Philippians1v21

The title of this article is “Evidence You Can’t Ignore”.  That, however, is unfortunately and obviously, not the total truth.  You can choose to ignore anything you wish to.  However, the evidence supporting Jesus Christ is VERY strong, and if you walk away not at least thinking about the possibility that Jesus is who he said he is, then you should seriously question your objectivity.

To me, fulfilled prophecy of Jesus Christ is the most compelling and logical reason to believe in Christianity.   The evidence here is simply overwhelming.  These prophecies were made hundreds of years before Jesus was born.  This is documented fact.  The Jewish Scriptures pre-date Christianity by over 800-1000 years.  Jews have been reciting the prophecies of the Messiah that long (generation to generation).  The Dead Sea Scrolls, uncovered from1947-1956, prove the ancient nature of these prophecies, if there was ever any doubt (There really wasn’t).

There are over 300 individual, separate, and specific prophecies of the Messiah in the Jewish scriptures that Jesus Christ fulfilled.  Do you realize how significant, how compelling this evidence is?  Peter Stoner was the Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College until 1953, and Chairman of the Science Division of Westmont College from 1953 to 1957.  Stoner calculated the probability of one man fulfilling only 8 Messianic prophecies was one in 10^17.  He further calculated the odds of one person fulfilling just 48 of the over 300 prophecies was one chance in 10^157!  It’s ludicrous.  The American Scientific Affiliation even gave Stoner’s work their stamp of approval:

The manuscript for Science Speaks has been carefully reviewed by a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation members and by the Executive Council of the same group and has been found, in general, to be dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented. The mathematical analysis included is based upon principles of probability which are thoroughly sound and Professor Stoner has applied these principles in a proper and convincing way. (American Scientific Affiliation, H. Harold Hartzler, Ph.D., Secretary-Treasurer, Goshen College)

The fulfillments were witnessed by countless people and are some of the most well documented events in all of recorded history.  Many of these events are recorded, not only by followers of Jesus Christ, but also by Roman and Jewish officials and historians.

You can’t just reason this evidence away.  It is simply too incontrovertible.  For emphasis, I thought it would be relevant to discuss a few of the major ones.  Here are 7 specific prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus and only Jesus.

1. The exact day of Jesus entry into Jerusalem as the “conquering King”

The time he entered Jerusalem and was hailed as “King” was predicted down to the very day!

Prophecy:

“Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times.” ~ Daniel 9:25

That’s (7*7) + (7*62) = 483 Hebrew years.  Each Hebrew year is 360 days, so a total of 173,880 days.  Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem occurred exactly 173,880 days after Artaxerxes’ decree was given in 445 B.C. (as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-20) to rebuild Jerusalem! This was the first time that Jesus allowed anyone to proclaim him as “King”.  This is a major fulfillment of prophesy.

Fulfillment:

“Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus. . . The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God!  Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:1, 12-13

Another prophecy about this same event when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back a donkey is:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ~ Zechariah 9:9 2.

2.  The Messiah Born of a Virgin

Prophecy:

“Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” ~ Isaiah 7:14

Immanuel means, God with us.  The angel that visited Joseph quoted this passage to him, Matt 1:22-24.

3. The Birthplace of the Messiah

The small village of Bethlehem was prophesied as the birthplace of the Messiah.  This is amazing, especially when you consider the events that had to take place for this to occur since Jesus’ family was from Nazareth (100 miles from Bethlehem).  It is also said elsewhere in the Jewish scriptures that the Messiah “come out of Egypt” (Hosea 11:1).  Jesus fit all of these.

Prophecy:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah.  Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past. ~ Micah 5:2

Fulfillment:

“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and we have come to worship him.” ~ Matt 2:1-2

4. Jesus’ Ministry
He came to the downtrodden and brokenhearted.  He would heal and perform miraculous signs.

Prophecy:

“Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.” ~ Isaiah 35:5-6

“The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” ~ Isaiah 61:1-2

Fulfillment:

“He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” ~ Luke 4:18-19

5. That He Would Be Rejected By His Fellow Jews

“Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” ~ Isaiah 8:14

“He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.  We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.  He was despised, and we did not care.” ~ Isaiah 53:3

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.” ~ Psalms 118:22

6. Jesus Betrayed
The Jewish scriptures predict that Jesus would be betrayed by a close friend.  They also name the exact price paid for this betrayal.

“Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”  ~ Psalms 41:9

“It is not an enemy who taunts me—I could bear that.  It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me—I could have hidden from them.  Instead, it is you—my equal, my companion and close friend.” ~ Psalms 55:12-13

“So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.  And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent sum at which they valued me!  So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the Lord.” ~ Zach 11:12-13

Judas Iscariot was paid 30 pieces of silver for betraying Jesus.  After he did this, he took the money back to the Pharisees and threw it back to them.  The money was used by this group to by the “Potter’s Field” (Matt 27:3-10).

7. That the Messiah Would Die, When and How He would Die
It was prophesied that the Jews would turn their backs on Him and betray Him.  The fact that he was whipped and pierced and bore our sins was written before it occurred.  These prophecies were written long before the execution method of crucifixion was even invented or used.  My commentary is in red.

After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. ~ Daniel 9:26 (Jesus died without changing the political situation of Roman rule.  The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 AD, only 37 years after Christ’s death.  So this prophecy is accurate in that the Messiah was killed before the destruction of the temple.)

He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.  We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.  He was despised, and we did not care.  Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. ~ Isaiah 53:3-6 (Jesus was whipped and pierced during crucifixion, John 19:1, 20:25, 27.  He bore our sins, Mark 10:45)

“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.” ~ Zach 12:10  (Jesus’ side was pierced by a spear, John 19:34)

“They also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” ~ Psalms 69:21 (They offered vinegar mixed with gall to Jesus, Matt 27:34)

“Unjustly condemned, he was led away.  No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream.  But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.” ~ Isaiah 53:8 (Jesus was found innocent, yet executed, John 19)

“My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me.  They have pierced my hands and feet. . . My enemies stare at me and gloat.  They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.” ~ Psalms 22:16-18 (Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced during crucifixion when he was nailed to the cross. His enemies stared and him and gloated.  The Roman soldiers gambled for his clothes, Matt 27:35-43)

“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.”~ Psalms 22:14 (when Jesus’ side was pierced it punctured the liquid layer around his heart (the Pericardium) and blood and water ran out, John 19:34-37)

“For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken!” ~ Psalms 34:10 (None of Jesus’ bones were broken during his crucifixion, John 19:33-36)

“They must not leave any of the lamb until the next morning, and they must not break any of its bones. They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover.” ~ Num 9:12 (God set this up in early Jewish sacrifices as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ crucifixion.  None of Jesus’ bones were broken during his crucifixion.  He was taken down off the cross and buried in a tomb in a rush before the end of the evening because the next day was the passover celebration, Matt 27:57-62)

If you are interested by this, there are so many more.  Check out this web page.  It lists 300 fulfilled prophecies.  http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/messiah.htm

Here is some additional evidence to show that the Bible is from God and not man.

Here are more additional examples of science in bible.  These are taken out of a Bible that I have:

• Medical science has only recently discovered that blood-clotting in a newborn reaches its peak on the eighth day, then drops. The Bible consistently says that a baby must be circumcised on the eighth day following birth.
• Science has discovered that stars emit radio waves, which are received on earth as a high pitch. God mentioned this in Job 38:7.
• Most cosmologists (scientists who study the structures and evolution of the universe) agree that the Genesis account of creation, in imagining an initial void, may be “uncannily close to the truth” (Time, Dec. 1976).
• Solomon described a “cycle” of air currents two thousand years before scientists “discovered” them. “The wind goes toward the south, and turns about unto the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to his circuits” (Ecclesiastes 1:6).
• Dinosaurs are mentioned and described in the bible (Job 40:15–24)
• “During the devastating Black Death of the fourteenth century, patients who were sick or dead were kept in the same rooms as the rest of the family. People often wondered why the disease was affecting so many people at one time. They attributed these epidemics to ‘bad air’ or ‘evil spirits.’ However, careful attention to the medical commands of God as revealed in Leviticus would have saved untold millions of lives. Arturo Castiglione wrote about the overwhelming importance of this biblical medical law: ‘The laws against leprosy in Leviticus 13 may be regarded as the first model of sanitary legislation’ (A History of Medicine).” Grant R. Jeffery, The Signature of God.

There is no other book in any of the world’s religions (Vedas, Bhagavad-Gita, Koran, Book of Mormon, etc.) that contains scientific truth. In fact, they contain statements that are clearly unscientific.  As Hank Hanegraaff said, “Faith in Christ is not some blind leap into a dark chasm, but a faith based on established evidence.”

If God is real and the bible is true, then all of the cultures in the world came from the same beginning.  This beginning is described in the bible in the book of Genesis.  It has recently been discovered that the oldest written language in the world, ancient Chinese,  contains references to the story of creation and the fall of man embedded in their pictorial characters!  This is compelling evidence that the biblical account of creation is accurate and universal.  Check out this Flash movie that does a good job of presenting this amazing evidence.

This website is a good source for the biblical perspective on tons of issues.  It answers questions to most objections to Christianity.  http://www.livingwaters.com/witnessingtool/browse.shtml

If this article intrigued you but you need more evidence, seriously consider picking up a copy of the book “The Case for Christ”, by Lee Strobel.  It is a great book that is a great read and does a good job of summarizing the evidence for Jesus.  You can get it at any major bookstore or order it online.  You owe it to yourself to make sure you aren’t wrong about this issue!! If you want email me and I’ll send you a copy!