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Many of Jesus' actions in the Gospels would have been highly significant to first-century Jews. Jesus was not just a revolutionary teacher: he was knowingly fulfilling prophecies of the Old Testament.

In his behaviour, his teachings and even his betrayal by Judas and death on the cross, the story of Jesus mirrors many of the Jewish scriptures.

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a colt

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey

Zechariah 9:9

Jesus goes into the Temple

...and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight-indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 3:1

Jesus preaches in parables

I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,

Psalms 78:2

Jesus is hated

More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?

Psalms 69:4

Jesus is hated by his own people

I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother's children.

Psalms 69:8

Jesus is hated by the rulers

Why do the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and his anointed,

Psalms 2:1-2

Jesus is hated but will triumph

Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
'Kings shall see and stand up,
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.'

Isaiah 49:7

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.

Psalms 118:22

Jesus is a rock that the people trip over

He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over-a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 8:14

Jesus is betrayed by one or more of his closest companions

Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.

Psalms 41:9

'Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is my associate,'
says the Lord of hosts.
Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Zechariah 13:7

It is not enemies who taunt me-
I could bear that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me-
I could hide from them.
But it is you, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend,
with whom I kept pleasant company;
we walked in the house of God with the throng.

Psalms 55:12-14

Jesus is betrayed for 30 pieces of silver

I then said to them, 'If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.' So they weighed out as my wages thirty shekels of silver. Then the Lord said to me, 'Throw it into the treasury'-this lordly price at which I was valued by them. So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them into the treasury in the house of the Lord.

Zechariah 11:12-13

Jesus suffers for others

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:4-6

Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12

Jesus suffers patiently and silently

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

Jesus is taunted, physically attacked and spat on

I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.

Isaiah 50:6

All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads

Psalms 22:7

Jesus suffers terribly

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

Psalms 22:14-15

Jesus is struck on the face

...with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel upon the cheek.

Micah 5:1

Jesus is disfigured by brutal treatment

Just as there were many who were astonished at him
-so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,

Isaiah 52:14

Jesus is nailed to the Cross

Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.

Psalms 22:16

NB: This is a quotation from NIV; not all translations use this imagery.

Jesus believes himself abandoned by God

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

Psalms 22:1

Jesus is given vinegar to drink

They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psalms 69:21

Soldiers gamble for Jesus' clothes

...they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

Psalms 22:18

Jesus is buried in a rich man's tomb

They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Isaiah 53:9