Prophecy Fulfilled and Unfulfilled

I'll have finished reading through Isaiah by tomorrow, and it was interesting to read the prophecies foretold of Jesus' first coming. With the help of my Bible notes, I'm going to list a few of them here. Isaiah repeatedly speaks of the supremacy of Christ, and in the rest of Scripture we can see that the Lord God fulfilled His spoken Word, just as He said He would.

Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose'. 
(Isaiah 46:9)

The Virgin Birth

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

Fulfilled

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:6-7)

Revival of the David dynasty

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. (Isaiah 11:1)

Fulfilled

...he [God] raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.' Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. (Acts 13:22-23)

Jesus' physical healing of the deaf and blind

In that day shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. (Isaiah 29:18)

Fulfilled

The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raise up, and the poor have good news preached to them. (Matthew 11:5)

The preaching of John the Baptist

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

Fulfilled

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:2-4)

Jesus beaten and spat upon

I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face
from disgrace and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)

Fulfilled

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him. (Luke 22:63-65)

Israel failed to recognize her Messiah

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)

Fulfilled

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:36-38)

The Lamb of God

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)

Fulfilled

The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)

The Triumphal Entry

Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” (Isaiah 62:11)

Fulfilled

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:4-11)

Crucified between criminals

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)

Fulfilled

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. (Luke 22:32-33)

*****

But Christ didn't stay crucified, and Isaiah 35, one of my favorite chapters, describes what some of the Millennium is going to look like when Christ returns to the people who rejected Him and rules on earth. For though He was despised at His first coming, every knee shall bow at His Second return, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord! The prophecy of His Second Coming is, as yet, unfulfilled, but just as He completely met all the requirements of the Old Testament prophecies, Christ will return again and fulfill the Scriptures that speak of His next return. His Word is sure. He will come to claim His own. 

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 40:8

Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.

Isaiah 48:12-13