from Israel My Glory, Vol. 60, No. 1
Confirmation of Jesus' Messiahship, part 2
by Douglas Bookman
How did God arrange to convince
men that Jesus’ claims concerning
Himself were true?
The Twofold
Solution
How did God arrange to convince
men that Jesus’ claims concerning
Himself were true? The
divine strategy was basically
twofold. First, Jesus performed
miracles that demonstrated He
was a genuine spokesman for God,
verifying that His message was
true—including His claims concerning
His own person and work.
This method was always and ever
the divine means of authenticating
a man’s claim to be a messenger of
Yahweh (cf. Ex. 4:1–9; 1 Sam.
12:14–18; Heb. 2:3–4). Such miracles
were certainly strategic in
establishing the bona fides of Jesus
(Jn. 3:1–2; Mk. 2:1–12; Acts 2:22).
But miracles alone were not
enough (cf. Dt. 13:1-5). Even more
basic was the requirement that
every spokesman for God be
consistent in word and deed with
all God had revealed so far (Isa.
8:20; Gal. 1:8–9). Because Jesus
claimed to be the Messiah, it was
incumbent on those who heard
Him to determine whether He did
indeed fulfill the prophecies concerning
the Messiah.
There was much to appeal to in
that regard. Messiah’s lineage had
been foretold: He was to be of the
seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15; cf.
Gal. 4:4), of Abraham (Gen. 22:18;
cf. Gal. 3:16), of Judah (Gen. 49:10;
cf. Heb. 7:14), and then of David (2
Sam. 7:12–13; Ps. 132:11; Jer. 23:5;
cf. Acts 13:23). The Deliverer was
to be born at a certain time (Dan.
9:24–27) in a designated city (Mic.
5:2; cf. Lk. 2:4–5; Jn. 7:40–43); and
His birth was to be preceded by
the ministry of a forerunner (Isa.
40:3; Mal. 3:1; cf. Mt. 3:1–3).
His ministry was to commence
in Galilee (Isa. 9:1–2; cf. Mt.
4:12–17, 23), but He was also to
enter Jerusalem (Zech. 9:9; cf. Mt
21:1–5) where He would possess
the Temple (Mal. 3:1; cf. Mk.
11:15–18). The Messiah’s ministry
was to be punctuated with miracles
(Isa. 35:5–6; cf. Lk. 7:21–22);
yet He would be despised (Isa.
49:7; cf. Jn. 7:48; 15:25), rejected
by the nation’s rulers (Ps. 118:22;
cf. Mt. 21:42), betrayed by someone
close to Him (Ps. 41:9;
55:12–13; cf. Jn. 13:18–22), and
abandoned for 30 pieces of silver
(Zech. 11:13; cf. Mt. 26:15).
He would be smitten on the
cheek (Mic. 5:1; cf. Mt. 27:30), spat
on (Isa. 50:6; cf. Mt. 27:30), mocked
(Ps. 22:7–8; cf. Mt. 27:31, 39–44),
and scourged (Isa. 50:6; cf. Mt.
27:26–30). His hands and feet were
to be pierced (Ps. 22:16; Zech.
12:10; cf. Jn. 19:18, 37; 20:25), yet
none of His bones would be
broken (Ps. 34:20; cf. Jn. 19:33–36).
His body was to be buried with the
wealthy (Isa. 53:9; cf. Mt. 27:57–60)
but was to remain uncorrupted
(Ps. 16:10; cf. Acts 2:31) because,
shortly after dying, He would rise
miraculously from the grave (Ps.
2:7; 16:10; cf. Acts 13:33).
This is but a partial catalog.
However, it begins to make the
point that a scholar once summarized
as follows:
The Messianic prophecies
extend over a thousand years.
They are interspersed throughout
all the books of the Old
Testament. They are found in
the books of Moses, the oldest
writer, and in the prophecy of
Malachi, the last of the
prophets. They are numerous; if
all were to be collected from
the sacred writings, and if
the secondary and typical
prophecies were to be included,
it would be found to be no
exaggeration to affirm that the
Old Testament was pervaded
with the Messianic idea. They
are varied; they relate to minute
particulars as well as to great
events; some of them are seemingly
contradictory; some represent
the Messiah as a mighty king
and others speak of Him as a
man of sorrows. . . . But all
these prophecies, when examined,
will be found to have
received their fulfillment in the
person of Jesus of Nazareth, and
not one will be discovered that
is inconsistent with the history
of His life.
It was such a body of prophesied
details that the Spirit of God used
to confirm Jesus’ claims and, thus,
to convince men of the truth that
Jesus of Nazareth “is indeed
the Christ, the Savior of the
world” (Jn. 4:42).
 Douglas Bookman has taught at Bible colleges and seminaries
for 30 years. Today he is busy in a ministry of itinerant teaching and
preaching across America and abroad. He can be contacted through his Web
site: bookmanministries.com.
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