For centuries the controversy has raged among different Jewish sects as to who is, or will be, the Messiah, when will He come, has He already come, and where will He come from. The Christian community, on the other hand, believes that the Jewish Messiah has already come and that His name is Jesus Christ. Although there are many sources of information that talk about a Jewish Messiah-- rabbinical, Christian, and secular-- where did such a concept come from? If so much has been written about this Person, then He must be real. So, what is our original, reliable and irrefutable source that we can turn to in order to prove His existence? It is the Bible! Yes, the Word of God. It was around hundreds of years before extra-biblical literature and opinions began to be published on a Jewish Messiah. When we look at the scriptures in the Tenach (Old Testament) and the Berith Kadasha (New Testament) concerning the Jewish Messiah we find over 300 that have been fulfilled by one person, and one person only. Sixty of those were "major" prophecies. Any other man might fulfill one or two of these, but not 60 or 300. So, you ask "Who was this person?" His name is Jesus Christ, a Jew from Israel.
In order to prove that Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah we will take eight Old Testament (Tenach) prophecies that He fulfilled, yet had no control over in doing so. Each of these eight prophecies was carried out by other people, some who were for Him and some who were against Him. If you will examine these with an open mind and heart I believe you will come to the same conclusion that I have, and that is, that Jesus Christ is truly the Jewish Messiah.
Here are the eight prophecies:
1. The place of His birth is prophesied in Micah 5:2. It tells us that Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, Israel. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." When we go to the New Testament in Matthew 2:1-6, wise men come to Jerusalem asking where the new-born King of the Jews is. When King Herod hears the news he gathers the chief priests and scribes together and asks them where the Christ (anointed One) will be born. They tell him "Bethlehem." "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things...he gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judah: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."
It was a know fact among the Jews that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. God eliminates every city in the world except one as to where the Messiah would be born. Jesus Christ, as Mary's baby son, had no control over where he would be born, yet He fulfilled the prophecy of Micah 5:2, written hundreds of years before He was ever born. Another account of His birth is written in the gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verse 11. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David (Bethlehem) a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." The scriptures confirm that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would not only be a man child, but He would also be Lord (God). This is also confirmed in Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
2. The time of His coming is prophesied in Genesis 49:10. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." The word "sceptre" means a "tribal staff." Each of the twelve tribes of Israel had their own "tribal staff" or "tribal identity". The word "Shiloh" is another name for the "Messiah".
According to the scriptures and the Jews of that time, two signs had to take place soon after the Messiah made His appearance. First, the removal of the sceptre or identity of the tribe of Judah, from whose lineage came king David and the successive kings of Judah. This began to come about with the ascension of Herod the Great, who was an Idumean, or Edomite, with no Jewish blood. The second thing that had to happen was the suppression of judicial power of the Jews. In Josh McDowell's book Evidence that demands a Verdict, pages 178, 179 it says "...The legal power of the Sanhedrin (Jewish ruling body) is restricted twenty-three years before the trial of Christ." This restriction was the loss of the power to pass the death sentence....The procurators who administered in the Augustus name, took the supreme power of the Sanhedrin away so they could exercise the "jus Gladii" themselves; that is, the sovereign right over life and death sentences....The Talmud itself admits that, "A little more than forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the power of pronouncing capital sentences was taken away from the Jews."
Both of these signs took place after Jesus Christ was born, fulfilling Genesis 49:10. Again, Jesus had no control over the time He would be born, nor of these two events that were prophesied hundreds of years earlier, yet He fulfilled them.
3. The manner of His birth is prophesied in Isaiah 7:14. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel." In this text the word "virgin" is the Hebrew word "almah." They used it because both the idea of virginity and marriageable age had to be combined in one word to meet the immediate historical situation and the prophetic aspect which centered in a virgin-born Messiah. In the Septuagint (Greek translation) the word for virgin is "parthenos" which means a woman of marriageable age, a pure virgin. In the New Testament, in Matthew 1:23-25, Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, found out she was pregnant and was going to sign the papers to dissolve the marriage agreement until an angel appeared to him in a dream telling him not to follow through with his decision because Mary's conception was by the Holy Spirit. It was supernatural (you can read how this happened in my teaching on Jesus's Genetic Birth by going back to the home page of the Jerusalem Chronicles and clicking on the link on the left of the page under the title Apologetics, entitled Jesus's Genetic Birth).
. . . the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost....Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Jesus had no control over the fact that He would be born of a virgin and fulfill the prophecy written by the Jewish prophet Isaiah several hundred years earlier, except He be God, come in the flesh.
4. His betrayal is prophesied in Psalm 41:9. "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." The phrase "Mine own familiar friend," in the original Hebrew, literally means "the man of my peace;" he who saluted me with the kiss of peace. This is speaking of Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus‚ disciples. He sold the Lord Jesus out for thirty pieces of silver according to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verses 14 through 16.
Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
This act set Judas up to give the Lord Jesus the "kiss of death."
During the Last Supper, Jesus dismissed Judas Iscariot to fulfill his destiny, which was to take the soldiers to Jesus for arrest. After the supper was over Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was here that Judas would betray Him with a kiss.
...Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
Judas did not plan to have Jesus arrested in order to fulfill biblical prophecy. For a man to set out to deliberately fulfill that role would be ludicrous. He would have to have been insane, and Judas was anything but insane. He, along with the Jewish leaders, also fulfilled Zechariah 11:12 when they gave Judas thirty pieces of silver for leading them to Jesus. "And I said unto them, if ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver."
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This was fulfilled in Matthew 26:14-16. "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver." Judas and the Jewish leaders also did not plan to fulfill Zechariah 11:13, which says "And the LORD said unto me, cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was priced at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD." yet they fulfilled this in Matthew 27:3,5,7.
Then Judas, which had betrayed him,...brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,...Ad he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself...And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in.
The Jewish leadership hated Jesus so much that they would never have dreamed of being a part of fulfilling these prophecies, yet they did, and Jesus had no control over any of it.
5. People's reactions were prophesied in Isaiah 50:6. "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." And also, Micah 5:1. "... they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek." This was fulfilled in Matthew 26:67-68. "Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?" And in Matthew 27:30 "And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head." I say, once again, that these people had no intention whatsoever of fulfilling biblical prophecies when they did what they did. Most assuredly, their intentions were to discredit Jesus‚ being the Messiah, not to aide Him in proving that He was, yet they did. Jesus had no control over these events either, but they were fulfilled.
6. The manner of Jesus‚ death is prophesied in Isaiah 52:14. "As many were astonished at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:" And in Isaiah 53:7.
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.
These scriptures were fulfilled in Matthew 27:27, 31.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers...And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
Jesus had no control over these events, nor were those involved in His crucifixion intending to fulfill these biblical prophecies that were written hundreds of years before.
The piercing of Jesus is prophesied in Psalm 22:16. "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet." This is also prophesied in Zechariah 12:10.
...And they shall look upon me (literally: unto me) whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
The first scripture, Psalm 22:16 was fulfilled in Luke 23:33. "And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left." and in John 19:34 "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water." After Jesus' resurrection He appears to His disciples, including Thomas who did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead, and proves that it is He Himself.
But Thomas, one of the twelve...said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe...then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Zechariah 12:10 will be fulfilled when the Lord pours out upon Israel the spirit of grace and supplication and they realize that Jesus Christ, the one they crucified (their forefathers actually crucified Him), is truly their Messiah, Lord, and King. Again, Jesus had no control over these prophecies being fulfilled in His humanity, but they were. And once again, they were fulfilled by those who opposed Him and wanted to see Him dead and out of the way.
7. Jesus‚ garments being parted and lots cast for them are prophesied in Psalm 22:18. "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." The fulfillment of this scripture is in John 19:23, 24.
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rent it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
These scriptures are rather astounding in their fulfillment in that these soldiers were Romans who did not know the Word of God and therefore could not have know that they were fulfilling biblical prophecy that had been written almost a thousand years earlier. In this Jesus had no control either, but the characters played out their parts perfectly.
8. Jesus‚ burial was prophesied in Isaiah 53:9. "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;" This scripture was fulfilled in Matthew 27:57-60.
When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. . . .
In examining the events of Jesus burial we must realize that Pilate, of all people, and being a Roman, would have never knowingly fulfilled scripture. It shows the sovereignty of God in the events of human affairs. This is another action that Jesus had no control over, especially since He was dead.
There are several other biblical prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, yet had no control over, but I believe that the eight that we have described above are sufficient to prove that Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world. But in order to further strengthen our argument I want to take an excerpt from Josh McDowell's book Evidence That Demands A Verdict. On page 175 he uses a quote from Peter Stoner in Science Speaks (Moody Press, 1963)
...we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 1017 (ten to the seventeenth power). That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (one hundred quadrillion)...supposing that we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold one man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one?
Those odds are overwhelming, and no man has ever, or could ever fulfill these eight prophecies unless he were the Messiah: God, the Son. But the amazing thing is, that He not only fulfilled the eight, but 300 prophecies to the letter, and He is soon to return to this earth and fulfill the other 318 prophecies that have been written about Him in the New Testament, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. He is the unquestionable, irrefutable, and unmistakable Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world.
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