Reading: The Person the Prophets Predicted (Slides)

The Person the Prophets Predicted
by David Feddes

Why Christianity, Bible, Jesus?

•      Archeology, manuscript support for Bible.

•      Logical and historical evidence for Jesus.

•      How do we know Jesus is the Way? Because the Bible says so. And why should we believe what the Bible says? Because Jesus confirms it.

•      Circular, since every leader & his book match up?

•      The Bible isn’t just by Jesus or his friends; 39 Bible books were written centuries before Jesus.

•      Predictions came true in a particular person: Jesus! Anybody could write book—but not anybody could fulfill numerous ancient predictions.

Birth: impossible contradictions?

•    The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).

•    But you, Bethlehem … out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times… And he will be their peace (Micah 5:2,5).

•    Out of Egypt I called my son (Hosea 11:1).

•    In the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:1-2).

Unmatched miracles

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

  Then will the lame leap like a deer,

    and the mute tongue shout for joy.

                    (Isaiah 35:5)

Even Jesus’ enemies couldn’t deny miracles. These miracles weren't just marvels to astonish people; they were signs that Jesus was the person the prophets predicted.

Unmatched miracles

•   John the Baptist: "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”

•   Jesus sent message: "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor" (Matthew 11:3-5).

•   John would understand that Jesus was fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy.

•      When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man? (John 7:31)

Jesus’ final week: Palm Sunday

•      800 years earlier, Psalm 118 had said, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord... With branches in hand, join in the festal procession" (Psalm 118:26-27).

•      500+ years earlier, the prophet Zechariah had written, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9).

Jesus’ final week: cleansing temple

•      Cleansing temple: 450 years earlier, Malachi had written, "Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple... But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap" (Malachi 3:1-2).

•      "a den of robbers” (Jeremiah 7:11; 600 years)

•      Jesus declared that the temple would soon be destroyed (Matthew 24:2). <40 years later, Jesus' words came true. Roman armies under Titus destroyed the temple; it has never been rebuilt.

Jesus’ final week: his arrest

•      Judas: "Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” (Psalm 41:9; 1000 years earlier)

•      All disciples fled: "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered" (Zech 13:7).

•      Back whipped, face punched, spit upon: "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting (Isaiah 50:6; 700 B.C.).

Jesus’ final week: his suffering

•      Psalm 22, 1000 BC: "They have pierced my hands and my feet... They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

•       "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

•       "He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him.”

   Jesus enemies said: “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God'" (Matthew 27:43).

•      "My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.”

   "I am thirsty" (John 19:28).

Jesus’ final week: his death

•   Not one of his bones will be broken. (Exodus 12:46, Psalm 34:20)

•   They will look on the one they have pierced.  (Zechariah 12:10)

•   He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death. (Isaiah 53:9)

Resurrection

•      You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. (Ps 16)

•      Psalm 22 said that after being forsaken by God and pierced by men, the afflicted one would live and rejoice and bring far-off nations to the Lord.

•      After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many.  (Isaiah 53)

Promises & Person match perfectly

•   Someone who met Jesus exclaimed, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote" (John 1:45).

•   Jesus himself said, "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms" (Luke 24:44).

•   The apostle Paul wrote of "the gospel God promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son" (Rom 1:2-3).

Promises & Person match perfectly

•      These predictions in the Old Testament were promises from God, and this Jesus is the One who fulfilled God’s promises to save us.

•      There is no other book like the Bible.

There is no other person like Jesus.

•      The Bible is God speaking in written form.

Jesus is God living among us in human form.

•      Trust this book as God's Word.

Trust this person as God’s Son.