After His resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus explained to His disciples everything that had been prophesied about Him by all the prophets. 
He said to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-27).
 “Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24:31-32).
 And when He appeared to the rest of the disciples, He said to them: “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” Then He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44-45).
 But His disciples, as Jews, before the resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit, did not understand the prophecies of His crucifixion, death, and resurrection in the way intended by divine inspiration. However, after His resurrection from the dead and the descent of the Holy Spirit, who taught them these things—“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26)—the truth became completely clear to them. “But these things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him” (John 12:16). “Then, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said” (John 2:22).They referred to these prophecies on appropriate occasions in the Gospel, such as His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey: “They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road... And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved... Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” Hosanna in the highest!’... Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple... Jesus said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,” but you have made it a “den of thieves”’” (cf. John 12:13-15). “His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him” (John 12:16). Regarding the division of His garments and casting lots for His clothing: “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: ‘They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots’” (John 19:23-24; cf. Psalm 22:18). Regarding the preservation of His bones without breaking any: “For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken’” (John 19:36; cf. Exodus 12:46; Psalm 34:20). Regarding the piercing of His side with a spear: “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out... For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled... And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced’” (John 19:34-37; cf. Zechariah 12:10).These prophecies were their constant entry point for proclaiming the gospel of salvation to the Jews and the Gentiles, declaring that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited Messiah prophesied by all the prophets in all these holy books or scriptures. The disciples and apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, interpreted what the Lord had taught them from the prophecies written about Him, as the Scripture says. The Apostle Paul “with great intensity convinced the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 18:28). “So he went in to them according to his custom and reasoned with them for three Sabbaths from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2). The Scripture says about some of them: “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). He also began his epistle to the Romans by speaking of the gospel of Christ, “which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (Romans 1:2).The apostles relied primarily, in their preaching to the Jews—whether inside or outside the Jewish synagogues “where the Jews always meet” (John 18:20)—on reminding them of the prophecies previously declared by the Holy Spirit through the mouths of His holy prophets “as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began” (Luke 1:70). These prophecies were well-known to them and memorized by heart, as we have shown. They explained them to present Jesus of Nazareth as the very Messiah they awaited. Remarkably, the Jewish scholars and common people did not object to a single word of the prophecies cited by the apostles. Thus, thousands of them believed in Christ. Those who rejected did so from the perspective of expecting a Messiah who would fulfill their imagined vision of a king reigning for a thousand years over the whole world. They never considered that He would die: “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’?” (John 12:34). But this was their own idea about the expected Messiah, not God’s thought as revealed to the prophets in the holy scriptures.This is summarized in St. Peter’s sermon in the temple: “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities” (Acts 3:18-26).Similarly, in St. Paul’s sermon in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia: “Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to our fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 13:26-38).The creed of faith believed by the churches in which St. Paul preached and taught echoed what he himself had personally received from Christ and taught them: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).Thus, the four Gospels are filled with references to these prophecies and their application to His divine person, teaching, and works, with the repeated phrase “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet” or “by the prophets,” showing how His life, teaching, and works were foreknown and foretold in all the books or scriptures of the Old Testament prophets in the form of prophecies. Regarding His ministry in Galilee: “And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned’” (Matthew 4:13-16; cf. Isaiah 9:1-2). Regarding His cleansing of lepers, opening the eyes of the blind, casting out demons, and healing all kinds of diseases: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses’” (Matthew 8:17; cf. Isaiah 53:4). Regarding the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles’” (Matthew 12:17-18; cf. Isaiah 42:1). Regarding His teaching in parables: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world’” (Matthew 13:35; cf. Psalm 78:2). Regarding His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey and a colt: “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey”’” (Matthew 21:4-5; cf. Zechariah 9:9). Regarding the division of His garments at His crucifixion: “Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: ‘They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots’” (Matthew 27:35; cf. Psalm 22:18).Likewise, phrases such as “it is necessary that it be fulfilled,” “it must be fulfilled,” and “that the Scripture might royalties be fulfilled.” Regarding His birth from a virgin: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (Matthew 1:21-23; cf. Isaiah 7:14). Regarding His going to Egypt and returning from it: “And was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son’” (Matthew 2:15; cf. Hosea 11:1). Regarding their rejection of Him: “Although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: ‘Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?’” (John 12:37-38; cf. Isaiah 53:1). Regarding the inevitability of His trial, scourging, sufferings, crucifixion, being crucified between two thieves, and His death: “Then they crucified Him... Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left... Thus the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors’” (Mark 15:27-28; cf. Isaiah 53:12). Regarding His thirst on the cross: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’” (John 19:28; cf. Psalm 69:21). “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus” (Acts 1:16).Likewise, the phrase “by the mouth,” meaning “by the mouth of the prophet,” the revelation inspired by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of the prophet or prophets: “As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began” (Luke 1:70). Regarding Judas’ betrayal and the appointment of another disciple in his place: “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus” (Acts 1:16). Regarding the proclamation of the Lord Jesus to the Jews: “Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began... For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you’” (Acts 3:21-22). After the persecution faced by the disciples from the chief priests and scribes, the disciples and apostles prayed: “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: ‘Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: “Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.” For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done’” (Acts 4:24-28).The term “the Scripture” and “that the Scripture might be fulfilled” referred to all the books of the Old Testament: As the Lord Himself said: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” (John 7:42). When He thirsted on the cross: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’” (John 19:28). Regarding the piercing of His side with a spear: “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out... For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced’” (John 19:34-37). “For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead” (John 20:9).The dialogue between Philip the evangelist and the Ethiopian eunuch illustrates the intensive use by Christ’s disciples of Old Testament prophecies in their preaching: “So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.’ So the eunuch answered Philip and said, ‘I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of some other man?’ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:30-35). St. Paul says to the believers: “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame’” (Romans 10:9-11). The prophecy also refers to the incarnation: “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God”’” (Hebrews 10:5-7).Likewise, the phrases “the Scriptures” and “written in the Scriptures,” “the Holy Scriptures”: “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame’” (1 Peter 2:6). “Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone”’” (Matthew 21:42). “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers... So when the Jews went out of the synagogue... Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2). “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:1-3).The word “written” was used repeatedly to affirm that what was previously written by the Holy Spirit must be fulfilled and cannot be broken, as the Lord Jesus Christ said: “It is impossible that what is written should be broken” (cf. John 10:35). Thus, divine inspiration used phrases like “written by the prophet” (Matthew 2:5), “the Scripture which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David” (Acts 1:16; 4:25), “written in the volume of the book” (Hebrews 10:7), “the word that is written” (John 15:25; 1 Corinthians 15:54), “written in the law” (Luke 10:26; Acts 24:14; 1 Corinthians 14:21), “written in the law of Moses” (1 Corinthians 9:9), “written in the law and the prophets” (Acts 24:14), “written in the book of the prophets” (Acts 7:42), “written in the book of Psalms” (Acts 1:20). When Christ cleansed the temple: “Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up’” (John 2:17). “So they said to him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.’... Then Jesus said to them... ‘It is written in your law...’” (cf. John 12:14). “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office’” (Acts 1:20). “That God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’” (Acts 13:33). “And this agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written” (Acts 15:15). “Then He looked at them and said, ‘What then is this that is written: “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone”?’” (Luke 20:17). “Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone’?” (Mark 12:10). “As it is written: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame’” (Romans 9:33). “As it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob’” (Romans 11:26). “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)” (Galatians 3:13). “Then He said to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:21).The use of phrases like “the law and the prophets” or “Moses and the prophets”: As the Lord Jesus Christ said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John” (Matthew 11:13). Thus, the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles used this expression in presenting the message of Christ to the Jews: “After the reading of the law and the prophets” (Acts 13:15), “everything written in the law and the prophets” (Acts 24:14), “I say nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come” (Acts 26:22), “persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23). Regarding John the Baptist: “As it is written in the prophets: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You’” (Mark 1:2). Regarding the birth of Christ in Bethlehem: “And they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet’” (Matthew 2:5). Regarding confirming the inevitability of His death on the cross: “Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished’” (Luke 18:31). “The Son of Man goes as it has been written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?... And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?” (Mark 9:12; 14:21). After His resurrection, He confirmed to them: “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me’... Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day’” (Luke 24:44,46). Regarding the disciples’ doubt in Him: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: “I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered”’” (Matthew 26:31).These prophecies guided their ministry and evangelistic work. When choosing a replacement for Judas, St. Peter confirmed that Judas’ betrayal and the appointment of a replacement were according to what was written: “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus” (Acts 1:16). “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office’” (Acts 1:20). Thus he spoke of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead: “That God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’” (Acts 13:33). These prophecies were their constant entry point for proclaiming the gospel of salvation to the Jews and the Gentiles, declaring that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited Messiah prophesied by all the prophets in all these books or holy scriptures, such as St. Philip’s proclamation to the Ethiopian eunuch about Christ through the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet: “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35). The Apostle Paul “with great intensity convinced the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 18:28). “So when the Jews went out of the synagogue... Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2). The Scripture says about some of them: “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). He also began his epistle to the Romans by speaking of the gospel of Christ, “which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (Romans 1:2).

From the book: Christ of the Prophecies, Not Christ of the Myths
By Father Abd al-Masih Basit