•The Fingerprint Evidence

Did Jesus – and Jesus Alone – Match the Identity of the Messiah?

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Did Jesus – and Jesus Alone – Match the Identity of the Messiah?

  • For a period of a thousand years, the Old Testament writers and prophets anticipated the coming of the Jewish Messiah who come to liberate God’s people.
  • During that time, numerous predictions were made as to how the Messiah would come, what He would be like, what He would do, what would happen to Him, etc.
  • For someone to fulfill all of those predictions, carefully recorded over this thousand year period, would require nothing short of the intervention of an all-powerful, all-knowing, sovereign God.
  • Jesus came claiming to be that long-awaited Messiah. We will now examine how well Jesus fits the characteristics of the promised Messiah.
  • Josh McDowell cites 61 specific Old Testament prophesies that were fulfilled by Jesus.  (The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p.168-192)
  • On the remainder of this page we will examine just a few of those fulfilled prophesies.
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Some of the Old Testament Prophesies Fulfilled by Jesus:

 
•Prophesy
•Fulfillment
Born of a Virgin
•Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
•Matthew 1:18 - This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
•Seed of Abraham
–Genesis 22:18 - "And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
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–Matthew 1:1 - A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
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•Tribe of Judah
•Genesis 49:10 - "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
–Luke 3:23,33 – Jesus . . . The son of Judah
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•House of David
–Jeremiah 23:5 - "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
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–Luke 3:23,31 – Jesus . . . The son of David
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•Born at Bethlehem
•Micah 5:2 - "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
–Matthew 2:1 - Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea
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•Shall Be Immanuel (God with Us)
–Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
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•Matthew 1:23 - "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
•Ministry of Miracles
•Isaiah 35:5-6 - 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.
–Matthew 11:4-5 - Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 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.”
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•Resurrection
–Psalm 16:10 - because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
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–Acts 2:31 - Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.
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Ascension
•Psalm 68:18 - You have ascended on high
•Acts 1:9 - After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
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Old Testament Prophesies Fulfilled by Jesus in One Day

  • •Betrayed by a friend
  • •Sold for thirty pieces of silver
  • •Money to be thrown into God’s house
  • •Price given for the Potter’s field
  • •Forsaken by His disciples
  • •Accused by False Witnesses
  • •Silent Before Accusers
  • •Smitten and Spat Upon Wounded and Bruised
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  • •Crucified With Thieves
  • •Made Intercession for His Persecutors
  • •Rejected by His Own People
  • •Hated Without a Cause
  • •Garments Parted and Lots Cast
  • •Bones Not Broken
  • •His Side Pierced
  • •Darkness Over the Land
  • •Buried in a Rich Man’s Tomb
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Did Jesus – and Jesus Alone – Match the Identity of the Messiah?

  • •A mathematician once did a calculation to determine what the odds were of fulfilling just eight of the prophesies fulfilled by Christ.
  • •He calculated that the odds of one man fulfilling these eight prophesies in his lifetime was 1 in 1017. (Peter Stoner, Cited by Josh McDowell, p.193)
  • •That is the same as the odds of covering the state of Texas with silver dollars to a depth of two feet, marking just one of the silver dollars, and then having a blindfolded person wander the whole state, bend down and pick up one coin, and have it be the marked coin! (Strobel, p.246-247)
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