Does Jesus Alone Match the Identity of the Messiah?
When I was teaching Sunday school, I did a series of classes using Lee Strobel's works. The following is from The Case for Christ, chapter 10. While there may be the stray original item from me, I deserve no credit for what is written in this particular article. It is properly attributed to Lee Strobel in its entirety.
Obviously we don’t have fingerprints from Jesus and nothing against which to compare them. But there is another kind of evidence that is analogous to fingerprints and establishes that Jesus is indeed the Messiah with an astounding degree of certainty.
In the Old Testament there are several dozen major prophesies about the coming of the Messiah. In effect, these predictions formed a figurative fingerprint that only the Anointed One would be able to match. This way, the Israelites could rule out any imposters and validate the credentials of the authentic Messiah.
There are more than four dozen major predictions in all. Isaiah revealed the manner of the Messiah’s birth (of a virgin). Micah pinpointed the place of His birth (Bethlehem). Genesis and Jeremiah specified His ancestry (a descendent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from the tribe of Judah, the house of David). The Psalms foretold His betrayal, His accusation by false witnesses, His manner of death (pierced in the hands and feet, although crucifixion hadn’t been invented yet), and His resurrection (He would not decay but would ascend on high).
So what are the most common objections we get?
The Coincidence Argument
Maybe He’s just one of many throughout history who have coincidentally fit the prophetic fingerprint. Perhaps He merely fulfilled the prophesies by accident. The odds are so astronomical that they rule that out. Someone did the math and figured out that the probability of just eight prophesies being fulfilled is one chance in one hundred million billion. That number is millions of times greater than the total number of people who have ever existed. If you took this number of silver dollars, they’d cover the state of Texas to a depth of two feet. It's the same odds as marking one coin and having a blindfolded person wander the state and bend down to pick up one coin and it be the marked one.
Peter W. Stoner computed that the probability of fulfilling forty-eight prophecies was one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion! Our minds can’t comprehend a number that big. It's equal to the number of atoms in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, billion universes the size of our universe!
The Altered Gospel Argument
Isn’t it possible that the gospel writers fabricated details to make it look like Jesus fulfilled the prophecies? Maybe John invented the story of the two thieves’ legs being broken and Jesus’ legs not being broken (since the prophecies said the Messiah’s bones would remain unbroken). Maybe Matthew said Jesus was sold out for thirty pieces of silver because the prophecies said so, but it was a different amount in actuality.
In God’s wisdom, he created checks and balances both inside and outside the Christian community. When the gospels were being circulated, there were people living who had been around when all these things happened. Someone would have said, “You know it didn’t happen that way. We’re trying to communicate a life of righteousness and truth, so don’t taint it with a lie.” Besides, why would Matthew have fabricated fulfilled prophecies and then willingly allowed himself to be put to death for following someone who he secretly knew was really not the Messiah?What’s more, the Jewish community would have jumped on any opportunity to discredit the gospels by pointing out falsehoods. Even though the Talmud refers to Jesus in derogatory ways, it never once claims that the fulfillment of prophecies was falsified.
The Intentional Fulfillment Argument
Some skeptics have asserted that Jesus merely maneuvered His life in a way to fulfill the prophecies, like riding a donkey into Jerusalem. For a few of the prophesies that is conceivable, but there are many others for which this just wouldn’t have been possible. How would He control that the Sanhedrin would offer Judas thirty pieces of silver to betray Him? How could He arrange for his ancestry, or the place of His birth, or His method of execution, or that soldiers gambled for His clothing, or that His legs remain unbroken on the cross? How would He arrange to perform miracles in front of skeptics? How would He arrange for His resurrection? And how would He arrange to be born when He was? When you interpret Daniel 9:24-26, it foretells that the Messiah would appear a certain length of time after King Artaxerxes I issued a decree for the Jewish people to go from Persia to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem. That puts the anticipated appearance of the Messiah at the exact moment in history when Jesus shows up.[1]
4. The Context Argument
Were the passages identified as messianic prophesies really intended to point to the coming of the Anointed One, or do Christians rip them out of context and misinterpret them? Experts who have researched the context and wording in the original language have concluded that every single time they are truly meant to be prophetic - they have stood up and shown themselves to be true. An honest searcher can always find plenty of information. There are plenty of books out there to help the genuine seeker. But never dismiss sincerely asking God to show you whether Jesus is the Messiah. Again, an honest heart that seeks an honest answer can expect a genuine response.
[1] Robert C. Newman, “Fulfilled prophecy As Miracle,” in R. Douglas Geivett and Gary R. Habermas, eds., In Defense of Miracles (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 214-25.