JESUS IN PROPHECY

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16) who was sent to preach about God's Kingdom and to die for our sins (Matthew 1:21, 4:23, 7:21, Luke 1:77, John 4:34). Scripture tells us that Jesus was alive in Heaven before coming to earth to live as a human (Micah 5:2, John 1:1, 3:31, 8:23). The bible makes it clear that it was God's plan for Christ to come for us, as shown in the many prophecies that point to Christ's first coming:

To begin with, Jacob prophesied that his son, Judah, would be lauded and hold the scepter; people's obedience would belong to him (Genesis 49:8-10). This was because Jesus was to be born from descendants of the tribe of Judah (Matthew 1:1-3, Luke 3:33-34).

Through the line of Judah, (before Christ was born), came David, the son of Jesse (Matthew 1:1,6). Scripture prophesied that a descendant of David would sit on the heavenly throne (Isaiah 9:6-7). Later, Jesus was born as a descendant of David (Matthew 1:6-16, 9:27, Acts 13:22-23), and is now sitting on the heavenly throne (1 Peter 3:22).

Prophecy stated that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Jesus Christ was born in the city of Bethlehem, also called the city of David (Luke 2:4-7).

Jesus' earthly mother was a virgin when she bore him (Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 1:30-35). This was also prophesied at Isaiah 7:14.

The bible also prophesied that there would be a great slaughter of children (Jeremiah 31:15 ). This happened soon after Christ's human birth (Matthew 2:18 ).

When Jesus was a child, God told Jesus's human parents to flee to Egypt with him for protection; some time later God called them back from Egypt when the danger passed (Matthew 2:15). This is in line with the prophecy at Hosea 11:1, which mentions God calling His Son out of Egypt.

The geographic area in which Christ preached (Matthew 4:13-15) was also prophesied (Isaiah 9:1-7)

Scripture prophesies that our King would be hailed when entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). This was fulfilled when Christ entered Jerusalem shortly before he was murdered (Matthew 21:1-9,Mark 11:7-11).

Prophecy tells us that Jesus was going to be betrayed by a friend (Psalms 41:9), which happened with his friend, Judas (John 13:21).

It was also prophesied that Jesus Christ would be sold for thirty silver pieces, which were later to be thrown into the temple and used for buying a potter's field (Zechariah 11:12-13), compared to (Matthew 26:15, 27:5, 9-10).

As for Christ's crucifixion, prophecy stated that the Messiah would be crucified with common criminals (Isaiah 53:12). This was also fulfilled, as shown at Matthew 27:35.

His friends scattered when Christ was arrested (Mark 14:50) as foretold at Zechariah 13:7.

The prophets also told us that his side would be pierced (Isaiah 53:5, Zechariah 12:10). This also came to be true when Christ was crucified (Matthew 27:49, John 19:34-37).

Christ fulfilled the "sign of Jonah" (Matthew 12:39-40, John 2:18-22) as foretold at Jonah 1:17.

These aren't the only prophecies in the Bible which point to Christ's first coming. The scriptures are loaded with prophecies that were fulfilled by Christ's human existence. There are several websites that delve more deeply into these prophecies, a few of which we list here:
http://getreadyforchrist.com/prophecies.htm
http://jesus-is-the-way.com/FirstComing.html
http://www.pre-trib.org/article-view.php?id=242
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/prophchr.html

Unfortunately, many people think these prophetic connections are mere coincidence or manipulation and nothing more. They choose to remain unbelievers because of this thinking.

This begs the question: What are the odds of a man fulfilling any of the prophecies written about Christ?

This question was investigated by professors Peter W. Stoner* and Robert C. Newman.** Together they wrote a book titled "Science Speaks", which was based on scientific probability. This book spelled out that the odds of any man in history fulfilling only eight of the sixty most prominent prophecies fulfilled by Christ's existence was 1 in 100 quadrillion (a quadrillion looks like: 100,000,000,000,000,000 ). Putting this into terms we can understand, Stoner revealed that 100 quadrillion silver dollar coins would be enough to cover the face of the entire state of Texas two feet deep (Texas is the second largest state in the US, it can take days to drive across it). The odds of any man fulfilling just eight of those prophecies is equal to a blindfolded man wandering through those silver dollars and happening to choose a specially marked silver dollar on the first try. That alone is astronomical odds -- imagine how much harder the odds are when you remember that Christ fulfilled all the prophecies, not just eight of them!

Because these odds are so enormous, it would be a brazen act of denial to continue in one's disbelief. These prophecies were written hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of years before Christ's first coming. Although some unbelievers continue to accuse Christ of fraud by claiming he designed his actions around the prophecies, this cannot really be the case: Jesus Christ had no control over his virgin conception, birth in Bethlehem, Judaic genealogy or many many other fulfillments that happened during his human lifetime.

It is clear, plain and simple, that Jesus Christ is indeed the prophesied Saviour. Scriptural evidence supports this, as does scientific deduction. Let us all continue to honour him as our Saviour, not letting the Enemy sew doubts in our faith.

*Peter W. Stoner lived from 1888 - 1980, and was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College until 1953; Chairman of the science division, Westmont College, 1953-57; Professor Emeritus of Science, Westmont College; Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Astronomy, Pasadena City College.
**Robert C. Newman is professor of New Testament at Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, and director of the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute there. He holds a doctorate in theoretical astrophysics from Cornell University and an STM in Old Testament from Biblical Theological Seminary.