Muhammad famously denied that Jesus Christ ever died, instead saying that "it was only made to appear so", and "Allah raised Him up to himself":
Surah 4:157-58
157 And for boasting, “We killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.” But they neither killed nor crucified him - it was only made to appear so. Even those who argue for this ˹crucifixion˺ are in doubt. They have no knowledge whatsoever—only making assumptions. They certainly did not kill him.
158 Rather, Allah raised him up to Himself. And Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.
Even though this contradicts the words of the Lord Jesus when He repeatedly prophesied His own death (Matthew 12:40, 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-19, 20:22-23, 26:1-2, Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:32-34, 10:38-39, Luke 9:22, 18:31-33, John 2:19-22, 3:14-16, 10:15-18), even though it contradicts the testimony of all the early Christians and secular witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-8: 1 Peter 3:18, etc., Josephus, Tacitus), even though it contradicts the symbol of the Last Supper that He implemented for His followers forever, which was unanimously practiced by the earliest Christians (Luke 22:19: 1 Corinthians 11:23-27), and even though it means that there should have been no such thing as a Christian in the first place, because the New Testament only began with the death of Christ (Hebrews 9:15-21, Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:17-20), perhaps the strongest witness against Muhammad's claim is the fact that there are Old Testament prophecies of Jesus dying, some of which also include the resurrection.
The witness of the Old Testament matters, because there are manuscripts existing of it from before Jesus Christ lived, and even Jews who reject Jesus affirm that the Christian Old Testament is authentic. Therefore, it can't be dismissed as "corruption by the Apostle Paul", or other similarly-absurd claims of frantic Muslim apologists.
The first reference to the death of Christ is in the original promise of the Messiah - the chosen seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent - just after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden:
Genesis 3:14-15
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Verse 15 says that though the chosen seed will "crush (the serpent's) head", the serpent would "bruise His heel" - that is, victory achieved in spite of anguish.
When Christ died, and rose from the dead, He ultimately conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:20-28), which crushed the head of the serpent:
Hebrews 2:14
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
This victory will be fully realized with the final destruction of the Devil (Ezekiel 28:13-19, Revelation 20:10), and death itself, forever (Revelation 21:4).
The next reference to the death of Christ is one of the most explicit in the entire Bible, and that is when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his "only son" Isaac:
Genesis 22:1-13
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
Notice especially that even though Abraham already had another son named Ishmael, three times in this chapter God calls Isaac his "only son" (Genesis 22:2, 22:12, 22:16). Why?
Firstly, because God was creating a picture with Ishmael and Isaac which would be fulfilled in the New Covenant, over 2,000 years later, as explained in Galatians 4:22-31.
Secondly, because God was pointing to the sacrifice of His "only begotten Son" (John 3:16). Notice that:
Also notice that Abraham's prophecy of God providing a "lamb" was not fulfilled here. A ram is a different animal, and it's a different Hebrew word. That's because he was referring to "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world" (John 1:29) - a title given to Christ years before His death, by John the Baptist.
Abraham also knew that if God had allowed him to sacrifice Isaac, that He would raise Isaac from the dead, and that this would be a figure of what was to come (Hebrews 11:19). This is evidenced in the Genesis account, where Abraham, knowing what he was about to have to do, still tells his servants that he and Isaac will be returning from the mountain (Genesis 22:5). This is why Christ said "Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56).
Next is the Passover, which is, in my opinion, the clearest picture of the death of Christ in the entire Old Testament:
Exodus 12:1-13
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Firstly, once again notice the importance of John the Baptist's designation of Jesus as "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). The Passover was something that God instituted so that when John preached, he could use it as a symbol for the Messiah.
Secondly, notice above that a spotless male lamb - which was representative of the sinless Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) - was to be sacrificed, and its blood was to be applied to the doorpost of the house, to spare those inside from judgement. This pictures the vicarious death of Christ, which saves believers from judgment.
Thirdly, notice that the lamb was kept from the tenth day until the fourteenth day (Exodus 12:3, 12:6). This parallels Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem ("presentation of the lamb") to His crucifixion 4 days later during Passover week, proving completely that He was the fulfillment of this picture that had been prophesying of Him for 1,500 years. This is why, in the New Testament, He's fittingly called "our Passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Fourthly, none of the bones of the Passover lamb could be broken (Exodus 12:46), and the Bible is careful to mention that none of Jesus's bones were broken during His crucifixion (John 19:36), as also prophesied in Psalm 34:20.
The symbol of the Passover was fulfilled extremely clearly in Jesus Christ. It barely needs explanation, because it's so evident.
The next prophetic symbol of Christ's death is God instructing Moses to smite the rock in Horeb:
Exodus 17:5-6
5 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Above, Moses and the Israelites find themselves in the wilderness where there is no water source, and so they become angered at Moses (Exodus 17:3-4). God then commands Moses to hit a rock in Horeb with his staff, and it produced a water source suitable for the various needs of millions of people (Exodus 12:37).
Firstly, this event is referenced as a symbol of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, where we read that the Israelites all drank "the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Secondly, Moses was told to "smite the rock" (Exodus 17:6), because he was picturing God the Father smiting Jesus Christ for the sins of the world:
Isaiah 53:4-6
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
After the rock is smitten, water flows out of it. This water pictures Eternal Life, which is a metaphor that the Lord used in John chapter 4:
John 4:10, 13-14
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Therefore, Jesus is both the rock, and the living water, in this account. He was smitten for our sins, and is also the embodiment of Everlasting Life (1 John 5:20). Later
The next prophecy of Christ's death in the Old Testament is when Moses dedicates the covenant with the people at the base of Mt. Sinai:
Exodus 24:7-8
7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.
Here, the Old Covenant is dedicated with "the blood of the covenant", which is sprinkled on the people. Why? Why would it be sprinkled on the people?
It was sprinkled on them, because it was picturing being covered by the blood of Christ (Revelation 1:5). The inauguration of the Old Covenant paralleled the inauguration of the New Covenant by the death of Christ, as is explained in this pertinent passage from Hebrews chapter 9:
Hebrews 9:12-22
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Just as the Old Covenant was dedicated with blood, so too is the New Covenant dedicated with blood. Therefore, the sacrificial, substitutionary death of the Messiah, completes another Old Testament picture, and ushered in the New Covenant - the coming of which had likewise been explicitly prophesied (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:8-12).
In the Torah, we read endlessly of "sin offerings" (Exodus 29:14, 29:36, 30:10, Leviticus 4:3, 4:8, 4:20-25, 4:29-34, Numbers 6:11-16, etc., etc.):
Exodus 29:14
14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.
Here, the principal of blood sacrifice in atonement for sin is being put forth, a principal which is explicitly stated, also in the Torah:
Leviticus 17:11
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
With the advent of the New Testament, we learn that all of these sacrifices never actually took away sins, but instead were serving as a signpost to point us toward the one efficacious sacrifice of the Lord Jesus:
Hebrews 10:1-4, 11-12
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 9:12
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Therefore, in all of these sin offerings, we are to see Christ, because that is ultimately what they pictured.
The next prophecy of Christ's death is during the Exodus, when the children of Israel complain against God, and as punishment, God sends poisonous snakes amongst them:
Numbers 21:5-9
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Above, we see that after the people are judged, they entreat Moses, and he intercedes to God, who tells him to make a very unusual idol - a brass serpent on a pole.
The serpent is the best animal to represent sin, being the form that Satan took in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1), and such is the form by which he's referenced, even 4,000 years later (Revelation 12:9, 20:2). It's for this reason that Jesus likened himself to the serpent on the pole when He was crucified:
John 3:14-15
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Above, Jesus prophesied that He would be made into the embodiment of sin, signified by the serpent (2 Corinthians 5:21: 1 Peter 2:24). This completes this symbolism of the brass serpent, and turns what would've seemed like a puzzling story, of God essentially commissioning an idol, into an unambiguous prophecy of Christ's atoning sacrifice.
Finally, just as all those who merely looked at the serpent would be healed, all those who believe in Jesus Christ have Everlasting Life (John 3:15). Therefore, this symbol is another witness, not only to the death of the Messiah, but also to deliverance and Salvation through the death of the Messiah.
Next, the death of Christ is seen in a very strange Law, wherein God demanded that those who are guilty of manslaughter remain in the cities of refuge until the death of the High Priest:
Numbers 35:22-28
22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait,
23 Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:
24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments:
25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.
26 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled;
27 And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:
28 Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
This is reiterated in Joshua 20:2-6.
Notice above that the High Priest was the one who was "anointed with holy oil" (Numbers 35:25, Leviticus 8:5-12), which is representative of the Messiah, which literally means "anointed". Christ is called our "High Priest" repeatedly in the New Testament (Hebrews 2:17, 3:1, 4:14-15, 5:10, 6:20, 7:26-28, 8:1, 9:11, 10:21).
And, we see here that God wanted the death of the High Priest to have life-for-life symbolism. It was to be as if the avenger of blood was satisfied by the death of the anointed, in place of the one who committed the manslaughter.
The primary Psalm that prophesies of the death of Christ is Psalm 22:
Psalm 22:1-31
1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Above is the entirety of Psalm 22. Jesus Christ famously drew our attention to this Psalm on the cross, saying "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). On the cross, Jesus was telling us to read this Psalm, and any who have read it find it to be describing exactly what was happening to Jesus Christ, at that moment.
Verses 1-5 of this Psalm serve as a kind of preamble. Verse 6 begins from the perspective of Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross.
In this section, which comprises verses 6-21, Christ is surrounded by "bulls" (verse 12), "lions" (verses 13, 21), and "dogs" (verses 16, 20) - symbolic of the assembly gathered there to crucify Him, and watch the crucifixion.
Of them, Christ says that "All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him" (verses 7-8). This matches Christ's experience on the cross exactly. The spectators of His execution were not respectful, or timid. They railed on Him repeatedly (Matthew 27:39-44, Mark 15:29-32, Luke 23:35-39), and verse 8 is a verbatim quotation of the chief priests who were present at the crucifixion:
Matthew 27:41-43
41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,
42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Continuing in the Psalm, Christ says that "They pierced my hands and my feet" (verse 16), which is descriptive of crucifixion in such a clear, obvious way, that it needs no explanation. Those present also "part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture" (verse 18), fulfilled to the last detail in John 19:23-24, and also mentioned in Matthew 27:35, and Luke 23:34.
Verses 22-26 of this Psalm then begin to describe the triumph of the Messiah, as though He was just killed, He was then ultimately saved from the power of death, three days later.
This final section culminates in a description of the whole world - "all the ends of the earth" - turning to the Lord, including those who have already died (verse 29), and those not yet born (verse 31):
Psalm 22:27-31
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
This looks toward the second advent of Christ, as well as the worldwide spread of the Gospel that would shortly follow Christ's resurrection.
Therefore, in this Psalm we see the suffering, torment, death, resurrection, and rulership of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, spelled out in a remarkably clear way.
In this famous passage in Isaiah, the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is prophesied so clearly, that for most, no commentary whatsoever is needed:
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Notice the following about the above:
Again, truthfully, this needs no commentary. If one can't see Jesus Christ in the above, it's because they don't want to, so no amount of exegesis will convince them otherwise, because they don't care about the truth.
Daniel gave a timeline from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the Messiah, and then prophesied the death of the Messiah before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, which occurred in 70 AD:
Daniel 9:24-26
24 Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Verse 24 above sets the expectation that "everlasting righteousness" will be established with the 70 weeks being spoken of. The meaning of the 70 weeks is a topic that goes beyond the scope of this article, but clearly the passage breaks it into 3 units - 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and the final week, without specifying a time bound between each unit.
Verse 25 places verse 26 after the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Then, verse 26 says that the end of the 7 + 62 weeks is marked by the Messiah's advent, and his being "cut off" - which refers to the death of Christ (Isaiah 53:8). And, all of this had to happen before the destruction of the Second Temple, because after the Messiah being "cut off", "the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary", which again, happened in 70 AD.
Therefore, this passage, which is explicitly about the Messiah, prophecies that the Messiah would be killed before the destruction of the Second Temple, which is exactly what we see in Jesus Christ.
Famously, Jonah was cast overboard to save others, and spent three days and three nights in the belly of a whale, just as Christ was dead for three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40):
Jonah 1:15-2:10
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
There are some who take the position that Jonah died in the whale's belly, which is possible. He describes himself in verse 2 as being in "Hell", and in verse 6, he says he "went down to the bottoms of the mountains".
Regardless of whether he was using parabolic language, Jonah certainly serves as a picture of Christ being dead for three days and three nights, and it was an image that Christ himself pointed towards more than once (Matthew 12:39-40, 16:4, Luke 11:29).
In a passage in which the Lord is speaking (Zechariah 12:1), He says:
Zechariah 12:10
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Above, the Israelites are prophesied to "look upon (the Lord) whom they have pierced", which finds a parallel in Psalm 22:16, and a fulfillment in Christ having His hands and feet pierced by the Jews who delivered Him up to be crucified (Acts 2:23).
And, notice the sonship language - they are mourning as if for their "only son", and their "firstborn". This is because they are mourning for the "only begotten Son" of God (John 3:16).
Therefore, in this passage, we have a reference to the deity of Christ, His death, and His sonship.
Another reference to the death of Christ in Zechariah is the following:
Zechariah 13:7
7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
This is quoted in the New Testament explicitly, by Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:31, Mark 14:27). Of course, Jesus called himself "The Good Shepherd", and "The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).
This also pairs with the other already-discussed references to Christ being "smitten" (Exodus 17:6, Isaiah 53:4).
Jesus Christ died a substitutionary death for sinners on the cross, contrary to the lies of the false prophet Muhammad. This is why He came to earth (Hebrews 2:9), and it is what He was prophesied to do, repeatedly, in the Old Testament.