Christ, the Messiah, was cut off, crucified, in the seventh year of the sixty-ninth week from the decree to restore and to build Jerusalem. This is prophesied in Daniel 9:25-26a and fulfilled in John 19:14-16. Daniel 9:25 says, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” In this verse a week equals seven years. Therefore, “seven weeks” denote forty-nine years. If you study the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, you will see that from the time that the king of Persia gave the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem unto the completion of this rebuilding was forty-nine years. Daniel 9:25 also speaks of a period of threescore and two weeks, or sixty-two weeks. This is equal to four hundred thirty-four years. The first seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks yield a total of four hundred eighty-three years. The first forty-nine years go from the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem to the completion of the building. The four hundred thirty-four years extend from the building of Jerusalem to Messiah, the Prince, that is, to the year in which Messiah was cut off.
Daniel 9:26a goes on to say, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.” The words “cut off” refer to the crucifixion of Christ, the Messiah. Christ was cut off not for Himself but for us. At the time prophesied by Daniel, He was crucified for us.
Matthew 27:57-60 reveals that Christ was buried by a rich man. The Lord was wrapped in a clean linen cloth and laid in a new tomb (vv. 59-60). This kind of burial was for the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:9.
While the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, many evil things and sufferings came to Him. Some people treated Him evilly, and others mocked Him. Everything in His environment was dark. But however evil were the events and however much He suffered, He endured them all and passed through them victoriously. Immediately after His death, the environment changed. After the Lord accomplished His redemptive and life-imparting death, His situation of suffering immediately changed into an honorable one. Joseph of Arimathaea, a rich man, and Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came with linen and very expensive spices, myrrh and aloes (John 19:38-40), to prepare His body for burial. It was not the poor but the noble who cared for His body, burying Him in a new tomb “with the rich” (John 19:41; Isa. 53:9). By this we see that the entire situation was changed into a rich condition, a noble state. The Lord was now dear to people, and they valued Him very highly. Hence, the Lord rested in human honor. Although He was put to death in shame, He was buried in honor. Then according to God’s sovereignty, in human honor of a high standard the Lord rested on the Sabbath day (John 19:42; Luke 23:55-56), waiting for the time to resurrect from among the dead. Because His work had been finished, He could rest and enjoy a proper Sabbath day. After this Sabbath, on the first day of the week, He would rise up from His resting place.
In Hosea 6:2 there is the prophecy that Christ would be raised from the dead on the third day. This prophecy is fulfilled in 1 Corinthians 15:4 where we are told that Christ “has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
In Psalm 16:8-11 we have the prophecy concerning Christ as the Holy One of Jehovah whose soul Jehovah would not leave in Hades and whom He would not permit to see corruption. Acts 2:24-31 is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Another verse related to this fulfillment is Acts 13:35. Acts 2:24 says, “Whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for Him to be held by it.” Christ is both God and resurrection (John 1:1; 11:25), possessing the indestructible life (Heb. 7:16). Because He is such an ever-living One, death is not able to hold Him. He delivered Himself to death, but death had no way to detain Him; rather, death was defeated by Him, and He rose up from it.
Acts 2:25 says, “For David says in regard to Him, I saw the Lord continually before me, because He is on my right hand, that I should not be shaken.” The words “I saw” introduce a declaration of Christ in His resurrection. Here “Lord” refers to God. When Christ is held by God (as in Isa. 41:13; 42:6), God is on His right hand. But when He is exalted by God, He is sitting on the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; Psa. 110:1; Eph. 1:20-21).
Acts 2:26 continues, “Therefore my heart was made glad and my tongue exulted; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope.” This is a quotation from Psalm 16:9 in the Septuagint. But in the original Hebrew text the word for tongue is “glory,” which is a synonym of soul, according to Genesis 49:6 and Psalm 7:5. In His trust in God, Christ’s heart was made glad, and His soul exulted while He was in Hades (Acts 2:26-27).
The Greek word translated “rest” in Acts 2:26 may also be rendered dwell, reside, pitch its tent. After Christ died on the cross, while His soul exulted in Hades, His flesh (body) rested in the tomb in hope, trusting in God.
Acts 2:27 goes on to say, “Because You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You permit Your Holy One to see corruption.” Hades, like Sheol in the Old Testament (Gen. 37:35; Psa. 6:5), is the place where the souls and the spirits of the dead are kept (Luke 16:22-23). Here in Acts 2:27 “corruption” refers to the corruption of the body in the tomb.
Acts 2:28 says, “You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.” Here the ways of life are the ways to get out of death into resurrection. The Greek word for “presence” also means countenance. Christ was resurrected into God’s presence, especially in His ascension (Acts 2:34; Heb. 1:3).
Thus far we have covered forty-three aspects of Christ’s person in the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. We have seen that He is prophesied as the Creator, the very God, who remains unchanged. We have seen that He was born of a virgin and grew up in a poor family; that He carried out His ministry as a faithful Servant, not breaking the bruised reed or quenching the smoking flax; that He was betrayed, sold, and despised; that on the cross He bore our iniquities, was made sin for us, and suffered God’s forsaking of Him. After being cut off as was prophesied by Daniel, He was resurrected on the third day. How wonderful that all these aspects of Christ are prophesied in the Old Testament!
Although much of Christ is revealed in the Old Testament prophecies, our eyes need to be opened to see both these prophecies and their fulfillment. The Jews treasure the Old Testament as the Word of God, but because they are blinded by tradition they do not see anything concerning Christ. We thank the Lord that we have been enlightened and that our eyes have been opened to see these prophecies in the light of the New Testament revelation. Now we can understand the many aspects concerning Christ’s person prophesied in the Old Testament.