Jesus=God? Part 5: Prophecy

by Lance Ponder⁽⁸⁶⁾
http://fkiprofessor.xanga.com

Prophecy is an important aspect of the gospel message. The claims Jesus made about himself are incredible. For his claims to have validity, it is vital that we see persuasive evidence (Jn 5:31-36). Besides the testimony of Jesus’ words and the testimony of his miracles by by those who were eye witnesses, we the testimony of prophecy fulfilled. Concerning the importance of prophecy to the gospel creed we read this excerpt from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:3-4 ESV) The phrase “in accordance with the Scriptures” refers to fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

To anchor them in context it is vital that we see Jesus fulfilling prophecy with such precision that there can be no other explanation than that he is the one foretold.

There are hundreds of direct and indirect prophecies in the Old Testament fulfilled by the first coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The following is not by any stretch of the imagination an exhaustive list:

Event	Prophecy	Fulfilled
Born of a virgin	Is 7:14	Mt 1:21-23
Descendant of Abraham	Gen 12:1-3, 22:18	Mt 1:1
From the tribe of Judah	Gen 49:10	Lk 3:23, 33
Of the house of David	2 Sam 7:12-16	Mt 1:1
Born in Bethlehem	Mic 5:2	Mt 2:1; Lk 2:4-7
Taken to Egypt	Hos 11:1	Mt 2:14-15
Herod´s killing of the infants	Jer 31:15	Mt 2:16-18
Anointed by the Holy Spirit	Is 11:2	Mt 3:16-17
Heralded by John the Baptist	Is 40:3-5; Mal 3:1	Mt 3:1-3
Would perform miracles	Is 35:5-6	Mt 9:35
Would preach good news	Is 61:1	Lk 4:14-21
Would minister in Galilee	Is 9:1	Mt 4:12-16
Would cleanse the Temple	Mal 3:1	Mt 21:12-13
Enter Jerusalem on a donkey	Zech 9:9	Mt 21:4-9
Rejected by Jews	Ps 118:22	I Pe 2:7
Would first present Himself as King 173,880 days from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem	Dan 9:25	Mt 21:4-11
Would rise from the dead	Ps 16:10	Mk 16:6; Acts 2:31
Ascend into Heaven	Ps 68:18	Acts 1:9
Would sit at the right hand of God	Ps 110:1	Heb 1:3
Die a humiliating death	Ps 22; Is 53	Includes:
rejection	Is 53:3	Jn 1:10-11; 7:5,48
betrayal by a friend	Ps 41:9	Lk 22:3-4; Jn 13:18
sold for 30 pieces of silver	Zech 11:12	Mt 26:14-15
silence before His accusers	Is 53:7	Mt 27:12-14
being mocked	Ps 22: 7-8	Mt 27:31
beaten	Is 52:14	Mt 27:26
spit upon	Is 50:6	Mt 27:30
piercing His hands and feet	Ps 22:16	Mt 27:31
being crucified with thieves	Is 53:12	Mt 27:38
praying for His persecutors	Is 53:12	Lk 23:34
piercing His side	Zech 12:10	Jn 19:34
given gall and vinegar to drink	Ps 69:21	Mt 27:34, Lk 23:36
no broken bones	Ps 34:20	Jn 19:32-36
buried in a rich man’s tomb	Is 53:9	Mt 27:57-60
casting lots for His garments	Ps 22:18	Jn 19:23-24

All the prophecies in the left column above were written more than 400 years before the events took place. They were written by several different people from a variety of walks of life over a span of at least six centuries. The statistical chance of any one human being fulfilling all of these prophecies is so slight as to be absurd. The only reasonable explanation is divine providence. No credible attack was ever launched against the testimonies to these fulfillments given in the New Testament.

The apostles proclaimed their testimony with great boldness. They demonstrating total belief in their claims. They did so at great person risk. Most of the apostles were martyred, yet never has anyone produced a reasonable explanation as to why they would lie.

Article submitted Friday, February 18, 2011 & read 25 times.

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