Why believe in Jesus? One of the reasons is that we have prophecies about him hundreds of years before he came on the scene. We even have those manuscripts, thanks to the Dead Sea Scrolls, prior to his birth. And you know what? Jesus fulfilled them. OVer 300 of them.
When we come to John 19, the disciples have realized how much Jesus has fulfilled them. Especially in his death. There are several John writes about here that Jesus specifically fulfills. They are not allusions, but one John refers to explicitly:
1) They Divided Up His Clothes (Prophesied in Psalm 22:18)
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
2) He declared his thirst from extreme dryness of mouth, fulfilling Psalm 22:15
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.
3) They didn’t break his legs, fulfilling Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20, and they will look on the one they pierced, fulfilling Zechariah 12:10
The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
These are the four Scriptures that John said specifically that Jesus fulfilled. When we read Isaiah 53, we see more.
Some of these things Jesus could not have planned upon or fulfilled by his own will. It was the soldiers who by their own freewill gambled for his clothes. It was the soldiers who decided not to break his legs. But instead they pierced his side.
These and the hundreds of other prophecies all point to Jesus as the fulfillment of over a millenium of prophecies. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Son of God of Daniel 7 that is to be worshiped by all nations and all generations. His kingdom will never end.