The coming of the Messiah was predicted through prophecy throughout the Old Testament. In fact, there are over 400 very specific prophecies about the coming savior, beginning in the book of Genesis and ending in the book of Malachi—the very last book in the Bible before the birth of Christ and the beginning of the New Testament!

Skeptics might try to suggest that it was a simple matter of chance that Jesus’s birth, life, death and resurrection happened to match up with the ancient prophecies. Scientifically speaking, what are the odds of that happening? The answer is astounding and faith-bolstering. Applying mathematics to the question of how likely it would be that one individual could fulfill the prophecies written about the Messiah, professor Peter Stoner took just eight significant prophecies into account. Here are eight prophecies about the coming Christ:

1. The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (written 700 BC):

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”-Micah 5:2

       Fulfilled by Matthew 2:1

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem”

2. The Messiah would be born to a virgin (written 740 BC):

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” -Isaiah 7:14

       Fulfilled by Luke 1:27

“to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”

3. The Messiah would descend from King David’s line (written 600 BC):

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” – Jeremiah 23:5

       Fulfilled by the genealogy of Jesus found in Luke 3:23-31

4. The Messiah would be betrayed by 30 pieces of silver (written 487 BC):

“And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.” – Zechariah 11:13

       Fulfilled by Matthew 26:15

“and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.”

   

      5. The Messiah’s hands and feet would be pierced (written 1000 BC):

“Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.” -Psalm 22:16”

       Fulfilled by Luke 23:33

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.”

6. People would divide up the Messiah’s clothing by casting lots (written 1000 BC):

“They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” -Psalm 22:18

       Fulfilled by John 19:24

“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it…”

7. The Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (written 500 BC):

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” -Zechariah 9:9

       Fulfilled by Matthew 21:7

“They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.”

8. Before the Messiah’s appearance, a messenger would be sent to announce him (written 500 BC):

“’I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty.” -Malachi 3:1

       Fulfilled by John 1:26

“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.”

Taking only those eight prophecies into account, just what would the odds be that Jesus would fulfill each one? The answer is incredible: the odds that one man in a single lifetime could fulfill just 8 of the over 300 prophecies mentioned in the Bible are one to 10 to the 17th power, or one in 100,000,000,000,000,000.

To put this into perspective, professor Stoner gave the following illustration: Imagine building a wall around the entire state of Texas, two feet high. Fill the whole state in with quarters, to the depth of two feet, and then paint a single quarter red and toss it into the pile. Shake it all up. Put on a blindfold, jump into the pile and pick up a quarter—the odds that Jesus Christ fulfilled those 8 prophecies in his lifetime are the same as picking up the single red quarter on your first try.

If this doesn’t astound you, consider the odds of Christ fulfilling all of the biblical prophecies over all the years that the Old Testament was written:

God took great care to give us clear direction as to what we should expect in the Messiah, and the life of Jesus was the fulfillment of generations of waiting in anticipation. What an incredible blessing it is to know we serve a God who has no problem beating all odds in order to come to earth as a newborn baby, fulfilling His age-old promise to bring salvation to His people!