More Than a Carpenter (16 page)

Certainly God was writing an address in history that only his Messiah could fulfill. Approximately forty men have claimed to be the Jewish Messiah. But only one—Jesus Christ—appealed to fulfilled prophecy to substantiate his claims, and only his credentials back up those claims.

What are some of those credentials? And what events had to precede and coincide with the appearance of God’s Son?

To begin, we must go back to Genesis 3:15, where we find the first messianic prophecy in the Bible: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (
NKJV
). This prophecy could refer to only one man in all of Scripture. No other but Jesus could be referred to as the “seed” of a woman. All others born in history come from the seed of a man. Other versions make the same claim when they identify this conqueror of Satan to be the offspring of a woman, when in all other instances the Bible counts offspring through the line of the man. This offspring or “seed” of a woman will come into the world and destroy the works of Satan (bruise his head).

In Genesis 9 and 10 God narrowed down the address further. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. All the nations of the world can be traced back to these three men. But God effectively eliminated two-thirds of the human race from the line of messiahship by specifying that the Messiah would come through the lineage of Shem.

Then continuing on down to the year 2000
BC
, we find that God called a man named Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees. With Abraham, God became still more specific, stating that the Messiah will be one of his descendants. All the families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham (see Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-8; 22:15-18). When he had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, many of Abraham’s descendants were eliminated when God selected the second son, Isaac, to be the progenitor of the Messiah (see Genesis 17:19-21; 21:12).

Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. God chose the line of Jacob (see Genesis 28:1-4; 35:10-12; Numbers 24:17). Jacob had twelve sons, out of whose descendants developed the twelve tribes of Israel. Then God singled out the tribe of Judah for messiahship and eliminated eleven-twelfths of the Israelite tribes. And of all the family lines within the tribe of Judah, he chose the line of Jesse (see Isaiah 11:1-5,
NIV
). We can see the address narrowing.

Jesse had eight sons, and in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 and Jeremiah 23:5 God eliminated seven-eighths of Jesse’s family line by choosing Jesse’s son David. So, in terms of lineage, the Messiah must be born of the seed of a woman, the lineage of Shem, the race of the Jews, the line of Isaac, the line of Jacob, the tribe of Judah, the family of Jesse, and the house of David.

What Do You Think?

Have you ever explored your ancestry? Did you discover any interesting information about your family? Do you know anything about Jesus’ ancestry? What do you find the most interesting about it?

In Micah 5:2 God eliminated all the cities of the world and selected Bethlehem, with a population of less than one thousand people, as the Messiah’s birthplace.

Then through a series of prophecies he even defined the time period that would set this man apart. For example, Malachi 3:1 and four other Old Testament verses require the Messiah to come while the Temple of Jerusalem is still standing (see Psalm 118:26; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 11:13; Haggai 2:7-9).
¹
This is of great significance when we realize that the Temple was destroyed in
AD
70 and has not since been rebuilt.

Isaiah 7:14 adds that Christ will be born of a virgin. A natural birth of unnatural conception was a criterion beyond human planning and control. Several prophecies recorded in Isaiah and the Psalms describe the social climate and response that God’s man will encounter: His own people, the Jews, will reject him, and the Gentiles will believe in him (see Psalms 22:7-8; 118:22; Isaiah 8:14; 49:6; 50:6; 52:13-15). He will have a forerunner, a voice in the wilderness, one preparing the way before the Lord, a John the Baptist (see Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1).

Notice how one passage in the New Testament (Matthew 27:3-10) refers to certain Old Testament prophecies that narrow down Christ’s address even further. Matthew describes the events brought about by the actions of Judas after he betrayed Jesus. Matthew points out that these events were predicted in passages from the Old Testament (see Psalm 41:9; Zechariah 11:12-13).
²
In these passages God indicates that the Messiah will (1) be betrayed, (2) by a friend, (3) for thirty pieces of silver, and that the money will be (4) cast on the floor of the Temple. Thus the address becomes even more specific.

A prophecy dating from 1012
BC
also predicts that this man’s hands and feet will be pierced and that he will be crucified (see Psalm 22:6-18; Zechariah 12:10; Galatians 3:13). This description of the manner of his death was written eight hundred years before the Romans used crucifixion as a method of execution.

The precise lineage; the place, time, and manner of birth; people’s reactions; the betrayal; the manner of death—these are merely a fraction of the hundreds of details that make up the “address” to identify God’s Son, the Messiah, the Savior of the world.

Were These Fulfilled Prophecies Coincidental?

A critic could claim, “Why, you could find some of these prophecies fulfilled in Abraham Lincoln, Anwar Sadat, John F. Kennedy, Mother Teresa, or Billy Graham.”

Yes, I suppose one could possibly find one or two prophecies coincident to other people, but not all sixty major prophecies and 270 ramifications. In fact, for years, the Christian Victory Publishing Company of Denver offered a one-thousand-dollar reward to anyone who could find any person other than Jesus, either living or dead, who could fulfill only half of the messianic predictions outlined in the book
Messiah in Both Testaments
by Fred John Meldau. They got no takers.

What Do You Think?

How likely do you think it is for one person to literally fulfill so many ancient predictions that were said hundreds of years before the person was born? How is it possible that Jesus did?

Could one person fulfill all of the Old Testament prophecies? In their book
Science Speaks,
Peter Stoner and Robert Newman did calculations to analyze that probability. Writing in the foreword to that book, H. Harold Hartzler of the American Scientific Affiliation says:

The manuscript for
Science Speaks
has been carefully reviewed by a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation members and by the Executive Council of the same group and has been found, in general, to be dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented. The mathematical analysis included is based upon principles of probability which are thoroughly sound, and Professor Stoner has applied these principles in a proper and convincing way.
³

The following probabilities show that coincidence is ruled out. Stoner says that by applying the science of probability to eight prophecies, “we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10
¹⁷
[10 to the 17th power].”
⁴
That is one in 100,000,000,000,000,000. To help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that

we take 10
¹⁷
silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar, and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.

Now these prophecies were either given by inspiration of God or the prophets just wrote them as they thought they should be. In such a case the prophets had just one chance in 10
¹⁷
of having them come true in any man, but they all came true in Christ.

This means that the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of those prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only one chance of 10
¹⁷
of being absolute.
⁵

Another Objection

Some claim that Jesus deliberately attempted to fulfill the Jewish prophecies. This objection seems plausible until we realize that many details of the Messiah’s coming were totally beyond human control. One example is the place of his birth. When Herod asked the chief priests and scribes where the Christ was to be born, they replied, “In Bethlehem . . . for this is what the prophet wrote” (Matthew 2:5). It would be foolish to think that as Mary and Joseph traveled to the predicted town, Jesus, in his mother’s womb, said, “Mom, you’d better hurry or we won’t make it.”

Half the prophecies were beyond Christ’s control to fulfill: the manner of his birth; his betrayal by Judas and the betrayal price; the manner of his death; the people’s reaction, the mocking and spitting, the staring; the casting of dice for his clothes and the soldiers’ hesitance to tear his garment. Furthermore, Christ couldn’t cause himself to be born of the seed of a woman, in the lineage of Shem, descending from Abraham, and all of the other events that led to his birth. It’s no wonder Jesus and the apostles appealed to fulfilled prophecy to substantiate his claim that he was the Son of God.

What Do You Think?

Of the three key evidences offered in this book—the reliability of the Bible, the historical evidence for the Resurrection, and fulfilled prophecy—which do you find most convincing? Why?

Why did God go to all this trouble? I believe he wanted Jesus Christ to have all the credentials he needed when he came into the world. Yet one of the most exciting things about Jesus is that he came to change lives. He alone proved correct the hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that described his coming. And he alone can fulfill the greatest prophecy of all for those who will accept it—the promise of new life: “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you” (Ezekiel 36:26). “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Chapter 12: Isn’t There Some Other Way?

During a lecture series at the University of Texas, a graduate student approached me and asked, “Why is Jesus the only way to a relationship with God?” I had shown that Jesus claimed to be the only way to God, that the testimony of the Scriptures and the apostles was reliable, and that there was sufficient evidence to warrant faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Yet the student still had questions: “Why Jesus only? Isn’t there some other way to God?” Strangely, like this young man, people continually look for alternatives. “What about Buddha? Muhammad? Can’t a person simply live a good life? If God is such a loving God, then won’t he accept all people just the way they are?”

These questions are typical of what I often hear. In today’s open climate, people seem offended by the exclusive claims that Jesus is the only way to God and the only source of forgiveness of sin and salvation. This attitude shows that many people simply don’t understand the nature of God. We can see the core of their misunderstanding in the question they usually ask: “How can a loving God allow anyone to go to hell?” I often turn the question around and ask, “How can a holy, just, and righteous God allow a sinful person into his presence?” Most people understand God to be a loving God, but they don’t go any further. He is not only a God of love but also a God who is righteous, just, and holy. He cannot tolerate sin in his heaven any more than you would tolerate a filthy, foul-smelling, diseased dog to live in your home. This misunderstanding about the basic nature and character of God is the cause of many theological and ethical problems.

What Do You Think?

How would you describe God? Where did your ideas of God originate? Is there anything about Jesus that surprises you, that doesn’t seem to fit a description of God?

Basically, we know God through his attributes. However, his attributes are not parts of him in the same way that the attributes you have adopted are parts of you. You may realize it is good to be courteous and adopt this attribute as a part of your overall makeup. With God it works the other way around. God’s attributes, his very being, include such qualities as holiness, love, justice, and righteousness. For example, goodness is not a part of God but rather something that is true of God’s very nature. God’s attributes have their source in who God is. He didn’t adopt them to make up his nature; they flow from his nature. So when we say God is love, we don’t mean that a part of God is love but that love is an attribute that is innately true of God. When God loves, he is not making a decision; he is simply being himself.

Here’s the problem as it relates to us: If God’s nature is love, how can he possibly send anyone to hell? The answer in a nutshell is that God doesn’t send people to hell; they go because of their own choices. To explain, we must go all the way back to Creation. The Bible indicates that God created man and woman so he could share his love and glory with them. But Adam and Eve chose to rebel and go their own way. They left God’s love and protection, contaminating themselves with that self-willed, grasping, prideful nature we call sin. Because God dearly loved the man and woman—even after they spurned him—he wanted to reach out to them and save them from the deadly path they had chosen. But God faced a dilemma. Because God is not only loving but also holy, righteous, and just, sin cannot survive in his presence. His very holy, just, and righteous nature would destroy the sinful couple. This is why the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). So how could God resolve this dilemma and save the man and woman?