How do I know Jesus is who he claims to be...

• Jesus fulfilled 37 prophecies from the Old Testament

  1. seed of a woman (Gen 3:15 --> Gal 4:4)
  2. seed of Abraham (Gen 12:3 --> Matt 1:1)
  3. seed of Issac (Gen 17:19 --> Luke 3:34)
  4. seed of Jacob (Num 24:17 --> Matt 1:2)
  5. from the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10 --> Luke 3:33)
  6. heir to the throne of David (Is 9:7 --> Luke 1:32-33)
  7. born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2 --> Luke 2:4-7)
  8. the time of his birth (Dan 9:25 --> Luke 2:1-2)
  9. born of a virgin (Is 7:14 --> Luke 1:26-31)
  10. slaughter of the innocents (Jer 31:15 --> Mat 2:16-18)
  11. flight to Egypt (Hos 11:1 --> Mat 2:14-15)
  12. preceded by a forerunner (Mal 3:1 --> Luke 7:24-27)
  13. declared the Son of God (Ps 2:7 --> Mat 3:17)
  14. ministered in Galilee (Is 9:1-2 --> Mat 4:13-16)
  15. He was a prophet (Deut 18:15 --> Acts 3:20-22)
  16. to heal the brokenhearted (Is 61:1-2 --> Luke 4:18-19)
  17. rejected by his own people the Jews (Is 53:3 --> John 1:11 Luke 23:18)
  18. priest after order of Melchizedek (Ps 110:4 --> Heb 5:5-6)
  19. triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Zech 9:9 --> Mark 11:7-11)
  20. betrayed by a friend (Ps 41:9 --> Luke 22:47-48)
  21. sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zech 11:12 --> Mat 26:15)
  22. accused by false witnesses (Ps 35:11 --> Mark 14:57-58)
  23. silent to accusations (Is 53:7 --> Mark 15:4-5)
  24. spat upon and smitten (Is 50:6 --> Mat 26:67)
  25. hated without reason (Ps 35:19 --> John 15:24-25)
  26. vicarious sacrifice (Is 53:5 --> Rom 5:6-8)
  27. crucified with transgressors (Is 53:12 --> Mark 15:27-28)
  28. pierced through hands and feet (Zech 12:10 --> John 20:27)
  29. scorned and mocked (Ps 22:7-8 --> Luke 23:35)
  30. given vinegar and gall (Ps 69:21 --> Mat 27:34)
  31. he prayed for his enemies (Ps 109:4 --> Luke 23:34)
  32. soldiers gambled for his coat (Ps 22:17 --> Mat 27:35-36)
  33. no bones were broken (Ps 34:20 --> John 19:32-36)
  34. his side was pierced (Zech 12:10 --> John 19:34)
  35. buried with the rich (Is 53:9 --> Mat 27:57-60)
  36. to be resurrected (Ps 16:10, 49:15 --> Mark 16:6-7)
  37. ascended to God's right hand (Ps 68:18 --> Mark 16:19)

• Jesus claims...

  • He is God (John 10:30) "I and my Father are one."
  • He is the Only Way to God (John 14:6) "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."
  • He existed before Abraham (John 8:58) "...before Abraham was, I am."
  • He was equal to the Father (John 5:17-18) "But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God."
  • He could forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7) "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." (Is 43:35 says only God could do that)
  • He is the creator (John 1:3) "All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made."
  • He holds everything together (Col 1:17) "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."

• Jesus is the only prominent teacher who claimed to be God.

  • Confucius did not claim to be God
  • Mohammed did not claim to be Allah (Islam)
  • Buddha did not claim to be God

• His enemies noticed and feared his claims to be God

  • (John 10:32-33) "Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God."

• Only Jesus prophesied that he would die and be resurrected from the dead

  • (Matt 12:40) "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
  • (John 2:19, 21) "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

• Jesus believes in creation because He is the creator.

  • The theory of evolution states that complex elements have developed from simpler elements, and living organisms have sprung from non-living chemicals by a chance association. It presumes a natural selection by survival of the fittest, and therefore everything is getting better.

  • The Bible states that all things were created perfect at one time without any crossing of breeds. Then sin entered into creation and everything changed and started deteriorating.

  • Science (the 2nd law of thermodynamics) shows that everything tends to become less ordered rather than complex: things grow older, die or decay and lose their structure.
    

Last edited 1/10/98