¹⁸ Notice the words of the prophecy at Daniel 9:24, 25 (JP): “Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to forgive iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness . . . unto one anointed [“Messiah,” Hebrew, Ma·shiʹach], a prince.” One cannot avoid noticing the link established in the text between the “Messiah” (the Anointed One) and the ‘finishing of transgression and making an end to sin.’ Verse 26 goes on to state that “after the threescore and two weeks shall an anointed one [“Messiah,” Hebrew, Ma·shiʹach] be cut off,” in other words, be killed. (See the box “Who Was the ‘Anointed One’? When Would He Come?”)

²⁰ For the above reasons, the teaching that the Messiah’s death would make possible the complete forgiveness of sin in God’s sight was readily understood by many first-​century Jews. They knew that the Scriptures spoke of man’s inherent imperfection. (Ecclesiastes 7:20) The need for sacrifice to atone for sin was a lesson perceived daily; it was implicit in the very framework and nature of the Law covenant. The events described in the accounts of Jesus’ life present him as a perfect man whose death could bring atonement for mankind’s sin.f (Matthew 20:28; Luke 1:26-38) When the Christian Greek Scriptures highlighted that the various sacrifices under the Law foreshadowed this one final and complete sacrifice, fuller meaning was given to the entire framework of the Law, as well as to other portions of the Scriptures.g​—Hebrews 10:1-10.