When people ask me how the prophets point to Jesus Christ, I often sense a deeper desire beneath the question. It is not only about connecting Old Testament passages to New Testament events. It is about discovering whether God has truly been guiding history with love and purpose. This question arises from a longing to trust that our faith rests on something solid—that God has been speaking, patiently and faithfully, long before Christ walked among us.
The prophets of Israel were men who listened closely to God in the midst of real human struggle. They spoke to their own times—times of exile, injustice, fear, and hope—but their words reached beyond their own lives. Isaiah spoke of a suffering servant who would bear the sins of many. Micah foretold that a ruler would come from Bethlehem, small and humble. Jeremiah promised a new covenant written not on stone, but on the human heart. When we read these passages in the light of the Gospel, we begin to see that they are not isolated predictions, but part of a single, unfolding story that finds its fulfillment in Jesus.
What is most beautiful is how these prophecies point not only to events, but to the very heart of Christ. The prophets reveal a Messiah who would be both king and servant, powerful yet gentle, rejected yet victorious. In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, these seemingly paradoxical images come together. He is the promised Son of David, yet He enters Jerusalem on a donkey. He is Emmanuel, God with us, yet He suffers and dies out of love for us. The Church teaches us that this harmony between prophecy and fulfillment is a sign of God’s wisdom—He prepares His people slowly, teaching them to recognize salvation when it finally arrives.
For our daily lives, this connection between the prophets and Jesus invites us to read Scripture with patience and trust. Sometimes we, too, live in the “in-between,” holding promises we do not yet fully understand. The prophets remind us that God is always at work, even when His plan unfolds quietly over time. When we see how faithfully God fulfilled His word in Christ, we learn to trust Him with our own unanswered questions, believing that His love will also bring our stories to fulfillment.
Reflection
May the voices of the prophets help us recognize Jesus more clearly—not only in Scripture, but in our own lives. Let us learn to trust the God who speaks across centuries and still speaks gently to our hearts today.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way.
