Transcripts: The Person the Prophets Predicted

So, why be a Christian when you could be a Hindu or a Muslim or a Buddhist or something else instead? Why believe the Bible as the ultimate book, when Muslims have the Koran, Hindus have the Bhagavad Gita, and various others have their own book that they consider sacred. 

Why trust Jesus as the supreme link between God and humanity, when so many people look to Muhammad, or Confucius or Gautama, the Buddha, or someone else. With many varieties of religion around it may seem impossible to decide which is right. 

It's tempting just to say, well, you believe whatever you want to believe. And I'll believe whatever I want to believe, and let's not say any more about it. Well, that might help us to avoid arguing and conflict, but it won't bring us any closer to the truth.

 If we want our belief to be more than just wishful thinking, then we can't just believe whatever we want to believe. We need to believe what's true. I'll be blunt. If Christianity isn't true, then I don't want to be a Christian. If the Bible isn't God's word, then I don't want to believe that it is. 

If Jesus isn't God come to us as a human, that I don't want to trust him or follow him. On the other hand, if Christianity is true, then I'm not the only one who should be a Christian, you should be a Christian too, and so should everyone else. 

If the Bible is God's word, then I'm not the only one who should believe it, you should believe it, and everyone else should do. If Jesus is God with us and the Savior of the world have been I'm not the only one who should follow him. You should follow him too, and so should everyone else. 

First, though, we need to settle the question whether there's anything that sets the Bible apart from other books, and anything that sets Jesus apart from other religious leaders. Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God written totally reliable, and without error in what it reveals.

But why believe the Bible instead of another sacred book, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and the Savior of all who trust him. But why believe in Jesus instead of some other religious leader? 

Well, there are different ways that we can approach this question. One would be to say, well, what's the evidence for the Bible, we could check into archaeology and some of the findings in archaeology, that confirm the historical accuracy of the Bible, we could talk about the many 1000s of manuscripts that show that the Bible has been transmitted from generation to generation accurately. 

And we could look into stuff like that, and argue evidence for the reliability of the Bible. We could also try to construct a case for believing the truth about Jesus. And we could make logical arguments to show that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, and that anybody who claims to be the Son of God would either have to be a liar or Loony, or he'd have to be who he says he is. 

But he sure can't just be the nice teacher. Or we can look at historical evidence, such as eyewitness testimony to Jesus resurrection, and the fact that the eyewitnesses were willing to die rather than change their story and other historical evidences for believing the truth about Jesus.

So those would certainly be ways that are worth pursuing. I've done it myself in other settings, but in this talk, I want to take a little different approach, rather than make arguments for the Bible, or make arguments for Jesus and look for evidence for him. What I want to say is this. 

How do we know Jesus is the way because the Bible says so? And why should we believe what the Bible says? Well, because Jesus confirms it. So we're gonna believe the Bible, because Jesus is in it. And we're gonna believe in Jesus because the Bible points to him, say, Well, come on. Every leader matches up with his book, it's kind of a circular argument to say, we're gonna believe in Jesus because of the Bible. And we're gonna believe in the Bible because of Jesus. 

But in this case, the argument isn't just circular that a guy who writes a book has a book that matches up with the guy. In this case, the Bible isn't just by Jesus or his friends, the Bible is 66 different books, of which 39 were written centuries before Jesus came to earth. And when we look at those 39 books that were written before Jesus came to earth, we find that there were predictions that came true and they came true in this particular person, Jesus.

Now, anybody could write a book. But not anybody could fulfill numerous ancient predictions that were written long before he showed up. I think you'd agree that such a book would be amazing. I think you'd also agree that any one person whose life fulfill all sorts of ancient predictions made in a number of different writings from a number of different writers over a number of different centuries.

 Anybody who fulfilled all that would be an amazing person. Indeed. Well, Jesus is just such a person. And the Bible is just such a book. When we look at Jesus's birth and the predictions about the coming Messiah and Savior, at first what we find looks like a whole bunch of impossible contradictions. Here are some of the Old Testament statements about the coming Savior. Isaiah 7:14 says the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel which means God with us, right there. Of course, we've got a challenge. We know where babies come from, and a virgin having a baby right, there seems like an almost impossible contradiction.

But that's what the Bible says. Scripture talks about where this baby will be born. Micah 5:2 says, 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 piece. 

So the prediction is that he'll be in Bethlehem. But Scripture also says out of Egypt, I called my son. And still another scripture in the Old Testament, Isaiah 9 says, in the future, God will honor Galilee of the Gentiles by way of the sea, along the Jordan, the people walking in darkness, have seen a great light. Now, it's a stunning prediction to say that a virgin will give birth. 

And it sounds like an outright contradiction for different prophets to predict a child being born in Bethlehem, coming out of Egypt, and shining and Galilee, Bethlehem and Galilee, are at opposite ends of the land of Israel. And Egypt is another country altogether. 

How could prophecy is referring to Bethlehem, Egypt and Galilee all be fulfilled in the same child? sounds impossible and ridiculous, doesn't it? Well, centuries later, a young woman from Nazareth in Galilee became pregnant without being with a man, this woman Mary was betrothed to Joseph. 

At first, Joseph couldn't believe that Mary's pregnancy was a miracle, but an angel convinced him, the couple lived in Nazareth. So it seemed obvious that their baby would be born there and not in Bethlehem, far to the south. But then the Roman Emperor called for a census and required people to register in the towns of their ancestry. 

Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem because Joseph's family line went back to King David and Bethlehem was the city of David. While they were in Bethlehem for the census, Mary went into labor, and the baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet Micah predicted. King Herod the vicious ruler in that region heard that a special baby had been born. And Herod felt threatened, he ordered that all babies and Bethlehem be killed. Before the order could be carried out. 

However, an angel warned Joseph that Herod was planning to kill the child. And so Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with baby Jesus. While later King Herod died, and Jesus came up out of Egypt with Joseph and Mary, just as the prophet Hosea had predicted. After leaving Egypt, the family went back to Israel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee, where they originally came from their Jesus grew up and began his ministry, bringing God's light to the region of Galilee, just as the prophet Isaiah had predicted. 

Amazing, the seemingly contradictory prophecies all came true. In the Christ child, he was conceived of the Virgin born in Bethlehem, came out of Egypt, and was God's light in Galilee. Now, as Jesus grew up, he began to do things that no one had been able to do before and Isaiah had predicted these things. Isaiah said, Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped then with the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue, shout for joy. 

And sure enough, when Jesus was living and ministering among the people, he gave sight to the blind. He helped deaf and mute people to receive their hearing, and their speech and crippled people were able to rise from the ground after years of being unable to walk into leap and to dance for joy in the Lord.

Even Jesus enemies couldn't deny His miracles. They had to admit that something was going on. They blamed it on the power of the devil. But they knew something extraordinary was happening because the miracles were so amazing. And these miracles weren't just Marvels to astonish people, although they certainly accomplished that.

They were signs. They were signs that Jesus was the person the prophets had predicted. Now, as Jesus did these miracles, he had some people wondering what was going on, because not everybody was experiencing the joy of miracles and healing Jesus relative, John the Baptist, who had prepared the way for him, had been arrested, and was locked in prison. 

And so John started wondering what's going on? Why am I here, locked away in prison, if this is the era of the Messiah? And John sent some of his followers with a message and a question for Jesus? Are you the one who was become or should we expect someone else? How did Jesus respond? He sent the message back, the blind received 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.

Now, when John heard that message from Jesus, he would understand that Jesus was fulfilling Isaiah as prophecy and that Jesus was in fact, the one to come, just as John had been saying, and needed to have it confirmed for him again.

Others when they saw what Jesus was doing just people in the crowds, and there was a lot of talk about Jesus wondering who Is he is he really the Messiah, the Christ? And some of the people said, well, when the Christ comes, will He do more miraculous signs than this man? Jesus was a fulfillment of the prophecies about the miracles in Jesus final week. 

Beginning with Palm Sunday, we see more and more prophecies being fulfilled. 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 festival procession. 

And on Palm Sunday, Jesus was greeted by crowds shouting, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord waving palm branches, and accompanying him on his way to Jerusalem. 500 years earlier, the prophet Zechariah had written, rejoice greatly, Oh 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 fall of a donkey. 

And on Palm Sunday, Jesus was seated on a young donkey colt that had never been written before. And he rode that colt, as the crowds accompanied him waving their palm branches. Jesus in that same week, leading up to his death, I entered the temple area. And when he entered the temple area, he saw people who were buying and selling and he threw them out of the temple. 

And he fulfilled something that had been written 450 years earlier by the prophet Malachi. 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 refiners fire, or Alana or soap. And Jesus came into the temple as the one who was there to clean things up. 

You see, the religious leaders of the time, hated Gentiles for one thing, and so they blocked them and kept them in the outer courts. And then they made people traveled, exchange their money from other countries for shackles and made a big pile of money in the bargain, the plus they said that only animals sold in the temple area, were going to be clean and acceptable for sacrifices. 

So you had to buy your animals for that religious monopoly. Well, Jesus came in and just threw all of that out and fulfilled the Prophet. And he said, my house should be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you made it a den of robbers. 

Now, he was quoting the prophet Jeremiah, who 600 years earlier had given a speech in the temple and called the people there a den of robbers and it said the temple would be destroyed, and the temple was destroyed in Jeremiah's time, but years later, it was rebuilt. And by the time of Jesus, it had again become a den of robbers. And when Jesus called it the den of robbers, he was implying that it would meet the same fate that the temple had earlier and be destroyed again.

Jesus declared explicitly to his disciples that the temple would soon be destroyed and it stones would be cast down and less than 40 years later, Jesus words came true Roman armies under General Titus destroyed the temple in Jerusalem and it has never been rebuilt. Again fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus arrest during his final week also was no accident and again had been predicted centuries earlier. 

Psalm 41 said, even my close friend whom I trusted he who shared my bread has lifted up his heel against me. And on the Thursday night of that week, Judas was having bread with Jesus and the other disciples. And then he laughed and betrayed Jesus and brought Jesus enemies to find him and all that had been predicted 1000 years earlier. 

All the disciples fled when Jesus arrested and centuries earlier Zechariah had written strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. Jesus had his back whipped, get his face punched, he was spit upon by his enemies while he was on trial that evening on false trumped up charges. 700 years earlier, Isaiah had written 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. And, as Jesus sufferings and persecutions continued, he continued to fulfill prophecies. The prophecies continued to be fulfilled during Jesus suffering. Psalm 22, which was written 1000 years before Jesus is one of the clearest in predicting multiple aspects of Jesus suffering. It says they have pierced my hands and my feet. It says this before crucifixion was ever invented as a form of execution, and speaks of hands and feet being pierced. And it goes on to say They divide my garments among them, and cast lots for my clothing. 

What happened with Jesus? They pounded nails through his hands and feet, and the soldiers who did that took his garments, and cast lots to see who would get what?. Jesus cried out on the cross, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me as all the sins of the world were laid upon him and God turned his face away. Psalm 22:1 says, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus, enemies echoed something that had been predicted long ago, Psalm 22.

Has Jesus enemy saying this, he trusts in the Lord, Let the LORD rescue him. And Matthew records what 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. Psalm 22, said, my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, a person terribly thirsty and dry. And Jesus said, on the cross, I am thirsty. So you have all these things said in Psalm 22, 1000 years before Jesus actually hung on the cross. 

When Jesus died, the treatment of his body, fulfill the number of ancient prophecies. It was the day before the Sabbath when Jesus died, and the people in charge wanted to make sure that Jesus and the two men crucified with him were dead before sundown, which was when the Sabbath would begin. 

So the soldiers broke the legs of the two men with Jesus, and with broken legs, they wouldn't be able to hold up their weight, and they'd soon die from not being able to get air in their lungs. That's how they hastened death of crucified people. The soldiers were intending to break Jesus legs too, but they found that he was already dead. 

So they left his legs alone, and they simply pierced Jesus side with a spear to make sure that he was dead. Long ago, Scripture had said not one of his bones will be broken, that was spoken of the Passover lamb to be sacrificed. It was also spoken of the righteous man who belongs to God that not one of his bones will be broken, and not one of Jesus's Bones was broken. When he died. 

It also said they will look on the one that they have pierced. And so though they didn't break his leg, his legs they pierced him with a sword and a flow of blood and water came out and this again fulfill the ancient prophecy of Zechariah. Isaiah said he was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, and a wealthy man who had been following Jesus secretly Joseph Aveiro Mithya got bolder actually when Jesus died and he came forward and helped to take Jesus down from the cross and laid Jesus in his grave. And so he was laid in the grave of Joseph a rich man, and that's where Jesus was buried.

Well, even the timing of all of this Jesus suffering and death even the timing showed that Jesus was the person the prophets predict. Now remember, Jesus died during Passover week. Back in the time of Moses, the Angel of Death killed the firstborn. of Egypt and rescued the Israelites from slavery and he passed over their houses, each Israelite household was passed over and spared if the blood of a lamb was smeared on the doorposts of the home, the lamb died instead of the firstborn son. And its blood saved God's people from death. And every year, Passover marked that event. 

Well, Jesus ended up dying right at the time, when Passover week was reaching its climax. Jesus is the ultimate Passover, the final sacrifice. 14 centuries earlier, the slaughtered Passover lamb and the great liberation from Egypt had been the foreshadowing the slaughtering of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and the great liberation from sin and Satan that his death brought about. Now that was the fulfillment, the timing of the Passover, and the timing of Jesus crucifixion matched perfectly, again, linking the ancient scriptures with the person of Jesus. 

Now, how could so many prophecies turn out to be so accurate? And how could one person be the fulfillment of all those things which were written so many years earlier? The answer is simply that these predictions in the Old Testament were promises from God, and that Jesus is the One God sent to save us. How else could the person and the predictions match so precisely? Well, Old Testament predictions didn't stop at the death of the Messiah. 

The predictions went on to speak of the resurrection of the Messiah. Psalm 16 says, You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. And so the Messiah would not decay or be abandoned to the grave. Psalm 22, which had predicted all about Jesus crucifixion 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. And Jesus did live again and bring far off nations to the Lord. 

Isaiah 53, which spoke so much of Jesus suffering of a lamb going to the slaughter of dying in our place, it said, after the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. That's a prediction of resurrection, you'll see the light of life and be satisfied. And by his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many and ever since millions of people have been justified, made right with God, by faith in Jesus Christ. 

The reason one, the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised from the dead, you will be saved, you'll be justified, Jesus resurrection, and the impact of that resurrection fulfills the ancient prophets. So if you ask, Why believe the Bible and not some other books, be sure also to ask whether any other book accurately predicted things long in advance and when they happen. If you ask, why trust Jesus and not some other person,? be sure also to ask how many prophecies that other person fulfilled? and ask whether that person ever died and was buried and then clocked out of the tomb alive?. No book, but the Bible reveals God's promises even before they come true, no person but Jesus fulfills all those promises. 

No religious leader is holy and loving enough to die for the sins of his people. And no religious leader is mighty enough to conquer death, and Satan. The promises of the Scripture and the person of Jesus match perfectly. As someone who met Jesus exclaimed, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and about whom the prophets also wrote. 

That was one of the great things about Jesus, he was the one that prophets had been writing about. Jesus himself said, everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, and it certainly did come tru in Jesus. 

The apostle Paul writing later spoke of the gospel, God promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, regarding his son, that's it in a nutshell, God had promised it all beforehand through his prophets, and then he fulfilled it in the gospel of God in the gospel of his son, these promises and this person who matched so perfectly, they're from God, these predictions, and this Jesus is the one who is from God. He fulfills 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. So trust this book as God's word and trust this person as God's son. Don't let the variety of sacred books and religious leaders confuse you or keep you from making up your mind. Other books may contain some valuable insights. But the Bible holds an altogether higher authority. Other leaders may have their good points, but Jesus is altogether superior. believe the Bible and study it more and more. 

Trust Jesus, and get to know him better and better. Thank him for dying in your place and for rising again to conquer death on your behalf. Welcome His Holy Spirit to live in you. Then all those true predictions won't just be an amazing set of facts that convince your mind. Jesus will be the living Lord who grips your heart