19. Does Prophecy Confirm Jesus as Messiah?
Does Prophecy Confirm Jesus as Messiah?
So important is prediction to the very nature of the Bible that it is estimated that it involves 27 percent of the Bible. God certainly is the Lord of the future.
WALTER C. KAISER, JR.
It’s often been stated that the Old Testament contains some three hundred prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during His coming. The precise number varies among scholars, but the number is huge.
To help understand the significance of Jesus’s fulfillment of these prophecies, Peter Stoner offers this widely known example in his book Science Speaks. To be especially conservative, Stoner calculated the chances of Jesus fulfilling only eight prophecies. Stoner claims that the odds of this happening are 1 in 1017 power. That would be 1 chance in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (17 zeros after the one). That’s a number so mind-boggling that it’s impossible to grasp apart from an illustration.
Stoner provides one by having us envision 1017 silver dollars spread out over the entire state of Texas. The amount is so vast that the silver dollars would cover the state of Texas two feet deep. Now mark one of the silver dollars and stir them all up. Then blindfold a man and let him know that he can go wherever he wishes, but he’s only allowed to pick one silver dollar out of the entire mass of silver dollars covering the state of Texas. What are the chances of him picking up the marked silver dollar? The same chance that the prophets had of writing out just eight prophecies that would be actualized in Jesus. Astonishing! If that’s not convincing, I’m not sure what is.
This not only validates Jesus as the Messiah, but it also gives credence to the credibility of God’s inspired Word (Matthew 5:17). If the odds of fulfilling eight prophecies seem staggering, imagine the math on roughly three hundred prophecies.
Thought to Ponder
A great way to put doubt to rest is to ponder the odds of fulfilled prophecy in Scripture.
Memory Verse
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).
Question to Consider
How can learning some of these prophecies both encourage your faith and make you more effective in sharing the gospel with nonbelievers?
One-Minute Apologist Video
Bobby Conway, “Does Prophecy Confirm Jesus Is the Messiah?”