Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. C.T. Studd
Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. C.T. Studd
There are probably no other persons in history whose life has raised as many questions as that of Jesus Christ (Yeshua). His life, teaching and deeds were of such a nature that his first disciples and closest followers were often baffled by him. But for Jesus himself, the Hebrew scriptures were the key by which he understood his vocation as Israel's Messiah (mashiach - one who is anointed). A clear example of this comes at the end of Luke's gospel. After Jesus was crucified, his followers were crushed. They had hoped that he would be the Messiah who would destroy the tyranny of Rome and restore the kingdom of Israel. But their idea of the Messiah was not God’s idea. To his disappointed followers, Jesus said to them;
In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Jews believed that Messiah would come as a ruling King that would defeat all their enemies like the Romans and setup the eternal kingdom. What they didn't understand is that the Messiah would first come as a suffering servant and later in the second coming as a ruling King. There is no finer teacher on whether Jesus is to be found (as the Messiah) in the pages of the Old Testament than the teaching of Jesus himself. He said in John 5:39 below which at that time were the 39 books of the Tanak (Hebrew Bible).
John Barton Payne listed some 574 verses in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) that had direct personal messianic foretelling's. Payne found 127 personal messianic predictions involving some 348 verses that had any or all types of real and typological prophecies of Jesus’ first or second coming. This number was exceeded only by Alfred Edersheim (a Jewish convert to Christianity), who noted that in some 558 rabbinic writings in pre-Christian times, there were some 456 separate Old Testament (Tanak) passages used to refer to the Messiah or to messianic times.
A number of years ago, Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman wrote a book entitled Science Speaks. The book was based on the science of probability and vouched for by the American Scientific Affiliation. It set out the odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling even only eight of 60 major prophecies (and 270 ramifications) fulfilled by the life of Christ.
The probability that Jesus could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be only 1 in 10^17. That's 1 chance in 100,000,000,000,000,000. Stoner claims that that many silver dollars would be enough to cover the face of the entire state of Texas two feet deep. Texas is a very big state. Who in his right mind would suppose that a blindfolded man, heading out of Dallas by foot in any direction, would be able, on his very first attempt, to pick up one specifically marked silver dollar out of 100,000,000,000,000,000? Some of the major prophesy's covered in section below.
“It is criminal to steal a purse, daring to steal a fortune, a mark of greatness to steal a crown. The blame diminishes as the guilt increases."
― Johan Christoph Friedrich von Schiller
Poet and Dramatist (1759-1805)
Jesus had been teaching in the synagogues, and everyone praised him. When He returns to His hometown of Nazareth on the Sabbath day, He makes a stop to visit the synagogue, as was custom. Jesus stood up to read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah that was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
Jesus abruptly stops reading after the first two verses, rolls up the scroll, then gives it back to the attendant and sits down. Everyone's eyes were fastened on Jesus. Then He said to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:16-21). Never before had someone stopped reading in the middle of a verse. It was common practice in the synagogue to read the entire verse and unthinkable to stop in the middle. At this moment Jesus was announcing that He was the Messiah and they had just witnessed the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2. The reason why Jesus didn't read the entire verse is because the rest of the scripture had yet to be fulfilled.
In the Old Testament Melchizedek was both a king and a high priest. This is the first time a king was described as having both titles foreshadowing the Messiah who would also have both leadership titles. In the verse below Melchizedek brings out the bread and wine as he blessed Abraham which also is foreshadows Jesus' blessing the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine at the last supper.
“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.”
― Corrie ten Boom
Dutch Christian Watchmaker & Writer
The Book of Genealogy proves Christ was a descendant of David (Nehemiah 7:5) from the Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9). The Messiah had to be both a direct blood relative of King David and He must have the legal right to the throne. Jesus' mother Mary was a descendent of King David through Nathan, one of David's sons which gave Jesus the blood birthright (Luke 3:31). Jesus was also a descendant of King Solomon (King David's son) through His stepfather Joseph which gave Him the legal right (Matthew 1:1–17). Jesus could not have been the Messiah if He had been physically born though the blood line of King Solomon because in Jeremiah 22, a curse was put on the Solomon bloodline so no future King would ever again sit on Israel's throne because of Jeconiah. Jeconiah was the nineteenth and penultimate king of Judah who was dethroned by the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century B.C.
Another fascinating fact is that Eve was not found legally culpable by God for the fall of humanity because God did not tell her directly not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God considered Eve to be deceived by Adam. She was to be instructed by Adam instead who was directly commanded by God not to eat from the cursed tree. This is why Adam was held responsible for the fall of humanity and we all inherit our sin nature from him. God used this legal loophole, that a woman (Eve) was not held legally culpable, so that only a woman could be the one to bear the Messiah. The human side of the Messiah had to come from the woman bloodline or Mary's, not from Joseph’s bloodline. Therefore, Joseph had to be a stepfather to Jesus. If the Messiah had had a human father, He would have been directly responsible through His relation to Adam for our sin nature. Only Mary had the legal birthright to bear the Messiah because she was a direct descendant of King David's bloodline. Mary fulfilled both preconditions along with being a virgin.
Not only was Jesus sinless at conception and His mother Mary was also sin free although she too was in need of redemption. She acknowledges this need in the Magnificat and when she receives a rebuke from Jesus in John 2:3-5. The scripture tells us that she is the greatest of all women and should be honored as such because she was the one selected by God to birth the Messiah. She repents and tells the servants to go through Jesus, not her. This cancels the Roman doctrine that says that we can go to Mary as an intercessor when she clearly says this is not my role and so does 1 Timothy 2:5-6.
Jesus did not have a sin nature at birth because He didn't not have DNA input from His stepfather Joseph. Mary got pregnant from the Holy Spirit planting a seed in her. There are physical genes and spiritual genes, since Jesus didn't descend from Adam, He didn't inherit a sin nature. Jesus was sin free His entire life on earth and He made this claim in front of a large audience that included His family (Mother, sisters and four brothers). He declared He was sin free and no-one in the crowd challenged Him including the religious leaders who were enemies of Jesus. A guilty person cannot pay your fine for being sinful, but someone innocent can.
In order to reconcile the curse, God requires a blood sacrifice for the atonement of sin found in the Old Testament. Every book in the Old Testament points toward the Great Sacrifice that was to come, Jesus’ the perfect sacrificial lamb, giving of His own sinless life on our behalf as the final atonement for sin. Blood represented life. Without blood, a creature or person could not live. Because of this, God chose to use a unblemished blood sacrifice as part of the sacrificial system of the Jewish people. Each time blood was shed, it reminded the people of life and death.
The blood sacrifice of the Jewish people was directly related to the freedom of the Israelites from Egypt at the first Passover. On that night, each family was to share a meal of lamb, placing some of the blood on the sides and top of the doorposts to keep the family from losing its firstborn son. The blood on the doorposts formed a sign of the cross-foreshowing Christ's crucifixion 600 years later. The Egyptians who did not paint their doorposts were struck by the plague which killed their firstborn son (Exodus 11:4–6). The blood in the sacrifices represented life and death as well as freedom by the hand of God from slavery. There cannot be forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.
One of the greatest stories foretelling the coming of Christ as the sacrificial lamb is Genesis 22 where Abraham is told by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac, when just before Abraham was to take Issacs life, the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven to stop. Just at that moment Abraham looked up and there in a thicket, a ram appeared caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering substitute for his son.
A “sacrifice” is defined as the offering up of something precious for a cause or a reason. Making atonement is satisfying someone or something for an offense committed. The Leviticus verse can be read more clearly now: God said, “I have given it to you (the creature’s life, which is in its blood) to make atonement for yourselves (covering the offense you have committed against Me).” In other words, those who are covered by the blood sacrifice are set free from the consequences of sin.
Of course, the Israelites did not know of Jesus per se, or how He would die on their behalf and rise again, but they did believe God would be sending them a Savior or Messiah. All of the many, many blood sacrifices seen throughout the Old Testament were foreshadowing the true, once-and-for-all sacrifice to come so that the Israelites would never forget the notion that without the blood, there is no forgiveness. This shedding of blood is a substitutionary act. Therefore, the last clause of Leviticus 17:11 could be read either “the blood ‘makes atonement’ at the cost of the life” (i.e., the animal’s life) or “makes atonement in the place of the life” (i.e., the sinner’s life, with Jesus Christ being the One giving life through His shed blood). This one-time sacrifice became the completion of the law and marked a new covenant for those who would believe in His name.
Hebrews 9:11-18 confirms the symbolism of blood as life and applies Leviticus 17:11 to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 12 below clearly states that the Old Testament blood sacrifices were temporary, only atoned for sin partially and for a short time, hence the need to repeat the sacrifices yearly. But when Christ entered the Most Holy Place, He did so to offer His own blood once for all time, making any future sacrifices unnecessary. This is what Jesus meant by His dying words on the cross: “It is finished" or "paid in full” (John 19:30). Never again would the blood of bulls and goats cleanse men of their sins. Only by accepting Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross for the remission of sins, can we stand before God covered in the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“ “Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do."
― Voltaire
French Enlightenment Writer
Psalm 22 describes Christ's crucifixion in great detail written 1,000 years before it occurred and before crucifixion was used as a method of torture. Below are just a few verses. It is well documented that Jesus hands and feet were pierced, not one of His bones were broken which is uncommon for crucifixion and His garments were casting lots to see who would get his clothing.
In the Book of Psalms, King David also refers to upper case "Lord" which means God the Father and lower case "lord" which refers to the son of God. A capitalized "L" always refers to God the Father.
Psalm 41 predicts Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Jesus also written 1,000 years before it took place. King David describes his close friend that he broke bread with before betraying him. The Book of John records what actually transpired during the last supper. Zechariah 11:12 further below predicts how much Judas will be paid for his betrayal.
"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”
― St. Augustine of Hippo
Theologian & Philosopher
Listed below are only our top 10 fulfilled Messianic prophesies from the Bible. Provided below is a link to the Jews for Jesus website for a deeper understanding of the Messianic prophesy's Jesus fulfilled and at the page bottom is an analysis of the probability that anyone could fulfill all the Hebrew Bible Messianic prophecies.
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
Pretty interesting that a male bull or female slave were worth the same @ 30 shekels which was the same price paid for the Son of God.
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
Hebrew Bible - Prophesy
New Testament - Fulfilled Prophesy
"Christ literally walked in our shoes."
― Tim Keller
American Pastor, Theologian, and Christian Apologist
There were four disciples that were primarily looking for the coming Messiah based on Old Testament prophesy; John the Apostle (John 1:34), Andrew (John 1:41), Peter (Andrew's brother) and Philip (John 1:45). John the Baptist was Jesus' older, first cousin and had no idea Jesus would be the Messiah although he had been anticipating His appearance and waiting for a sign from Heaven (Matthew 3:11). Before Jesus' ministry began, He must have lived an exemplary holy life, so much so, that John the Baptist even said that Jesus should be baptizing him instead (below). Once Jesus was baptized in Bethany, John saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus as a dove resting on him and he realized at that moment a close member of his family was actually the Messiah. This event must have blown his mind. All four disciples were there in Bethany to witness Jesus baptism (John 1:28).
In this verse John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the Lamb who will remove all sin and replace the recurring animal sacrifice practices of Judaism. This pretty much sums up the entire reason for the Old Testament. Only a divine man sacrifice could pay for the sins of man, not an animals blood sacrifice. And as a divine man, He takes away every sin as an issue or wall between man and God once and for all. This realization was all new news to the Israelites because He used the word "World" which included both Jews and Gentiles, not just Jews.
This was all predicted by Isiah over 700 years before the Messiah would appear and announce His ministry.
The Holy Spirit had already given Philip a deep insight into the person of the Messiah (John 1:43). All Jesus has to say was "Follow Me" because Phillip was already preparing to meet Him. The Bible says a crown is given to those Believers who are looking and longing for Christs coming. For those Believers preparing for His return they are blessed by the Holy Spirit with more insight into His return.
Philip went to tell Nathaniel that he had found the Messiah and He was Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanial knew that the Bible had predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:1-2) so that is why he was skeptical about Philip's claim and said; "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked." and needed to confirm this proclaimed Messiah himself (John 1:45-46).
It is believed that Nathanael received a revelation from the Holy Spirit from the verse above earlier that day while under the fig tree before Jesus confronted him. In the Old Testament Book of Proverbs there is a prophesy that identifies the Messiah as being the son of God (Messiah), "ascending and descending". Jesus eludes to this verse stating that He is the one who has come from Heaven.
It is a fact that there is more written about the Beatles than any other person or group in history except Jesus Christ.
The questions we want to answer; "Was Jesus of the Bible who He claimed to be? Was He really God's Son? Was Jesus the Messiah?" Jesus had no control over things like the where, when and how He was born, or where He was buried. These events just adds to the available evidence that He did not just intentionally attempted to make sure that all of the prophecies were fulfilled so that people would believe Him to be the Messiah, Savior. We've only chosen the following 8 Biblical Messianic scriptures that were fulfilled by Christ to do our analysis.
1. He would be born of a Virgin. (Isaiah 7:14)
2. He would be born in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2)
3. He would be Resurrected. (Psalm 16:8–11)
4. He would be betrayed for 30 Pieces of Silver. (Zechariah 11:12)
5. He would come Riding on a Donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)
6. He would be Pierced. (Psalms 22:16)
7. He would be a Descendant of David (2 Samuel 7:12–13)
8. He would Die with the Wicked, He would be Buried with the Rich. (Isaiah 53:9)
"God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go."
― Tony Evans
American Christian Pastor, Author
Mathematics & Astronomy Professor Peter W. Stoner has made the statement that the chances of just any 8 prophecies (like these) coming true by sheer chance is 1 in 10^17(or 100,000,000,000,000,000). That would be equivalent to covering the whole state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep and then expecting a blindfolded man to walk across the state and on the very first try find the ONE coin you marked. And if we were to add only 8 more similar prophecies, for a total of 16, the odds would be 1 x 10^28 x 10^17 or 1 in 10^45 (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000).
Using the same type of illustration as the coins covering Texas, if we were to press this many (10^45) silver dollars into a ball and place the center of this ball where the center of our Sun is, this silver ball's outer edge would be in approximately the same area as the orbit of Neptune (almost to Pluto.). One man fulfilling all 16 prophecies by sheer chance would be like sending a blind-folded person out to find one specific silver dollar that has been marked and has been mixed up somewhere in this huge ball and actually finding it the first time! (Keep in mind that this is a BALL, not a disk like our Solar System.)
By using only 48 of these prophecies it was calculated that the chances of one person fulfilling them all by sheer chance would be 1 in 10^157. To help us understand how huge this number is he suggested taking 10^157 electrons and pressing them into a solid ball. This ball, made entirely of electrons, would fill, not just our galaxy, but the entire known universe, MANY times over. Once again we would mark just one electron, blindfold a man and send him out to find that one electron. (In 1952 when Peter Stoner's book was originally published the universe was believed to be about 6 billion light years in all directions. That universe would need to be filled with electrons about 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times.
"To the extent, then, that we know this blindfolded man cannot pick out the marked electron, we know that the Bible is inspired. This is not merely evidence. It is proof of the Bible's inspiration by God--proof so definite that the universe is not large enough to hold the evidence." "Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world."
Peter W. Stoner
The Christ of Prophecy, Science Speaks
What is the probability that someone could fulfill all the Messianic prophesy's of the Hebrew Bible? This should close the book on the identity of the the Messiah as no other than Jesus Christ. You have mathematical proof that Jesus was, and is the Messiah. Jesus Christ really is God's Son. Now, what are you going to do about it?
Probably the most powerful verse in the Bible describing who the Messiah would be is found in Isaiah 53. This verse leaves no doubt that Jesus fulfilled this scripture written 740 to 700 B.C.E.
Below is a list of over 365 Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) scripture references referring to the Messiah, and their corresponding New Testament fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."
― Chuck Swindoll
Evangelical Christian Pastor
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