Here’s something amazing about the Bible: even though the first part of the Bible (the “Old Testament”) was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born, it nevertheless contains many detailed and accurate predictions about Jesus!
Summary
Jesus summarized the message of the Old Testament like this:
“This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47).
If only Jesus’ disciples had properly understood the Old Testament, they would not have been surprised that the Son of God had to be crucified. 1,000 years beforehand, King David had already described Jesus’ death in great detail… even though, back then, crucifixion had not even been invented yet (Psalm 22; cf. Mark 15)! King David also predicted Jesus’ resurrection, prophesying that God would not let His “Holy One see decay” (Psalm 16:10; cf. Acts 2:24-32). Another Old Testament writer who foresaw Jesus’ death and resurrection was the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah explained that God’s servant would suffer for the sins of God’s people and then rise to life again (Isaiah 53; cf. 1 Peter 2:24), and that this good news of salvation would spread beyond Israel “to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6; cf. Luke 2:32)! Other Old Testament predictions about Jesus Christ include His ancestry (Genesis 49:10; 2 Samuel 7:12-16); His miraculous conception (Isaiah 7:14); the time and place of His birth (Daniel 2:36-45; Micah 5:2); His miracles (Isaiah 35:4-6); His burial (Isaiah 53:9); His ascension to heaven (Daniel 7:13-14); and much, much more.
Far too precise
Obviously, the prophets were far too precise to have been just making lucky guesses! Somehow, they knew all of these details about Jesus before He was even born. But how? The New Testament gives us the answer: as the prophets wrote, God Himself was giving them special, supernatural insight into the future (1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:20-21). This is why we call the Bible “The Word of God” (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:23-25).
Not yet come true
However, there are some predictions in the Bible which have not yet come true. The Bible tells us that, at the end of history, Jesus will return to earth for a second time to judge us (Revelation 20:11-15). The Bible is clear that we all deserve to be condemned for our sins (Ephesians 2:1-3), and that on the Day of Judgment, the only people who will be rescued are those with a living faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
The sensible response is to put our trust in Jesus, the Son of God, and to believe and obey the Bible, the Word of God. For, since the Bible was right about Jesus’ first coming, we can be sure that it will be right about His second coming, too.