The Evidence

Over 2000 years ago an individual was born to humble parents in the lowliest of surroundings who was destined to change the course of the entire world. None would have guessed as they saw two peasants inquiring at first one inn and then another if there was any room. No one would have thought of looking in a barn for a man who was destined to change the course of the world forever. No one would have guessed when the carpenter’s shop was reopened in the obscure village of Nazareth that the young boy working inside would be a name loved or hated by virtually every single person on the earth for two thousand years, yet this is exactly what has taken place.

Whether a person believes the claims of Jesus of Nazareth or not, one has to acknowledge the mammoth impact that He has had upon the world. He introduced a new religion which spread faster and farther than any other religion in history. His estimated date of birth has been used by chronologists around the world to divide the millennia we call BC and AD. Today two thousand years after his birth, almost half the world (over three billion—Christians and Muslims) believes that He was a teacher sent from God and the largest religion in the world today (Christianity—Protestants and Catholics, etc.) believe that He is the Son of God.

We have first hand accounts of his life. These accounts are eyewitness accounts, the strongest evidence in a court of law. We have historical statements by his enemies verifying his existence and life. We have contemporary historians who have mentioned and collaborated the accounts of his defenders. There is no question to the candid historian, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was a real, historical person. Despite the strength of this evidence, this is not the evidence demanding a verdict. The evidence demanding a verdict relates not to historical accounts, but to predictions hundreds of years before his birth. We will now turn to some of the most compelling evidence and prophecies on record—evidence that demands a verdict.

The Center of Prophecy

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

II Peter 1:16, 19 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty… And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Luke 24:25-27, 44 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scripture the things concerning Himself… Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”

When Jesus appeared to His disciples after He had risen from the dead, He wanted their faith to be founded in something stronger than mere excitement. He knew that if their faith was to stand through the many tests ahead of them, their faith had to be founded in the Word of God. So that their faith would rest in this never failing anchor, He went through all the Scriptures showing the prophecies of Himself. He proved undeniably that He was the theme of all the Old Testament Scriptures, and how much more for the New Testament? Just like Jesus showed to His disciples, if we are studying prophecy correctly, we are going to find that the theme through the entire Bible is none other than Jesus Himself. Jesus is the theme of prophecy.

Daniel 2:34, 35 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

I Corinthians 10:4 And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Beginning in Daniel 2, Jesus is pictured as the theme. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream a stone was seen striking and shattering that great image. What was that stone, which became a great mountain and filled the entire earth? It was none other than Christ. Christ is going to come and crush all the kingdoms of this world and set up His everlasting kingdom. And so we can see that Jesus is the theme of that prophecy in Daniel 2. Jesus is the theme of the prophecies in Daniel 7, 8, 9, and all the way through to the last chapter in Revelation. He’s pictured as the Rock in Daniel 2, and as the coming king in Revelation 22, the last chapter in the Bible.

The Promised Messiah

While Jesus is the grand theme of all prophecy, there is one prophecy that is solely devoted to Jesus’ life, mission and work. This is one of my favorite prophecies, because it is so crystal clear. It is through this prophecy that we can know without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and that He is the one to whom all the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments point. This is a prophecy that pinpoints the exact time that the Messiah was to appear. When we see that Jesus came at exactly the specified time, there can be no doubt that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah of the Old Testament and the Redeemer of the world of the New Testament.

Daniel 9:24, 25 Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the streets shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.”

A Prophetic Day = A Year

Ezekiel 4:6 And when you have completed them, lie again, on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.

Numbers 14:34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.

When Does the Vision Begin?

Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.

The entire prophecy was to extend for seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety literal years. (70 weeks x 7 days in a week = 490 prophetic days = 490 years) But the focus of the prophecy was when the Messiah was to appear. There were to be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, or four hundred and eighty-three literal years. (7 weeks + 62 weeks = 69 weeks x 7 days in a week = 483 prophetic days = 483 years) The Messiah was to appear and be anointed to His mission (“messiah” is a Hebrew word meaning “anointed one,” like “christ” in the Greek) four hundred and eighty-three years from the beginning of this prophecy.

When did the prophetic clock begin ticking? “Know therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem.” (vs. 25) A decree was to be given that would mark the beginning of this prophecy. It was a decree that was to both restore and build the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was at this time in ruins. Because of the disobedience of the Jewish people, their city and sanctuary had been destroyed and they were taken as captives to the heathen nation of Babylon. God had born long with His people, but the time came that disobedience had to be punished. God longed for His people to love and follow Him, but they had spurned His mercy. He had sent prophet after prophet, but they had rejected each one, and now their city was in ruins as a result of their disobedience. But that was to change. A decree was going to be given that would restore Jerusalem as a temporal city and to rebuild it. (The giving of the decree and the time that it was to be given has already been prophesied by the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 44:28; Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10)

Ezra 6:14 So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

Ezra 7:7, 8 Some of the children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

Ezra 7:21, 24-26 And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the region beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently… Also we inform you that it shall not be lawful to impose tax, tribute, or custom on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God. And you, Ezra, according to your God-given wisdom, set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are in the region beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach those who do not know them. Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether it be death, or banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.

God has made sure that the decree starting the prophecy was recorded in His Holy Word (you can read the entire decree in Ezra 7:11-26). While there were actually three decrees given, only one met both the prerequisites of restoring Jerusalem to power and rebuilding it. The third and final decree by Artaxerxes, king of Persia, alone fulfilled the specifications of the prophecy of Daniel 9. This decree took effect in the fifth month of the seventh year of his reign. (Ezra 7:8) By researching the history books it can be found that the first year of Artaxerxes was 464 BC, thus his seventh year would have been 457 BC. Artaxerxes’ first year started in the spring and so the fifth month would have been in the fall of 457 BC.

In order, then, to discover the exact year that the Messiah was to appear, all one needs to do is add 483 years (the amount of time from the start of the prophecy to when the Messiah was to appear) to 457 BC. (Since 457 is BC, you treat it as a negative number and are actually subtracting it from 483.) This brings us down to AD 26. (483 – 457 = 26) There was one slight problem, though. Since the chronologists did not include a zero year (they went from 1 BC to AD 1), we must add one year to make the math calculations come out correctly. The actual date that terminates the sixty-nine weeks would then be the fall of AD 27. (26 + 1 = 27) AD 27 was the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. (He began jointly reigning with his father, Augustus Caesar, in AD 12.) Did anything significant take place in AD 27, the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar?

Jesus Appears – Exactly on Time

Luke 3:1-3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Luke 3:21, 22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, “You are my beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

Acts 10:37, 38 That word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Mark 1:15 And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel.”

In the fall of AD 27, the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, Jesus was baptized, and at His baptism God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit proclaiming “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  After Jesus baptism and anointing to His mission, Jesus went through Judea proclaiming that the time had been fulfilled. What time could have been fulfilled? It could only have been the time pointing to when  the Messiah was to be anointed in Daniel 9. Jesus was anointed to His mission as the Messiah at exactly the time foretold five hundred years previous. When we realize this, there can be no doubt that Jesus, alone, fulfills and is the theme of all the prophecies.

The Messiah – Cut Off

Daniel 9:26 And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself, and the people of the Prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, until the end of the war desolations are determined.

Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

Daniel 9:27 Then He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.

Hebrews 10: 5, 6, 10 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared fro Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure”… By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

This fascinating prophecy does not end with Jesus’ anointing as the Messiah. It portrays the last thing that the Jewish people wanted, a suffering Messiah. The Jews had misinterpreted the prophecies until they believed that the Messiah was going to be a conquering king who was to break the Roman yoke and exalt the Israelite nation on high. They wanted to be set free from the Roman power, but they did not want to be set free from sin in their hearts. They interpreted the prophecies to fit into their hopes and desires rather than allowing the Bible to interpret itself. The priests applied the prophecies of Jesus’ second coming to His first coming and thereby led most of the Jewish people to reject their King. That tactic worked so well, that the devil is employing the same scheme today. He gets the religious leaders to apply the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming to His second coming. We will see just how he is doing this and how many are being deceived today.

The prophecy predicted that the Messiah was to be “cut off”—“cut off from the land of the living.” The Messiah was to die for the sins of His people. It does not just tell us that He was to die, but it tells exactly when He was to die. We read “in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.” vs. 27. Jesus brought an end to sacrifice by sacrificing His life for us. No longer do we need to offer sacrifices for Jesus brought an end to that by His death. It was in the middle of the week. This was the last, or seventieth week, of the prophecy. Half of one week would be three and a half, so it was three and a half years (3 ½ prophetic days = 3 ½ years) after Jesus began His mission that He was to die a sacrificial death for all mankind. Through the gospels we can trace three and a half years of ministry culminating at Jesus death on the Passover day of AD 31, exactly three and a half years after the fall of AD 27.

Not only was Jesus anointed exactly 483 years (69 prophetic weeks) after the decree was given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, but He was also crucified exactly three and a half years after beginning His ministry, once again exactly fulfilling the prophecy. When studying this prophecy there can be no doubt in our minds, Jesus is the only One Who could possibly be the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. He came at exactly the time foretold. He died at exactly the time predicted. We indeed have a sure word of prophecy and can be certain that Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. This is not the only prophecy that Jesus fulfilled. Remember, He is the theme. He fulfills all prophecy.

The Prince of Prophecy

Genesis 3:15 And 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.

The first prophecy of Jesus ever given, predicted that from the seed of a woman would come One who was to break the power of the serpent, or the devil. We see that Jesus fulfilled that exactly by being “born of a woman.” Galatians 4:4.

Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

Everyone knows the story of Bethlehem: How because of a decree by Caesar Augustus, Joseph and Mary made the trek to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born an innocent babe in the manger. It had to be this way, so that Jesus could fulfill this amazing prophecy. The really amazing thing about this verse is that it says that Jesus was equal with God; He was one with God for all eternity. And the One Who was one with God and equal with God for all eternity came and was born in a manger for us, in fulfillment of the prophecy. Amazing love!

Isaiah 61:1, 2 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.

Jesus always did good. He fed the five thousand; He healed the sick; He brought comfort to the weary, just like the prophecy had foretold.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him.

Even though, throughout His life He was constantly living for others, being a blessing to those around Him, He was despised and rejected. That is one of the hardest things for humanity to bear, being rejected. In John 1:11 [1025], it says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” He was rejected all throughout His life.

Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is my Companion.’”Says the Lord of Hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones.”

Even the  agony of Gethsemane was a fulfillment of prophecy. The One who was one with God, the One who was equal with God, the One who was the Lord of Hosts’ Companion, was separated from God. God’s love, His light, His presence, was withdrawn from our Savior. For eternity we will be studying out this mystery of redeeming love.

Psalms 41:9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

Immediately after the terrible, excruciating experience of Gethsemane, in comes one of His own disciples, one of His closest friends, and betrays Him with a kiss. Can you imagine the agony of that? Jesus, by one of His closest friends, one of the men that were with Him for three and a half years, ate with Him, worked with Him, day in and day out, betrayed Him in fulfillment of prophecy.

Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

He was treated as a base criminal. Jesus, the life giver, the One who had always been doing good, was bound and treated as a murderer and a thief. He was treated like you and I deserve, that we might be treated like He deserves! They put the crown of thorns upon His brow. He was lashed with the Roman whip, not just a lashing like we might have had when we were disobedient children. That Roman lash was enough to kill a person. Thirty-nine times it tore into the body of the sufferer, frequently the entire back was just raw meat. Jesus chose to go through that for you and for me.

Psalms 22:16 For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet.

He was brought before Pilot, and Pilot said, “I find no fault in this Man.” (Luke 23:4) But His own people, the ones He came to save, cried “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Can you imagine that? Probably as Jesus looked out into that crowd, He saw people that He had healed. He saw the people to whom He had preached the gospel of the kingdom. But as He looked over the throng, they were crying, “Crucify!” He chose to do that for us, in fulfillment of prophecy. Prophecy had foretold this very thing: the Creator standing there, and the created mocking Him, jesting, laughing at Him. That is the love that Jesus has for us. They pierced His hands and His feet. Can you imagine, those hands that had fed the five thousand once and four thousand another time, those hands that had touched the blind and made them to see, that had loosed the tongue of the dumb, that had opened the ears of the deaf, those hands that had brought life had cruel nails driven through them? Instead of writhing in agony and pain, He said, “Father, forgive them.” He was between heaven and earth, apparently forsaken by both, and He did it all that we might be saved.

Psalms 22:6-8, 18 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”... They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”

They gambled over His clothes, they scorned Him, and said, “He saved others; let Him save Himself. Then we will believe.” And it all had been foretold centuries before.

Psalms 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?

Finally that heart-rending cry was heard, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Sin was so deep, so broad, so black, that it looked as if God had forsaken Jesus. Yet He chose to endure that we might have life through Him. Amazing love!

As we look at Jesus—as we look at Him as the Theme of all prophecy—we must come to a decision in our lives. Jesus did not just endure this awful agony so that we could read the story to our children at night. Jesus suffered and bled and died, not just for the world, He died for me. He died for my sins. It was my sins that nailed Him to that tree. It was for me; He took my place. Jesus did all this that we might have a chance, that we might have a second chance to receive that eternal inheritance that He has provided for us, and all that He asks of us is: “My son, give me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26) Do you want to choose to give Jesus your heart? He is the theme of prophecy. He is the only One that fulfilled all the prophecies. There is none other. As Peter says in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” But we must choose to accept Him as our Savior from sin and the Lord of our life, to follow Him wherever He leads us. That is the choice that I want to make, to follow Jesus wherever He leads me. Whatever He asks me to do, I want to do—just look at what He has done for me. Perhaps you have made the decision before. Even if you have, will you make that choice to recommit your life to Him, that whatever He wants you to do, you will do it; wherever He wants you to go, you will go, that very soon we may follow Him to that place He is preparing for us. What is your decision?