Fifteen hundred years before Jesus of Nazareth walked the Earth and then died horribly on a Roman cross, the Bible had already hinted at His form of death,

“If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God” (Deuteronomy 21.22, 23).

While this passage does not prophesy specifically of Jesus, the passage does signal that a curse is upon one who dies on a tree, and that is another way of referring to a Roman crucifixion. Peter referred to Jesus as bearing, “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2.24).

Also, Paul quoted Deuteronomy 21.22, 23 in referring to the death of Jesus of Nazareth,

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”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Gal 3.13, 14).

Praise God, Jesus the carpenter is the Messiah of prophecy.

Related Articles

• Sermon: The Covenant with God, Deuteronomy 27 – 30 (grantspasschurchofchrist.com)
• The Law of God, Deuteronomy 5 – 26 (theoldtestamentandthenewtestament.com)
• Sermon: What It Means to Be Converted (grantspasschurchofchrist.com)