JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

In the great post-resurrection Bible study Jesus pointed to His own importance in the
pages of the Hebrew Scriptures:
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"How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter
glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to
them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself" (Lk 24:25-27).
In controversy with the Jews, Jesus referred to the Old Testament and claimed:
"These are the Scriptures that testify about Me . . . If you believed Moses,
you would believe Me, for He wrote about Me. But since you do not believe
what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" (Jn 5:39,46-47)
THE WITNESS OF HEBREW PROPHECY
The significance of predictive prophecy is fourfold:
● Shows that there is a divine Intelligence behind both the Old Testament and the New
Testament.
● Establishes the existence of God.
● Demonstrates the divine inspiration of the Bible.
● Authenticates the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ.
The witness of prophecy backs up Barth's insistence on the Christological principle in
interpreting Scripture since there are more than 300 messianic prophecies in the Hebrew
Scriptures. No other figure plays such a significant role in prophetic history as the Messiah. The
attempt to explain away Jesus as the fulfillment of the Messiah has been futile. The evidence is
simply massive and thus compelling.
The apostles of the New Testament age appealed to two areas of the life of Jesus of
Nazareth to establish His Messiahship. One was the resurrection and the other was fulfilled
messianic prophecy. The Old Testament, written over a thousand year period, is replete with
references to the coming Messiah. The closer the examination of such prophecies the more
convincing the evidence that these were fulfilled in Jesus Christ and thus establish solid evidence
of His credentials as the Messiah.
The following page provides examples of some of the best known messianic prophecies
and their fulfillment.