Prophecies Of Messiahs Suffering Lamblike
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep, before its shearers are silent, So He opened not His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7, Emphasis added)
Lamblike Fulfilment
The Jewish leaders had no authority to execute Jesus and the next morning He was taken to Pilate, to be tried in the Roman Court.
Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews and Jesus answered that it was so. But during the incessant accusations from the chief priests and leaders, He remained silent.
Pilate was very impressed with Jesus and did not want to condemn an innocent man. It was the custom during the Passover feast for the Roman governor to release a prisoner.
So Pilate asked the crowd who they wanted him to release. Should Jesus Barabbas, a notorious murderer and rebel against the Roman government, be set free; or Jesus, who was called Messiah?
Read and Learn More Key Biblical Messianic Prophecies
The Jewish leaders had already persuaded the gathered mob against Jesus and they cried out for the release of Barabbas.
When Pilate asked what he should do with Jesus, they all answered that he should be crucified. Pilate asked them why, seeing that Jesus had done no evil. But they continued to cry out for Him to be crucified.
Reason and justice did not influence the mob. So Pilate washed his hands before them, saying that he had no responsibility for Jesus’ death, it was their decision. Seeing that a riot was imminent, he reluctantly handed Jesus over to be scourged, a life-threatening punishment.
Messiah Disfigured Beyond Recognition
Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men. (Isaiah 52:13-14)
Messiah Disfigured Beyond Recognition Fulfillment
After Jesus was scourged, the Roman soldiers took Him to the Praetorium and the whole garrison gathered around him. They dressed Jesus in a scarlet robe and pressed down a crown of thorns on His head.
Then they placed a reed in His hand, as a mock scepter and they knelt before Him saying, “Hail, King of Jews!” (Matthew 27:29). They spat on Jesus, took the reed from His hand and beat Him on the head with it.
The brutal punishment and abuse disfigured His appearance until Jesus was no longer recognizable.
After the soldiers had satisfied their sadistic pleasure, they took off the robe and returned His clothes to Him. Then He was led out to be crucified, the crudest form of execution, reserved for the worst of criminals.
Messiah Was To Be Pierced
For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation ofthe wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet. (Psalm 22:16)
This psalm describes, 1000 years before Jesus was born, the crucifixion of Messiah, in complete and accurate detail.
Messiah Was To Be Pierced Fulfilment
Exhausted and weakened, Jesus was unable to carry His cross. One of the guards ordered a bystander, Simon from Cyrene, to carry Jesus’ cross to Golgotha.
They offered Him a mixture of wine and myrrh to dull His pain, but after tasting it Jesus refused to drink. Then they nailed His hands and feet to the cross.
They Gambled for Messiah’s Garments
They divide My garments among them,
Andfor My clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:18)
They Gambled for Messiah’s Garments Fulfillment
The executioners had the privilege of taking the victim’s clothes. After crucifying Jesus, the soldiers threw dice for His garments. Above His head, they had put a written sign of the criminal charge against Him.
This Is Jesus The King Of The Jews
Messiah Crucified With Thieves
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)
Messiah Crucified With Thieves Fulfilment
Jesus was crucified with two robbers, one on either side of Him, and all those passing by contemptuously blasphemed Him.
Jesus experienced cruel rejection yet He responded with prayers for those who sinned against Him; asking His Father to forgive them, because they were acting in ignorance.
Messiah Is Despised And Rejected
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. (Isaiah 53:3a)
All those who see. I ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, and they shake their head, saying,
“He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him since He delights in Him!” (Psalm 22:7-8)
Messiah Is Despised And Rejected Fulfillment
Those who passed by challenged Jesus to save Himself, if He was the Son of God! The religious leaders observed His suffering with indifference and joined in with the mockery. They also defied Him to prove He was the Messiah, by coming down from the cross.
Messiah Is A Sin Offering
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bisector of our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes, I am healed.
All we like sheep have astray;
We have turned, everyone, to his iniquity of us all.
And the LORD has laid on Him the in the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6)n way;
Messiah Is A Sin Offering Fulfilment
Jesus’ enemies continued to sneer, even the two robbers next to Him joined in the ridicule. What they did not understand, was that Jesus could not save Himself and save us at the same time! Therefore He chose to endure His suffering and remained on the cross.
Jesus had said when arrested in the garden, that if He had asked His Father, He would have provided twelve legions of angels. But He needed to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. To fulfill what was written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
Messiah Feels Forsaken by God’s Fulfillment
From the sixth hour (noon), there was a supernatural darkness over all the land for three hours, and Jesus was hidden from the gaping crowd. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”(Matthew 27:46).
These words, spoken by Jesus in Aramaic, were written by David 1000 years previously.
Jesus had always been with the Father and this must surely have caused Him to experience a most cruel sense of rejection and complete isolation.
Messiah Thirsts
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death. (Psalm 22:15)
Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of heaviness;
I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
They also gave me gall for my food,
And for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. (Psalm 69:20-21)
Messiah Thirsts Fulfilment
From the time of His arrest to being crucified, Jesus had endured six separate trials and extremely brutal punishment. On the cross He suffered agonizing pain, exhaustion, and terrible thirst; as well as the emotional pain of scorn, rejection, and isolation.
One of those standing by the cross ran and soaked a sponge with sour wine; then lifted it on a stick for Him to drink. But others with him told him not to bother. They wanted to see if Elijah would come and help Him.