Teachinghearts
"Explore the Word. Change the World"
Time: 40 minutes
Print: 7 pages
| Teachinghearts |
The Historical Christ
"Explore the Word. Change the World" | Statistics: Time: 40 minutes Print: 7 pages |
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| Bethlehem | Egypt | Nazareth | 12 Years Old | 30 Years Old | 3.5 Years |  |
High Priest | King of Kings | |||
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| 4 BC | Birth | Early Life | In the Temple | 27 AD | Baptized | Ministry | Death | 31 AD | Heaven | Second Coming | |
| Messianic Prophecies | The Coming Messiah | List of Prophecies | The Sanctuary | Seder | Psalms | Isaiah |
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Search me, God. See if there is some evil in me and set me free. Thank you.
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The Probability of Jesus Fulfilling Prophecy in a Passover Plot
| Number of Events | Probability |
|---|---|
| 8 | 1017 |
| 16 | 1045 |
| 24 | 1073 |
| 48 | 10157 |
| The Passover Plot A Mathematical Impossibility |
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It is estimated that there were 250 million people alive in the world the year Jesus died.
This means that one male out of the 250 million people would have had to die that year by crucifixion,
be of Jewish descent from King David, be born in Bethlehem, have been a teacher using parables,
healed others and performed miracles.
He would have had to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey,
been rejected by the leaders and then died four days later with no broken bones but with pierced feet, hands and side during absolute darkness.
This individual would have had to die during one unique predicted week.
The probability of all of this happening to one single male, is 1 out of 2.54 X 10 28.
By using the modern science of probability in reference 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 1017. That is the equivalent of covering the state of Texas with specially marked silver dollars two feet deep (61 cm) and having a blindfolded man finding one special coin. The chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies is 1 in 10157. If the estimated number of electrons in the universe is around 1079 then Jesus was a mathematical impossibility. He was a miracle! He is the Messiah. From the book, Science Speaks by mathematician and scientist, Peter Stoner |
Skeptics Arguments
People who do not want to believe this prophecy make several claims:
Jesus took into His confidence a young Joseph of Arimathea. Knowing the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, Jesus ordered His life in such a way as to fulfill them. For example, Jesus arranged a feigned death on the cross by being administered a drug when the vinegar was offered. Then after He passed out from the drug, Joseph took His body to one of his tombs. When the effects of the drug wore off, Jesus appeared alive and revealed himself as the Messiah.To arrive at this conclusion he rejected certain facts;
While these could certainly happen, there are a number of events that neither Jesus nor the disciples could control
and to have all of these events happen in one man is not a coincidence.
To demonstrate this, we will look at prophecies that even the Jews regarded as Messianic and we will look at
activities of the people who rejected Jesus. These people could not be forced to behave in ways that would fulfill prophecy.
We will also look at the coincidences in terms of the mathematical definition of an impossible event.
Any event that has less than 1 chance in 1050 of occurring is impossible.
A Plot from Birth
To begin, Jesus and His parents were poor.
To say there was a plot would mean that from His birth, His parents would have had to engineer a series of events
to give the Child the life experiences and credentials needed to fulfill the prophecy.
It was also obvious that Mary carried the stain of an apparent out of wedlock pregnancy, so it seems
incredible that these parents would have engineered this type of life for this kind of baby.
The odds were against them.
In addition, this child would have to grow up and meet the expectations of His parents and then proceed to fulfill
the works attributed to the Messiah.
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Key Messianic Prophecies.
Although it seems foolish that his parents could engineer these events for their illegitimate baby,
they would have to make sure that the following events occurred.
These are listed because they are basic requirements that Jesus met that were not under His control or that of His disciples:
Basic Messianic Prophecies.
Lineage. He was from the correct lineage through both Mary and Joseph
Residence. He lived in all the 3 places attributed to the Messiah (Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth).
Messianic Prophecies fulfilled by His Enemies.
He could not engineer these actions, because they were the actions of others who were His enemies.
So, it was in their best interest to not behave in ways that would fulfill prophecy.
And these were not prophetic facts that we have created after the fact - these were accepted by the Jews at that time.
Murder of Children by Herod. Herod ordered this slaughter to kill the new king whom he thought would be a rival to his throne.
Crucifixion. He was crucified on a Roman cross
No broken bones. It was unusual for the legs of a crucified person to not be broken.
Nailed Hands and Feet. His hands and feet were nailed. The method of crucifixion was unknown at the time of the prophecy. Yet hundreds of years before, the prophet testified to this method of death.
Rejected. The Jewish nation rejected Him.
Vinegar. He was given vinegar to drink instead of water.
Gambled for His clothes. The Roman soldiers gambled for His clothes.
30 pieces of silver. Jesus was betrayed for this amount of money. It was the price of a slave.
Passover death. Jesus died on the day and hour of Passover. This was not an ordinary Passover season.
This Passover coincided with the Sabbath - making it a High Sabbath.
Messianic Time Prophecies.
He could not engineer these actions, because they were time prophecies not subject to any human control.
Life. He would be alive and He would die during the Roman empire.
The raiser of taxes. Augustus Caesar. He would be alive under this ruler.
A vile person. Tiberius Caesar. He would be alive under this ruler.
Gentiles accepted Him. His movement has spread around the world. By the year 2001, 2 billion people (or one third of the World's population) were Christians.
Supernatural Messianic Prophecies.
These events could not be controlled by His disciples because they were actions of nature above human control.
Miracles. He performed many supernatural miracles never before seen.
Darkness over the land. There was darkness and an earthquake while He was on the cross.
Veil in the temple torn. At His death the 30 feet long heavy curtain in the sanctuary was ripped from top to bottom.
The Birthday
Today, Christians around the world celebrate December 25 as the birth date of Christ.
But this is incorrect. The date was chosen to attract the people of the pagan religion, who celebrated the birth date of the sun on that day.
The story of the birth of Christ and John, pinpoints the exact date of his birth.
We present this evidence in another lesson.
The Place of Birth. There is one point of interest about the caves and the feast of booths.
During this time the Israelites were supposed to live outside in booths.
One side of this temporary dwelling was supposed to be constructed next to a permanent wall.
The rest of the structure was made of branches.
Stables were normally inside a cave.
The structure made in the feast of booths sound a lot like the inside of a cave.
So the ancient feast actually portrayed the type of dwelling in which the King of
the universe would live when he came to live with mankind.
The Bread of Life. So Christ (the Bread of Life) was born in Bethlehem (the House of Bread) and came to tabernacle with mankind during the feast of Tabernacles.
John states that the Word became flesh and tabernacled (lived) among us. (John 1: 14)
His place of birth was a sign of His death. (Luke 2: 12)
In the ancient world, animals were kept in caves, their feeding troughs were made of stone.
He was born in a cave and wrapped in strips of cloth and laid on a bed of stone.
He was buried in a cave wrapped in strips of cloth. Like a dead man.
He was born to die.
Lineage
Matthew's genealogy traced the lineage of Jesus as the son of David through Joseph - His legal father (Matthew 1).
Luke's genealogy traced the lineage of Jesus as the son of God through Mary - His mother (Luke 3: 23-38).
In Luke, Joseph was called the "son of Heli", while in Matthew he was the "son of Jacob".
Is this an error?
The Jerusalem Talmud states that Mary was the daughter of Heli (Haggigah, Book 77, 4).
Heli was Mary's father and Joseph was his son-in-law according to modern reckoning.
But this designation "son" instead of "son-in-law" was common in those days.
It was not an error.
Even today, according to Jewish tradition - you are a Jew if your lineage could be traced through your mother.
The new Testament shows Jesus' heritage, through both Joseph and Mary.
Since Joseph was not His Father, it is the ancestry of Mary that was most important.
She was from the line of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Judah and Jesse and David.
And He was a Jew because of His mother.
Matthew 13: 55-56 states that Mary later had other children.
Virgin Birth
The Bible states that He was born from the "seed of a woman".
This is significant because of what it does not say.
He was not from the seed of a man as normal humans are.
Therefore, His only human biological connection must be from a woman only.
He must not have the genes of any man from earth.
Therefore, He must be either born from a virgin or from a conception that did not involve a sexual act.
The New Testament states that Jesus was born to the Virgin named Mary after she conceived a child by the Holy Spirit.
Current Jewish interpretation implies that the Old Testament did not say that a virgin would conceive, but that a young woman would.
One would be a miracle, the other would not. Let us examine the evidence.
The Jewish Perspective
What was the Jewish perspective prior to Christ.
The original Hebrew word is almah which could mean virgin or maiden (young woman).
Historically, the term young woman implied virginity. So while an old woman could be a virgin
she could not be a young maiden.
Therefore, in modern thinking, the prophecy either means that His mother would be a virgin or that she was young.
So the Hebrew term is ambiguous.
To find out how the ancient Hebrews interpreted the prophecies we have to go back to the Septuagint.
When the Hebrew was translated into the Greek, there were two distinct Greek words for a virgin and a young woman.
The Hebrew translators chose to use the Greek word for virgin.
This is strong circumstantial evidence that the ancient Hebrews thought that a virgin (not simply a young woman) would conceive.
Residence
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Historical References
There are two historical references to the trial of Jesus.
Both are from writers hostile to Christianity. Their accounts show at least 3 things.
Josephus' Account - The Jewish historian, Josephus referred to Jesus in two places. He referred to the stoning of James in 62 A.D. as the brother of Jesus who is called Christ. In the other reference this is what he had this to say about Jesus:
About the same time there lived Jesus, a wise man for he was a performer of marvelous feats and a teacher of such men who received the truth with pleasure. He attracted many Jews and many Greeks. He was called the Christ. Pilate sentenced him to die on the cross, having been urged to do so by the noblest of our citizens; but those who loved him at the first did not give up their affection for him. And the tribe of the Christians, who are named after him, have not disappeared to this day
Tacitus' Account - Speaking about the burning of Rome, the Roman historian Tacitus (who hated Christians and Jews) has this to say:
Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, and the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.
Talmud - Although the accounts were not flattering, the Talmud states that Miriam (Mary) conceived Jesus by the best man of the bridegroom while she was menstruating.
So Jesus was an illegitimate bastard, born to a prostitute in the filth of menstruation (a niddah and a bastard).
So I assume they hated Him. But He existed according to their records.
Hematidrosis: Drops of Blood
As He prayed, He perspired great drops of blood.
Medical doctors have recorded cases when this process of hematidrosis occurs.
Usually the victim is under extreme anxiety such as the threat of pain or death. This causes the tiny capillaries in the sweat gland to burst and blood to seep into the sweat glands and out to the skin.
One reported case was that of a British girl in World War II during the time when London was being bombed.
Every time the city was attacked, this frightened girl would sweat blood.
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Psychological Torture: The King's Game
The Romans played a game with the prisoners who were waiting to be crucified.
It was described by a writer in Alexandria where the mob entertained themselves by making fools out of idiots and the mentally handicapped.
They would catch them and dress them up like kings. Then they would sit them down and mock worship them.
The Roman soldiers would take one of their prisoners and make a mock king out of him.
They threw a robe across the shoulders of Jesus and place a stick in His hand for a scepter.
They twisted flexible branches with one to two inch throns and made a crowd. Then they shoved it on His head.
This caused much bleeding, because the scalp has many blood vessels.
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The Agony of the Whipping
The prisoner was stripped of his clothing and his hands tied to a post above his head.
Or, he was tied and bent over a low pillar or laid on the floor.
This exposed his back and legs and allowed hitting from both sides.
Dr. C. Truman Davis, describes a flogging as follows:
The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across a Jesus' shoulders, back and legs. At first, the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. The small balls of lead first produce large, deep bruises, which the others cut wide open. Finally, the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons, and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped. The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood.
The Cross
Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution which was used by the Romans for slaves and criminals until AD 337.
Crucifixion was invented either by the Persians between 300-400BC or by the Syro-Phoenicians about 600 BC.
However, before it was invented, about 1000 BC King David prophesied about the crucifixion of Christ.
Nailed.
... They pierced my hands and my feet.
(Psalm 22: 16)
The cross beam weighed 75-125 pounds (35-60 kg). The nails were about 5-9 inches long (13 to 21 cm) with a square shaft 1 cm wide.
There were several types of crosses.
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Jesus and His Cross
The Agony of the Crucifixion
Jesus was crucified naked. It was prophesied that people would stare at Him.
It was humiliating.
Normally, the victim's legs were broken so that he could not push up on his feet to breathe.
However, Jesus died before they broke His legs - fulfilling the prophecy that not one of His bones would be broken.
The slow process of suffering and resulting death during a crucifixion is described in an article by Dr. David Terasaka.
... it appears likely that the mechanism of death in crucifixion was suffocation. The chain of events which ultimately led to suffocation are as follows: With the weight of the body being supported by the sedulum, the arms were pulled upward. This caused the intercostal and pectoral muscles to be stretched. Furthermore, movement of these muscles was opposed by the weight of the body. With the muscles of respiration thus stretched, the respiratory bellows became relatively fixed. As dyspnea developed and pain in the wrists and arms increased, the victim was forced to raise the body off the sedulum, thereby transferring the weight of the body to the feet. Respirations became easier, but with the weight of the body being exerted on the feet, pain in the feet and legs mounted. When the pain became unbearable, the victim again slumped down on the sedulum with the weight of the body pulling on the wrists and again stretching the intercostal muscles. Thus, the victim alternated between lifting his body off the sedulum in order to breathe and slumping down on the sedulum to relieve pain in the feet. Eventually , he became exhausted or lapsed into unconsciousness so that he could no longer lift his body off the sedulum. In this position, with the respiratory muscles essentially paralyzed, the victim suffocated and died. (DePasquale and Burch)
Jewish Messianic Texts
According to Edersheim's Appendix 9 1, over 456 texts were interpreted as Messianic references in the writings of the rabbis.
Here are some of those texts.
| Book | Texts |
|---|---|
| Genesis | (Creator). 1: 2; 2: 4; 4: 25; 5: 1. (Covenant Maker). 14: 1; 15: 18; 19: 32; 22: 18; 33: 1; 38: 1,2. (Judah, Dan and Gad identified with the Messiah). 49: 1,9,10,12,17,19; 50: 10. |
| Exodus | 4: 22; 12: 2,42; 15: 1; 16: 25,33; 17: 16; 21: 1; 40: 9,11. Messiah is the LORD G-d of the exodus |
| Leviticus | 26: 12,13. Messiah is the God who led them in the exodus |
| Numbers | 6: 26; 7: 12; 11: 26; 23: 21; 24: 17,20,24; 27: 16. Messiah is the LORD of the old testament |
| Deuteronomy | 1: 8; 8: 1; 11: 21; 16: 3; 19: 8,9; 20: 10; 23: 11; 25: 19; 30: 4; 32: 7,20; 33: 5,12,17 |
| Judges | 5: 31. The LORD who will fight His enemies |
| Ruth | 1: 1; 2: 14; 3: 15; 4: 18,20 |
| 1 Samuel | 2: 10. The LORD who will fight His enemies |
| 2 Samuel | 22: 28; 23: 1,3,4. The Rock who will rule |
| 1 Kings | 4: 33 |
| 1 Chronicles | 3: 24. Descendant of Zerubabbel |
| Psalms | 2; 2: 4,6-9; 16: 6,9; 18: 31,50; 21: 1,2,3,4,5,7; 22: 7,15; 23: 5; 31: 19; 36: 9; 40: 7; 45: 2,3,6,7; 50: 2; 60: 7; 61: 6,8; 68: 31; 72: 1,8,10,16,17; 80: 17; 89: 22-25,27,51,53; 90: 15; 92: 8,11,13 [7,10,12]; 95: 7; 102: 16; 106: 44; 110; 110: 2,7 116: 9,13; 119: 33; 120: 7; 121: 1; 126: 2; 132: 14,18; 133: 3; 142: 5; |
| Proverbs | 6:22 |
| Ecclesiastics | 1: 9,11; 7: 24; 11: 8; 12: 1 |
| Songs of Solomon | All references to Solomon. (Messiah as king) 1: 8,17; 2: 8,9-10,12,13; 3: 11; 4: 5,16; 5: 10; 6: 10; 7: 6,13; 8: 2,4,11,12 (Messiah as bridegroom) |
| Isaiah | 4: 2,4,5,6; 6: 13; 7: 21; 8: 14; 9: 6,7; 10: 27,34; 11: 1,2,3,4,6,7,10,11,12; 12: 3,5; 14: 2,29; 15: 2; 16: 1,5; 18: 5; 21: 11,12; 23: 8,15; 24: 23; 25: 8,9; 26: 19; 27: 10,13; 28: 5,15,16; 30: 5,6,10, 18,19,25,26; 32: 14,15,20; 35: 1,2; 40: 1-3,5,10; 41: 18,25,27; 42: 1; 43: 10; 45: 22; 49: 8,9,10,12,13,14,21,23,26; 51: 12,17; 52: 2,3,7,8,12,13; 53; 54: 2,5,11,13; 55: 12; 56: 1,7; 57: 14,16; 59: 15,17,19,20; 60: 1,2-4,7,8,19,21,22; 61: 1,5,9,10; 62: 10; 63; 63: 2,4; 64: 4; 65: 17,19,25; 66: 7; 68: 22; |
| Jeremiah | 3: 17,18; 5: 19; 12: 9; 16: 13,14; 23: 5,6,7 (Branch); 30: 9,21; 31: 8,20,31,33,24 (New Covenant); 33: 13; |
| Lamentations | 1: 16; 2: 22; 4: 22 (Israel was lost on the day of the Lord - the crucifixion) |
| Ezekiel | 11: 19; 16: 55; 17: 22,23; 25:14; 29:21; 32:14; 36: 25,27; 39: 2; 47: 9,12; 48: 19 (Covenant kept) |
| Daniel | 2: 22,35,44; 7: 9,13,27; 8: 13,14; 9: 24; 12: 3,11,12. Messiah is the Son of Man who will cleanse the temple and rule the earth |
| Hosea | 2: 2,13, 18; 3: 5; 6: 2; 13: 14; 14: 7 (Last days) |
| Joel | 2: 28; 3: 18 (Holy Spirit comes) |
| Amos | 5:18; 8:11; 9:11 (Punishing and restoring Israel) |
| Obadiah | 18,21 (Israel will defeat Esau (Edom)) |
| Micah | (Israel restored) 2: 13; 4: 3,5,8; 5: 2,3; 7: 6,8,15 |
| Nahum | 2: 1 |
| Habakuk | 2:3; |
| Zephaniah | 3: 8,9,11 (Israel forgiven) |
| Haggai | 2: 6 (Nations come when they are shaken) |
| Zechariah | 1:20; 2:10; 3: 8,10; 4: 7,10; 6: 12; 7: 13; 8: 12, 23; 9: 1,9,10; 10:4; 11: 12; 12:10; 14: 2-6, 7,8,9 |
| Malachi | 3: 1,4,16,17; 4: 1,2,5 (Elijah comes) |
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God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God. Romans 8:28
Copyright Updated : January 2008 Author: Laverna Patterson. Editor: Patterson (January 2008) Credits: The information was compiled from various sources. 1 Christian Think Tank URL: http://www.christian-thinktank.com/messiah.html Flogging Instruments. http://www.ecstagony.com/eng/info/artinst/roma.htm http://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2007/04/07/a-physicians-view-of-the-crucifixion-of-jesus-christ/ |
The Jews have a law about flogging no more than 40 times. In practice, they limited it to 39 lashes just in case there was an error in counting.
But there is no evidence that the Romans had a limit.
