The Messiah and fulfilled prophecies

It's Thursday, and I'll be presenting information tonight to our church apologetics class on a key question – who is Jesus? I wanted to cover in the blog today part of my answer to that question. He is the fulfillment of many messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Let's look at just a few of many such prophecies.

I plan on starting with Psalm 22. All through the psalm are many foreshadowings about the death of Jesus on the cross. It's so obvious that it points to Jesus; as a result, it has caused a revision in the translation of Jewish Bibles today. For example, at one point (verse 16) the narrator says his enemies have "pierced my hands and my feet." Considering crucifixion was not part of the psalmist's world, it seems to predict the kind of death Jesus faced. As a result, modern Hebrew Bibles replace that word with a phrase – "like a lion." But the oldest Hebrew translations we have (the Septuagint and the Dead Sea scroll that contains Psalms) use the word "pierced." Considering that the Septuagint was written over 200 years before the time of Jesus, it seems obvious that modern Jewish translations are attempting to avoid an obvious connection to Jesus.

Then there's Isaiah 9:6. This is part of a passage referencing the birth of the child, and Isaiah says in verse six, "He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Of course, this sounds like the child will be God, again suggesting a connection to Jesus. So, once again, modern Jewish Bibles have been translated differently. This verse now says that he will be called "Wonderful in counsel is God the Mighty, the Everlasting Father." Do you see the difference here? The Jewish Bible now says that this child is given a name appropriate to God rather than to him.

Two other passages suggest the Messiah will come from the line of David. Take a look some time at Isaiah 11:10 and Jeremiah 23:5-6. But there's a huge problem with this assertion. When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., all genealogical records were destroyed as well. So, anyone who claimed to be the Messiah after 70 A.D. would be unable to prove his lineage came through the line of David. Thus, the Messiah had to be on the scene earlier than that.

Other verses also reflect the idea that the Messiah needed to be in existence in the first century A.D. Consider Haggai 2:6-9, which talks about the glory of the second Temple. The verse says God will fill his house, which in the context is the second Temple. This phrase refers to his actual presence being there. Since the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., it again suggests Jesus as God fulfilled this prophecy. Genesis 49:10 says the scepter will not depart from Judah until the Messiah comes. Jews understood this term to mean the ability for them to have independence in their land, including judicial rights. Then the Romans in 6 A.D. took over Palestine and refused to allow the Jews to impose capital punishment. Rabbis of the time said the Messiah should have been there based on their understanding of the verse in Genesis. Well, they were right because a young man was growing up in Nazareth at that time. Finally, there is the reference in Daniel 9:24-26 that talks about when the Messiah would come and be cut off (killed). He says there will be sixty-nine sevens after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem before the Messiah appears. If you multiply 69x7, you get 483 years. Multiply that by the ancient year-long calendar of 360 days, and you get 173,880 days. Now divide that by our modern 365 days in a year. You get 476 years. Still with me? The decree to rebuild Jerusalem was in 445 B.C., so adding 476 years gets us to 31 A.D. Hmm . . . what famous person in the Bible faced death around that time? Yep, it was Jesus.

Of course, there are many more verses that I could have mentioned, but you get the idea. This whole concept of fulfilled prophecy is fascinating. If you'd like further information, take a look some time at a book called The Search for Messiah by Eastman and Smith.