December 7, Reflections on Biblical Prophecy

I’m always amazed at the accuracy of prophecy as recorded in the Bible. Over the last six days, you’ve seen how undeniable it is that the Old Testament witness confirmed Jesus before His incarnation so we would have reason to believe in Him. From 1,500 years to 400 years before Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem, people were writing about Him to describe Him, His work, and worldwide events simultaneous to His advent. When we get to Acts 17:31, as Paul is philosophizing to the elite contemplators on Mars Hill, he states, “…having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

Proof. That’s a strong word.

The word translated into the English “proof” here, πιστιν, literally means faith. Proof is a strong word when trying to get at the veracity of any story. Luke, here, quotes Paul as saying that God furnished a reason for people to have faith in Jesus by raising Jesus from the dead. The Bible doesn’t try to prove God based on what God created. Proving or disproving any historic narrative only from what we call empirical evidence is a fools errand and the dogmatic pursuit of people who are insecure in their own belief hoping to find something concrete to show they are smarter than anyone who believes differently.

But, God actually furnished us with a reason to have faith in Jesus–the perfect representation of God in the flesh. He did so the only way He could since He is transcendent. First, by assuming human flesh so we could actually observe Him. Second, by transcending death–which is final for us mere mortals. Third, by providing testimony only possible if it’s all true. This testimony was shared for more than a thousand years perfectly describing the person, work, and world of Jesus of Nazareth. It would be easy to falsify the claim that Jesus is God if someone could show that He doesn’t fulfill the messianic prophecies. Since He does fulfill them all and they accurately described the world, the claims measured in any scientific way must be affirmed regardless of what we think in terms of biology or universal origins. God is. Jesus is God in the flesh. These two claims are nearly impossible to deny with any degree of intellectual honesty at all.

I hope you are enjoying the 25 Days of Christmas. We will continue with Day 8 tomorrow.