Did Jesus – and Jesus Alone-Match the Identity of the Messiah?
Interview #9: Louis S. Lapides, M.Div., Th.M.
- The Jesus in the New Testament fulfills every prophesy made centuries earlier in the Old Testament.
The Coincidence Argument
- Could Jesus have merely fulfilled the prophesies by chance?
- No, it is mathematically impossible.
- The probability of fulfilling all forty-eight prophecies is one in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion.
The Altered Gospel Argument
- Did the gospel writers fabricate details to make it appear that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies?
- There are checks and balances both inside and outside the Christian community. When the gospels were first being circulated, there were other people living who had witnessed the same events of Jesus’ life. They would have disputed any lies.
- Why would the disciples die for a story that they fabricated?
- The Jewish community would have jumped on any opportunity to discredit the gospels by pointing out falsehoods. While the Talmud refers to Jesus in derogatory ways, it never once makes the claim that the fulfillment of prophecies was falsified.
The Intentional Fulfillment Argument
- Could Jesus have merely maneuvered his life in a way to fulfill the prophecies?
- For some prophecies (e.g. riding into Jerusalem on a donkey), that is conceivable. But there are many other prophecies where that wouldn’t have been possible.
- Jesus’ ancestry, birth place, method of execution, and amount of silver Judas was paid to betray him were all outside of his control.