Introduction to Messianic Prophecy
Imagine you meet a Muslim who shares their faith with you using the Quran, or a Mormon tries to convert you by quoting from the Book of Mormon. How would you respond? You might try to be respectful, but you probably wouldn't be receptive to their message. After all, you might think, I already have the Bible.
Have you ever considered that your Jewish friend may view the New Testament the same way you view the Quran or the Book of Mormon? Most of us have probably never read the sacred texts of other religions. Similarly, many Jewish people haven’t read the New Testament. Some may think of it as a Gentile document that’s irrelevant to them, while others may believe the New Testament is antisemitic because of the history of Christian antisemitism (you can read an overview of this history by clicking here). These assumptions can make the New Testament a less effective starting point when sharing the gospel with a Jewish audience.
Conversely, the Hebrew Bible (what we know as the Old Testament) is something the majority of Jewish people can connect with, even if they aren’t religious. Sharing the Good News from the Jewish Scriptures is not only possible, it is more likely to capture Jewish interest. Not only does the Hebrew Bible contain numerous messianic prophecies that point to Jesus, but it also serves as a foundation for the New Testament.
Citations from the Hebrew Bible compose a significant portion of the New Testament’s 260 chapters. According to this article, the New Testament directly quotes the Hebrew Bible 300 times and references it an additional 500-600 times. Why did the New Testament authors cite the Hebrew Bible so frequently? We find the answer in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, where Paul reminds the Corinthian believers of the gospel: “For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Since the New Testament was still being written at this time, “the Scriptures” Paul references can only be the Hebrew Bible! The fact that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection happened as prophesied in the Hebrew Bible is a vital aspect of the gospel.
If we consider how the Hebrew Bible laid the groundwork for the gospel and foretold things concerning the Messiah, we can understand why so much of it is incorporated into the New Testament. The Messianic prophecies in the Hebrew Bible were foundational to the faith of the early believers and formed the basis for their communication of the gospel. We see this clearly in the book of Acts.
In Acts 2:14-36, when Peter preaches to the Jewish people gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost, he quotes from the book of Joel and the Psalms to show his audience that Jesus is the Messiah. When God led him to share the gospel with the Gentile centurion Cornelius, Peter said concerning Jesus: “All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43).
In Acts 13, we read how Paul shared the Good News in a synagogue by quoting Psalm 2, Psalm 16, and the prophets Isaiah and Habakkuk. Later, when Paul and Silas arrived in Berea and preached in their synagogue, the Jewish Bereans “received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). By diligently studying the Hebrew Bible, the Bereans were able to confirm the truth of what Paul was proclaiming, and “many of them believed” (verse 12).
From these accounts, we can see that it's not only possible to share the gospel message from the Hebrew Bible, but these passages are essential to the gospel and were used by the early believers to testify that Jesus is the Messiah. For believers today, messianic prophecy continues to be a powerful way that God’s Word testifies directly about Him.
Here are some key messianic prophecies to reference in gospel conversations with your Jewish friends. Each reveals an important aspect of the Messiah’s life, death, and mission.
· Isaiah 53 speaks of the Messiah’s role as the suffering servant
· Daniel 9:26 foretells the time of the Messiah’s coming (you can read an article on this by clicking here)
· Psalm 22 describes the Messiah’s death and was quoted by Jesus on the cross
· Micah 5:2 predicts that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem
· Zechariah 9:9 prophesies that the Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a donkey
Studying Messianic prophecy in the Scriptures will not only help us share the gospel with our Jewish friends, but it can also enrich our own spiritual lives, giving us a deeper appreciation of God’s faithfulness and the internal consistency of the whole Bible. As we seek to point our Jewish friends to these prophecies, may we also rejoice in Him and give thanks for the gospel, which is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the [Gentile]” (Romans 1:16).
