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Easter Connections

-by Lynn Austin

Many of the detailed events surrounding the Easter story were prophesied centuries earlier in the Old Testament. Can you make the Old and New Testament connections?

1. When Zechariah wrote, "Rejoice greatly … see, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey … " (Zech. 9:9), what was he describing?

A. Easter Sunday
B. Maundy Thursday
C. Good Friday
D. Palm Sunday

2. When the Pharisees asked Jesus for a miraculous sign, he said none would be given except the sign of which prophet?

A. Jonah
B. Daniel
C. Ezra
D. Isaiah

3. Zechariah 11:12 was fulfilled when Judas was paid how much silver?

A. 15 pieces
B. 20 pieces
C. 30 pieces
D. 50 pieces

4. "They have pierced my hands and feet … people stare and gloat over me." This prophetic description of the crucifixion can be found in …

A. Job
B. Psalms
C. Jeremiah
D. Isaiah

5. When Jesus' side was pierced with a spear, John saw a prophecy fulfilled (John 19:36-37) since the soldiers did not break any of these.

A. Jesus' bones
B. Jesus' promises
C. Jesus' ribs
D. Jesus' legs

6. The Messiah's sacrificial death for sin was described by which prophet with these words: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities"?

A. Zechariah
B. Daniel
C. Isaiah
D. Ezekiel

7. Which Old Testament person
hinted at the Resurrection when he wrote, "You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay"?

A. Job
B. David
C. Amos
D. Daniel

1. D. Palm Sunday. Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem (John 12:12-16), publicly proclaimed he was the long-awaited Messiah of Zechariah's prophecy. He rode a donkey and not a war horse to symbolize his kingdom would be one of peace.

2. A. Jonah. Jesus explained (Matt. 12:38-40) that just as Jonah spent three days "buried" inside the fish, he would spend three days in the grave before his resurrection. The men of Nineveh repented at Jonah's miraculous return (Jonah 1-4), but the wicked people of Jesus' day would not.

3. C. 30 pieces (Matt. 27:3-10). According to Exodus 21:32, thirty shekels of silver was the price of a male slave in Old Testament times. During Jesus' time, it was equivalent to four months' wages for a common laborer.

4. B. Psalms (Psa. 22:1). Although David wrote this psalm centuries earlier, it provides almost an eyewitness account of the crucifixion. At Calvary, the weight of humanity's sin truly separated Jesus from his Father; David merely felt abandoned.

5. A. Jesus' bones. John 19:36-37 records that the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves to hasten their deaths, but Jesus was already dead. In Exodus 12:46, the Israelites were told not to break the bones of the Passover Lamb. Slain at Passover, Jesus' death fulfills this sacrifice.

6. C. Isaiah (Isa. 53:5). Written 700 years before Christ, this prophecy pictures the Messiah's sacrificial death as a guilt offering (v. 10). According to Leviticus 5:15-16, a lamb or ram was sacrificed for the guilt offering, providing atonement for sin and cleansing from defilement.

7. B. David. The apostles were quick to recognize Jesus' resurrection as the fulfillment of David's psalm (Psa. 16:10). Peter quoted this verse in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, and Paul used it when he preach-ed (Acts 2:27, 13:35.)

Copyright © 1997 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
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