01.00.5. Introduction

The Greatest Miracle in Print: the Record of ^{MESSIAH in Both Testaments}

"To HIM give all the prophets witness" (Acts 10:43). "In the volume of the Book it is written of Me" (Psalms 40:7; Hebrews 10:7).

INTRODUCTION

"THE MOST AMAZING DRAMA that ever was presented to the mind of man-a drama written in prophecy in the Old Testament and in biography in the four Gospels-is the narrative of Jesus the Christ. One outstanding fact, among many, completely isolates HIM. It is this: that one Man only in the history of the world has had explicit details given beforehand of His birth, life, death and resurrection; that these details are in documents given to the public centuries before He appeared, and that no one challenges, or can challenge, that these documents were widely circulated long before His birth; and that anyone and everyone can compare for himself the actual records of His life with those old documents, and find that they match one another to a nicety. The challenge of this pure miracle is that it happened concerning one Man only in the whole history of the world" (D. M. Panton).* [*Scores of other Bible students have called attention to this same amazing fact. We quote from one more. Canon Dyson Hague. He says: "Centuries before Christ was born His birth and career, His sufferings and glory, were all described in outline and detail in the Old Testament. Christ is the only Person ever born into this world whose ancestry, birth-time, forerunner, birth-place, birth-manner, infancy, manhood, teaching, character, career, preaching, reception, rejection, death, burial, resurrection and ascension were all prewritten in the most marvelous manner centuries before He was born."

"Who could draw a picture of a man not yet born? Surely God, and God alone. Nobody knew 600 years ago that Shakespeare was going to be born; or 250 years ago that Napoleon was to be born. Yet here in the Bible we have the most striking and unmistakable likeness of a Man portrayed, not by one, but by twenty or twenty-five artists, none of whom had ever seen the Man they were painting."] To focus attention on the unparalleled wonder of this literary miracle, think for a moment: who could have prewritten a life of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, or any other character, five hundred years before he was born? No where in any of the literature of the world, secular or religious, can one find a duplicate to the astounding miracle of the pre-written life of Christ. "The inspiration of that portrait came from the Heavenly Gallery, and not from the studio of an earthly artist" (A. T. Pierson). So amazing is this miracle of the pre-written life of Christ and its perfect fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth that "Nothing but Divine prescience could have foreseen it, and nothing but Divine power could accomplish it." As the full evidence is presented, all thoughtful readers will agree that "the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

Four Great Truths Demonstrated by This Fact With no variations or aberrations between the Old Testament predictions of the coming Messiah and the New Testament fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth, one instinctively leaps to the conclusion that "the Hand that drew the Image in prophecy moulded the Portrait in history"; and the inevitable conclusion to this miracle is fourfold:

(1) It proves that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, for unaided man is neither capable of writing nor fulfilling such a literary wonder.

(2) It proves that the God of the Bible, the only One who knows the end from the beginning, and who alone has the power to fulfill all His word, is the true and living God.

(3) It demonstrates that the God of the Bible is both all-knowing to be able to foretell the future entwined around numberless men who are free moral agents, and all-powerful, to be able to bring to pass a perfect fulfillment of His word in the midst of widespread unbelief, ignorance and rebellion on the part of men.

(4) It demonstrates that the Person, Jesus of Nazareth, who so perfectly and completely fulfilled all the Old Testament predictions, is indeed the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, the Son of the Living God.

Christ Is the Center of History So CHRIST is seen to be the center of all history as well as the central theme of the Bible. "The Christ of the New Testament is the fruit of the tree of prophecy, and Christianity is the realization of a plan, the first outlines of which were sketched more than 1500 years before."* (*David Baron, in Rays of Messiah’s Glory, p. 14.) Fulfilled Prophecy Is Unique to the Bible The fact of fulfilled prophecy is found in the Bible alone; hence, it presents proof of Divine inspiration that is positive, conclusive, overwhelming. Here is the argument in brief: no man, unaided by Divine inspiration, foreknows the future, for it is an impenetrable wall, a true "iron curtain," to all mankind. Only an almighty and an all-knowing God can infallibly predict the future. If then one can find true prophecy (as one does in the Bible), with definite fulfillment, with sufficient time intervening between the prediction and the fulfillment, and with explicit details in the prediction to assure that the prophecies are not clever guesses, then the case is perfect and unanswerable. Remember, there were 400 years between the last of the Messianic predictions of the Old Testament and their fulfillment in the Christ of the Gospels.^* Many prophecies are of course much older than 400 B. C. During the period of 1100 years, from the age of Moses (1500 B.C.) to that of Malachi (400 B.C.), a succession of prophets arose, Messianic prediction took form, and all of them testified of the Messiah who was to come. (^*The perfect proof of the long period of time that elapsed between the last book of the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament is the presence in the world of the SEPTUAGINT, a translation of the Old Testament into Greek about 200 B.C. This translation was begun in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 280 B.C. and was completed not long after. With a TRANSLATION of the entire Old Testament, as we now know it, made over 200 years B.C., it is obvious that the books of the Old Testament from which the translation was made are still older.

It is well to remember also that there were no prophets in the 400-year inter-testament period. In 1Ma 9:27 we are told of the "great affliction in Israel, such as there was not since the day that a prophet was not seen among them." Intense regret over the lack of a prophet merged into an intense longing for the coming again of prophets, so that even in their public actions men were careful to claim validity for their legislation only until a faithful prophet should again rise. (See 1Ma 14:41; 1Ma 4:46.) So minute and so voluminous are these Old Testament predictions and so complete is their fulfillment in the New Testament, that Dr. A. T. Pierson says, "There would be no honest infidel in the world were Messianic prophecy studied . . . nor would there be any doubting disciples if this fact of prediction and fulfillment were fully understood." "And," he continues, "the sad fact is, we have yet to meet the first honest skeptic or critic who has carefully studied the prophecies which center in Christ" (Many Infallible Proofs). Here indeed is "God’s Rock of Ages, faith’s unshakable standing place."

"Prophecy" Is God’s Own Method of Proving His Truth The teachings of the Bible are so peculiar and different from all other religions, and so important-telling us that man’s eternal destiny, for weal or woe, depends on his acceptance of the Christ of the Bible-that we have the right to know whether the Bible is or is not a Heavenly Decree, the absolute and final Word of God, whether its message is fully authorized by the Almighty. If God has given a revelation of His will in the Bible, there can be no doubt that in some unmistakable way He will show men that the Bible is indeed His revealed will; and the way He has chosen to show men that the Bible is His Word is a way that all men of average intelligence can understand; and that way is through the giving and through the fulfillment of specific, detailed prophecies. It is the Divine seal, letting all men know that He has spoken. This seal can never be counterfeited, affixed to the Truth which it attests-for His foreknowledge of the actions of free and intelligent agents, men, is one of the most "incomprehensible attributes of Deity and is exclusively a Divine per­fection."* (*Evidences of Prophecy, by Alexander Keith: p. 8.) In challenging the false gods of Isaiah’s time, the true God said:

"Produce your cause bring forth your strong reasons show us what shall happen declare us things for to come. Show us things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods" (Isaiah 41:21-23).

There are false faiths like Mohammedanism and Buddhism that have tried to prop up their claims on pretended miracles, but neither these, nor any other religion in the history of the world, except the Bible, have ever ventured to frame prophecies.

It is the peculiar "glory" of the Almighty, the all-knowing God, who is "the Lord, the Creator" (Isaiah 40:28) to "declare new things before they spring forth" (Isaiah 42:8-9) and that glory He will not share with another (Isaiah 42:8). The true God alone foreknows and foretells the future. And He has chosen to confine his foretelling to the pages of Scripture."* Though there are many other subjects of Divine Prophecy in the Bible-such as the Jews, the Gentile nations that surrounded Israel, ancient cities, the Church, the last days, etc., the divine perfections of foreknowledge and fulfillment can be seen better in the realm of prophecies concerning Christ than in any other sphere. (*Many have made an effort to foretell the future-not one, outside the Bible, has ever succeeded. "The extreme difficulty of framing a prophecy which shall prove accurate, may be seen in that familiar but crude rhyme known as ’Mother Shipton’s Prophecy’. Some years ago it appeared as a pretended relic of a remote day, and claimed to have predicted the invention of the steam locomotive, the rise of D’Israeli in English politics, etc., etc. . . . For years I tried to unearth and expose what seemed to me a huge imposture, and I succeeded. . . . I traced the whole thing to one Charles Hindley (of England) who acknowledged himself the author of this prophetic hoax, which was written in 1862 instead of 1448, and palmed off on a credulous public. It is one of the startling proofs of human perversity that the very people who will try to cast suspicion on prophecies two thousand years old, will, without straining, swallow a forgery that was first published AFTER the events it predicted, and will not even look into its claim to antiquity. "(Dr. A. T. Pierson, pp. 44, 45, in Many Infallible Proofs.) Here is the clear statement that God alone, in the Bible alone, gave true prophecies:

"I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND AND I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE" (Isaiah 45:9-10). (The appeal by God that He alone can give and fulfill prophecy, and that it is to be found alone in the Bible, is found in many places in the Bible. See 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Deuteronomy 18:21-22; Isaiah 41:21-23; Jeremiah 28:9; John 13:19, etc.)

Sensing the tremendous force of this fact, Justin Martyr said, "To declare a thing shall come to pass long before it is in being, and to bring it to pass, this or nothing is the work of God."

"Chance Fulfillment" of Prophecy Is Ruled Out

Desperate atheists and other unbelievers, seeking a way to circumvent the fact of fulfilled prophecy and its connotations, have argued that the fulfillments were "accidental," "chance," or "co-incidental." But when a number of details are given the "chance" fulfillment of prophecy is ruled out. One writer says, "It is conceivable that a prediction, uttered at a venture, and expressing what in a general way may happen to result, may seem like a genuine prophecy. But only let the prophecy give several DETAILS of time, place and accompanying incidents and it is evident that the possibility of a chance fulfillment, by a ’fortuitous concurrence of events,’ will become extremely desperate-yea, altogether impossible. Hence the prophecies of heathen antiquity always took good care to confine their predictions to one or two particulars and to express them in the most general and ambiguous terms. Therefore, in the whole range of history, except the prophecies of Scripture, there is not a single instance of a prediction, expressed in unequivocal language, and descending to any minuteness, which bears the slightest claim to fulfillment. ’Suppose,’ says Dr. Olinthus Gregory, ’that there were only 50 prophecies in the Old Testament (instead of 333) concerning the first advent of Christ, giving details of the coming Messiah and all meet in the person of Jesus . . . the probability of chance fulfillment as calculated by mathematicians according to the theory of probabilities, is less than one in 1,125,000,000,000,000. Now add only two more elements to these 50 prophecies, and fix the TIME and the PLACE at which they must happen and the immense improbability that they will take place by chance exceeds all the power of numbers to express (or the mind of man to grasp). This is enough, one would think, to silence for ever all pleas for chance as furnishing an unbeliever the least opportunity of escape from the evidence of prophecy.’ (Gregory’s Letters)."* (*Evidences of Prophecy, by Alexander Keith; p. 8.)

Let it be further observed that many of the prophecies about Messiah are of such a nature that only God could fulfill them, such as His virgin birth, His sinless and holy character, His resurrection and His ascension. Only GOD could cause Jesus "to be born of a virgin or be raised from the dead" (David Baron). THE COMING MESSIAH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT there is a definite, clear and continuous teaching that "Messiah will come." Dozens of times we read such promises as "Behold thy King cometh unto thee" (Zechariah 9:9); "the Lord God will come" (Isaiah 40:10); "the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple" (Malachi 3:1); "the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee" (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) who will be the Lord’s "fellow" (equal) (Zechariah 13:7). Daniel predicted the coming of "Messiah the Prince" at a set time (Daniel 9:26-27), and Isaiah foretold of the "rod out of the stem of Jesse" (Isaiah 11:1) on whom the Lord would "lay the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53). Prophets and Seers of old often spoke of the time when "the Desire of all Nations" would come (Haggai 2:7). (See also Isaiah 35:4; Genesis 49:10; Numbers 24:17; Psalms 118:26; Psalms 2:5-6; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Isaiah 62:11; Genesis 3:15, etc.).

Christ’s Coming Is the Central Theme of the Bible The coming of Christ, promised in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New-His birth, character, work, teachings, His sufferings, death and resurrection-are the grand, central themes of the Bible. Christ is the bond that ties the two Testaments together. The Old Testament is in the New revealed, the New Testament is in the Old concealed. The Average Bible Reader Can Understand

"The most ordinary reader," says A. T. Pierson, "may examine the old curious predictions of the Messiah’s person and work found in the Old Testament, follow the gradual progress of these revelations from Genesis to Malachi, and trace the prophecies as they descend into details more and more specific and minute, until at last the full figure of the Coming One stands out. Then, with this image clearly fixed in his mind’s eye, he may turn to the New Testament and beginning with Matthew, see how the historic personage, Jesus of Nazareth, corresponds and coincides in every particular with the prophetic personage depicted by the prophets. . . . There is not a difference or a divergence, yet there could have been no collusion or contact between the prophets of the Old Testament and the narrators of the New Testament. Observe, the reader has not gone out of the Bible itself. He has simply compared two portraits; one in the Old Testament of a mysterious Coming one, another is in the New of One who has actually come; and his irresistible conclusion is that these two blend in absolute unity." A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PROPHECIES

Let us briefly trace a few of the outstanding points in the comparison of Old Testament prediction and New Testament fulfillment. The work of redemption was to be accomplished by One Person, the Central figure in both Testaments, the promised Messiah. As the "Seed of the woman" (Genesis 3:15) He was to bruise Satan’s head (Galatians 4:4). As the "Seed of Abraham" (Genesis 22:18 with Galatians 3:16) and the "Seed of David" (Psalms 132:11; Jeremiah 23:5 with Acts 13:23) He was to come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10 with Hebrews 7:14).

He must come at a specified time (Genesis 49:10; Daniel 9:24-25 with Luke 2:1), be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14 with Matthew 1:18-23), at Bethlehem of Judea (Micah 5:2 with Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:5-6). Great persons were to visit and adore Him (Psalms 72:10 with Matthew 2:1-11). Through the rage of a jealous king, innocent children were to be slaughtered (Jeremiah 31:15 with Matthew 2:16-18).

He was to be preceded by a forerunner, John the Baptist, before entering His public ministry (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1 with Luke 1:17 and Matthew 3:1-3).

He was to be a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18 with Acts 3:20-22); have a special anointing of the Holy Spirit (Psalms 45:7; Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 61:1-2 with Matthew 3:16; Luke 4:15-21, Luke 4:43). He was to be a priest after the order of Melchizedeck (Psalms 110:4 with Hebrews 5:5-6). As the "Servant of the Lord" He was to be a faithful and patient Redeemer, for the Gentiles as well as the Jews (Isaiah 42:1-4 with Matthew 12:18-21). His ministry was to begin in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2 with Matthew 4:12, Matthew 4:16-23); later, He was to enter Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9 with Matthew 21:1-5) to bring salvation. He was to enter the temple (Haggai 2:7-9; Malachi 3:1 with Matthew 21:12). His zeal for the Lord is spoken of (Psalms 69:9 with John 2:17). His manner of teaching was to be by parables (Psalms 78:2 with Matthew 13:34-35): and His ministry was to be characterized by miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6 with Matthew 11:4-6, John 11:47). He was to be rejected by His brethren (Psalms 69:8, Isaiah 53:3 with John 1:11, John 7:5) and be a "Stone of stumbling" to the Jews and a "Rock of offense" (Isaiah 8:14 with Romans 9:32, 1 Peter 2:8).

He was to be hated without a cause (Psalms 69:4; Isaiah 49:7 with John 7:48; John 15:25), rejected by the rulers (Psalms 118:22 with Matthew 21:42, John 7:48), betrayed by a friend (Psalms 41:9; Psalms 55:12-14 with John 13:18-21), forsaken by His disciples (Zechariah 13:7 with Matthew 26:31-56), sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12 with Matthew 26:15) and His price given for the potter’s field (Zechariah 11:13 with Matthew 27:7). smitten on the cheek (Micah 5:1 with Matthew 27:30), spat on (Isaiah 50:6 with Matthew 27:30). mocked (Psalms 22:7-8 with Matthew 27:31, Matthew 27:39-44) and beaten (Psalms 50:6 cf. with Matthew 26:67; Matthew 27:26-30).* [*It is most impressive to read in parallel statements the prediction in comparison with the fulfillment. For example, compare Isaiah 50:6 with the New Testament fulfillment:

Prophecy: “I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”

Fulfillment: “Then did they spit in His face and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands” (Matthew 26:67).] His death by crucifixion is given in detail in Psalms 22:1-31; and the meaning of His death, as a substitutionary atonement, is given in Isaiah 53:1-12. His hands and His feet were to be pierced (Psalms 22:16; Zechariah 12:10 with John 19:18; John 19:37 and John 20:25); yet, not a bone of Him was to be broken (Exodus 12:46; Psalms 34:20 with John 19:33-36). He was to suffer thirst (Psalms 22:15 with John 19:28) and be given vinegar to drink (Psalms 69:21 with Matthew 27:34); and He was to be numbered with transgressors (Isaiah 53:12 with Matthew 27:38). His body was to be buried with the rich in His death (Isaiah 53:9 with Matthew 27:57-60), but was not to see corruption (Psalms 16:10 with Acts 2:31).

He was to be raised from the dead (Psalms 2:7; Psalms 16:10 with Acts 13:33), ascend to the right hand of God (Psalms 68:18 with Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9; also Psalms 110:1 with Hebrews 1:3). This bare sketch of Old Testament Messianic prophecy with its New Testament fulfillment is of course far from complete; it is merely suggestive, though we have covered many of the main points. Remember, there are actually 333 predictions concerning the Coming Messiah in the Old Testament!** (**It is valuable however to gather together as in a great museum at least some of the prophetic masterpieces scattered throughout the realm of the entire 39 books of the Old Testament, so that the reader can get a view of them in one group without having to travel laboriously throughout the hundreds of pages of the Scriptures.) THE MESSIAH WHO HAS COME Christ’s Testimony to the Fact That He Fulfilled Old Testament Prophecy The Golden Milestone in the ancient city of Rome, was the point in the old world at which the many roads, running from all directions in the Roman Empire, met and converged. So all lines of Old Testament Messianic prophecy meet in Jesus the Christ of the New Testament. Not only was the life of Christ prewritten in the Old Testament, but Jesus the Christ of the New Testament knew it and fully witnessed to that fact in the New Testament. This is a miracle in itself, and finds no parallel in the literature of the world. No other character of history-Caesar, Gladstone, Shakespeare, or any other-ever dreamed of saying of the Bible or any other book, as our Lord did, "Search the Scriptures, for they . . . testify of Me" (John 5:39). Nor has any false Christ ever appealed to fulfilled prophecy to vindicate his claims.* (*In "Rays of Messiah’s Glory," page 46, David Baron calls attention to the fact that "More than forty false Messiahs have appeared in the history of the Jewish nation," and NOT ONE OF THEM ever appealed to fulfilled prophecy to establish his claims. Rather, they bolstered their fake claims by "promises of revenge and by flatteries which gratified national vanity. And now, except to a few students of history, the remembrance of their names has perished from the earth, while Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah, who fulfilled ALL the prophecies, is worshipped by hundreds of millions.") So we face this vast truth: Christianity is NOT a new religion unconnected with the Old Testament. It is based solidly on being the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. "Christianity, with its central Figure human and Divine: Prophet, Priest and King, is nothing less than the translation of prophecy from the region of ardent belief to actual fact . . . and we see the living and organic connection between the two Dispensations and recognize it is the same God who spake in both-in the first to prepare, in the second to accomplish. . . . ’Known unto God are all His works from the beginning.’ "** Jesus calmly said, "Abraham saw My day" (John 8:56) and "Moses wrote of Me" (John 5:46). Then, to show the connection between Old Testament prediction and New Testament fulfillment. He said in His Sermon on the Mount, “I am not come to destroy the law and the prophets . . . but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17). [**E. A. Edghill in The Value of Prophecy, pp. 389, 390.] The life of Christ was unique: all was according to the Divine Pattern as given in the Old Testament. He was the "One sent" by the Father to fulfill all His will: to accomplish His work as Redeemer and to fulfill all the prophecies concerning Him (John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:14; Hebrews 10:9). In the beginning of His ministry, after reading to the people in the synagogue at Capernaum the important Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61:1-2 -when all eyes were fastened on Him-He said, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:16-21). When talking to Him at the well, the woman of Samaria said to Jesus, "I know that Messiah cometh"-all devout readers of the Old Testament knew that-"and when He is come. He will tell us all things." Then the Lord Jesus said to her, "I that speak unto thee am He" (John 4:25-26). When Peter confessed his faith in Jesus as the Messiah-"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16)-the Lord Jesus acknowledged the truth of what he had said by answering, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven (hath revealed it unto thee)" (Matthew 16:17).

He quoted from Psalm 110 to identify Himself as "Son of David"-a Messianic title-and also to prove that David called Him Lord (Matthew 22:41-46). By taking the title "Son of Man" He identified Himself with that Messianic title as used in Daniel (Daniel 7:13 with Mark 14:62; cf. also Psalm 8). By taking the title "Son of God" He identified Himself with that Messianic title as used in the Second Psalm.

He connected the blessings of salvation given to all who trust in Him with the promises of the Old Testament: "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38 RV.) Here our Lord was speaking of the fulfillment, through Him, of the type in the Feast of Tabernacles (see context, John 7:37; Leviticus 23:34-36; cf. Isaiah 12:3).

Almost everything Christ said or did had some connection with Old Testament prophecy. His miracles were in fulfillment of Old Testament predictions (Isaiah 35:5-6); His ministry was in accord with what Isaiah had predicted concerning Him (Isaiah 61:1-3; Isaiah 42:1-4; cf. Matthew 12:17-21). His sufferings and death at Jerusalem were all in accordance with what had been foretold (Psalms 22:1-31; Isaiah 53:1-12). When praising John the Baptist, Christ called attention to the fact that John was His forerunner, even as was predicted in Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1.

"For this is he (John the Baptist) of whom it is written. Behold, I send My messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee" (Matthew 11:10). And so, our Lord not only said that John came in fulfillment of prophecy, but that He, Jesus, was the One that John came to be Forerunner for! As he drew near to the cross, He said to His disciples, "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished" (Luke 18:31). On the eve of His crucifixion, He said, "this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, and He was reckoned with transgressor: for that which concerneth Me hath fulfillment" (Luke 22:37 RV). Note the word "must."

During the crucial hours of His trial, Jesus said to Peter (who was willing to defend his Master with his sword), "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall even now send Me twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scripture be fulfilled that thus it must be?" (Matthew 26:55-56). Then chiding the multitudes. He said, "Are ye come out as against a robber with swords and staves to seize Me? . . . But all this is come to pass that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled" (Matthew 26:55-56) At His trial, when the high priest put Him under oath, and asked Him, "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus answered, "I AM" (Mark 14:60-62).

Suffering on the cross, the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the One whose hands and feet were to be pierced (Psalms 22:16), according to Psalms 22:1-31, by quoting Psalms 22:1 :

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" Three of His seven sayings on the cross were in the very words of Scripture.

After His resurrection, while talking to His two disciples on the Emmaus road. He began "at Moses and all the prophets . . . and expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27). And later, when meeting with the assembled disciples. He said to them, "These are the words which I spake unto you . . . that all things MUST be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me" (Luke 24:44). Notice how the Lord on different occasions spoke of the necessity-"MUST"-of Old Testament prophecy being fulfilled in Him: necessary, because the Word of God cannot fail, and the God of the Word cannot lie, and the Son of God who ful­filled the Word cannot fail. "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). The Lord also gave His disciples, after His resurrection, the KEY that unlocks Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament: "And He said unto them. Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day (and so He began His ’glory’) and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations" (Luke 24:46-47). This great statement is perhaps a summary of His teachings during the forty days that He ministered to His disciples between His resurrection and His ascension. The Jews of His day, and to this day, looked for a triumphant, reigning Messiah, and failed to see from their own Scriptures that Christ must SUFFER for the sins of the people before entering His glory. Peter bears the same testi­mony of the witness of the Holy Spirit, through the prophets of the Old Testament, when He testified beforehand of "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow" (1 Peter 1:11). The Apostles and Writers of the New Testament Also Bear Witness that Jesus the Christ Fulfilled Old Testament Prophecies

Many modern Christians have lost-or never had-an en­lightened understanding of the genius of Christianity: that the New Testament is the fulfillment of the predictions and promises of the Old; that Jesus the Christ is the link who binds the two Testaments together. The early New Testament church writers and preachers saw this clearly and constantly pointed out the New Testament fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. When Matthew narrated the virgin birth of Christ in Matthew 1:18-25 he said it was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prediction of Messiah’s virgin birth:

"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:22-23; cf. Isaiah 7:14). When King Herod in a jealous rage slaughtered the innocent children in his vain effort to kill the Christ Child, Matthew called attention to the fact that even this gruesome murder was foreknown by God who had it written down in the Bible as a prediction that was then fulfilled (cf. Matthew 2:16-18 with Jeremiah 31:15). In dozens of places in the Gospels the evangelists infer or state that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. Peter expressed the convictions of the other disciples when he made his great confession:

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). See also Matthew 8:17; Matthew 12:17; etc.

It is neither practical nor necessary in this brief treatise to list every case in the New Testament where the writers referred to the fulfillment of some Old Testament prediction. But we do want to call attention to the fact that the main theme, not only of the Gospel of John, as stated in John 20:31, but of ALL FOUR GOSPELS, is to prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the predicted Messiah, the Son of God, the One who was to come. "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name" (John 20:31).

Paraphrased, this statement reads:

"The Gospel of John was written to offer full proof, so that you might believe it, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah that the Old Testament predicted would come, and this Messiah, this Jesus, is the Son of God. Moreover, you get eternal life through believing on Him." The gist of John’s proof in his Gospel of John is to show that Jesus has all the qualifications, the character, and the works of Messiah-Jesus fulfills all that was written of Messiah-hence He is Messiah.* (*All the apostles "laid great stress upon this argument from prophecy: it was not only the main, but almost the sole, argument employed in the New Testament . . . (They felt) it necessary to show the marvelous correspondence between the well known facts (of the life, death and resurrection of Christ) with Old Testament prophecy, in order to carry conviction to every fair mind; and so this was the common method of preaching the Gospel, the solid but simple base of argument upon which rested all appeal." (A. T. Pierson, in Many Infallible Proofs; p. 187). The backbone of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost was an argument from the Old Testament to prove to the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they with wicked hands had crucified, but whom God had raised from the dead, was the Messiah that David had written about. And that "this Jesus . . . God raise up ... and made both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:22-36). In Peter’s second sermon in the book of Acts (Acts 3:12-26) at the gate of the Temple, he climaxed and enforced his argument and appeal by saying:

"And now brethren, I know that through ignorance ye did it (rejected and killed Jesus, their Messiah), as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled.

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out..." (Acts 3:17-19).

Even in his sermon to the assembled Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, Peter said,

"To Him (Jesus) give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins" (Acts 10:43). In Paul’s sermon in the Synagogue at Antioch he said:

"And when they had fulfilled ALL that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a sepulcher. But God raised Him from the dead" (Acts 13:29-30).

Paul’s method of preaching the Gospel to the Jews is given in Acts 17:2-3 :

"And Paul, as his manner was, . . . reasoned with them out of the Scriptures (Old Testament), opening and alleging, that Christ (Messiah) must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that THIS JESUS, whom I preach unto you, IS CHRIST." When Paul would define the Gospel, by which people are saved, he connects the New Testament facts of the death and resurrection of Christ, with Old Testament prediction and teaching.

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel ... by which also ye are saved how that Christ died for our sins ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES (the Old Testament); and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES" (1 Corinthians 16:1-4).

Many more citations could be given to show that the apostles, writers and preachers of the New Testament constantly pointed out that Jesus the Christ lived, suffered, died and rose again in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Commenting on this fact, Dr. A. T. Pierson said, "No miracle which He wrought so unmistakably set on Jesus the seal of God as the convergence of the thousand lines of prophecy in Him, as in one burning focal point of dazzling glory. Every sacrifice presented, from the hour of Abel’s altar-fire down to the last Passover lamb of the Passion Week, pointed as with flaming finger to Calvary’s cross. Nay, all the centuries moved as in solemn procession to lay their tributes upon Golgotha."

We must now go into more detail, under different categories to further demonstrate that "all Messianic predictions of the Old Testament converge in Jesus of Nazareth into a focal point of dazzling glory." We will present a brief of the voluminous material under these seven headings:

I.THE CREDENTIALS OF MESSIAH II.PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF MESSIAH III.PROPHETIC PARADOXES IV.PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE SUFFERINGS, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST V.PROPHECIES DESCRIBING THE MESSIANIC OFFICES OF CHRIST VI.PROPHECIES SHOWING THAT MESSIAH-CHRIST-IS

GOD VII.TYPES AND INDIRECT PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT FULFILLED IN CHRIST