Messiah and Son of God Jesus who is the Saviour of the world.  The New Testament in many places expressly states how Old Testament prophecy was and will be fulfilled by Christ, and here are a few examples.

Zechariah 9:9 states, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."  This passage is referred to in Matthew 21:1-5 when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey that had never been ridden before, a miracle in itself.  People young and old shouted, "Hosanna in the highest!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!" and praised God according to Psalm 118:25-26.  The name of Jesus literally means, "God is salvation," and this is fitting because Jesus Christ is the divine Saviour incarnate.  The book of the Revelation reveals Jesus glorified as KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:11-16).

Zechariah 11:12-13 goes on to say:  "Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. ¹³ And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"--that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter."  This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was betrayed by Judas who covenanted with the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.  Wracked with guilt after Jesus was arrested and condemned, Judas attempted to return the money and the priests would not receive it.  In a rage he literally threw the silver at them in the temple!  Because those hypocrites deemed it unlawful to put the money in the treasury because it was the price of blood, they bought a potter's field with it to bury strangers in.  This is explained in Matthew 26:14–16 and Matthew 27:3–10.

Today I read Zechariah 12:10 that says, "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."  While it was customary for Jews to execute by stoning, Jesus Christ was pierced on the cross by Roman soldiers and none of His bones were broken (Psalm 22:16-17).  The apostle confirmed as an eyewitness Jesus was pierced in John 19:37.  According to His promise, God has poured out the Holy Spirit upon those who trust in Him both Jew and Gentile.  Revelation 1:7 speaks of a future event when Jesus returns:  "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."

The Bible is full of prophecies God has been faithful to fulfill, and there remain many prophecies yet to be fulfilled.  We can have confidence in God's word as His people, that even as He has kept His word all He has promised He is able and will perform in His time.  I encourage and exhort all believers to read and study the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit, for both the Old and New Testament are filled with timeless truth and confirms beyond doubt it is indeed the word of God.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!