Compiled by Linda Cox


When I decided to explore Old Testament verses related to Holy Week and the “Easter Story,” I had no idea what God had in store for me. Verse after verse came alive and the Messiah, Jesus Christ, grew brighter and clearer the more I read. May Christ our risen Lord shine brightly for you this Easter in the following Old Testament verses which describe His journey to the cross and His glorious resurrection.




✞ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; … behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass … (Zechariah 9:9)


✞ 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. (Genesis 3:15)


✞ Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9)


✞ …

[T]hey weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. (Zechariah 11:12)


✞ In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover. (Leviticus 23:5)


✞ …[S]mite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered … (Zechariah 13:7)


✞ False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. (Psalm 35:11)


✞ 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. (Isaiah 53:7)


✞ 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. (Psalm 22:7-8)


✞ I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)



✞ Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 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. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou has brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones; they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. (Psalm 22:12-18)


✞ They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. (Psalm 69:21)


✞ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1)


✞ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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. 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. (Isaiah 53:4-6)


✞ He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. (Psalm 34:20)


✞ And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death … (Isaiah 53:9a)



✞ For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:10-11)


✞ Thou hast ascended on high, thou has led captivity captive: thou has received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. (Psalm 68:18)


✞ The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalm 11:1)


✞ I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing: it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:21-24)



Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!


Have a blessed Easter!


All Scripture from the KJV






Linda Cox is a regular contributor to DivineDetour. She recently retired after twenty-five years as a district office secretary for the State of Illinois. Her first loves are studying the Bible and reading, but she occasionally tries her hand at writing. Her work is published in All My Bad Habits I Learned from Grandpa (Thomas Nelson),The One-Year Life Verse Devotional (Tyndale), Life Lessons from Grandparents (Write Integrity), Love Is a Verb (a devotional from Bethany House), and Chicken Soup for the Soul’s I Can’t Believe My Dog Did That. She lives on a farm with the “Bone Mafia,” her two indoor/outdoor farm mutts.