"Thou Art That Christ"

John 6:69

Here are seven prophetic revelations plainly given in the Old Testament which assuredly identify the Messiah. And these seven things can be, with honesty, applied to no man in history, past, present, or future, except Jesus of Nazareth, who is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God. (1.) THE TIME OF MESSIAH'S ADVENT - God told no one the day or hour when Christ would come. But he did identify the time in history with unmistakable clarity. The coming of the Messiah must fit into this time frame: Before the destruction of civil government in Jerusalem (Gen. 49:10) - After the destruction of the first temple, but before the destruction of the second (Hag. 2:6-9) - And in the middle of Daniel's seventieth week (Dan. 9:24-27). Our Lord was crucified in 33 A.D., right in the middle of Daniel's seventieth week! (2.) THE PLACE OF MESSIAH'S BIRTH - (Mic.5:2).The Messiah must be a man born in the small, insignificant town of Bethlehem. And at the time of Jesus' birth, his parents were providentially forced to be in Bethlehem (Lk. 2:1-7). (3.) THE MESSIAH'S FAMILY - Messiah, the Christ, must be the son of David (Psa. 132:1; Isa. 11:1). Our Lord was descended from David. The Jews raised many objections to his messianic claims. But they never questioned his genealogy (Matt. 1:1-25). (4.) THE MESSIAH'S MIRACULOUS DEEDS - (Isa. 29:18; 35:5-6; 42:6-7). As soon as Jesus began to heal the sick, overpower the elements, raise the dead, and preach to the poor, men began to hail him, "Jesus, Lord, Son of David," acknowledging him as Messiah. And these things he offered as proof of his claims (Matt. 11:2-4). (5.) THE MESSIAH'S HUMILITY - (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:1-9). Christ rode into Jerusalem as no other king in history for his inauguration. He rode upon a borrowed ass's colt, considerably less pompous than his pretended vicar, the pope! (6.) THE MESSIAH'S DEATH - (Dan. 9:26; Isa. 53; Psa. 22). Every detail of shame, ignominy, agony, and peculiarity described in the prophets was fulfilled in the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus, our Divine Savior (Lam. 1:12). (7.) THE MESSIAH'S RESURRECTION - (Psa. 16:9-11; Isa. 53:10-12). On the third day after his death, before his holy body could begin to decay, our Savior, the Christ, arose from the dead!

Don Fortner