[i]Fulfilment of Biblical Prophecies in Jesus Christ

Overview

• The Old Testament contains over 300 detailed prophecies about the coming Messiah.
• These prophecies describe Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and role in the Church.
• These were written between 1400–400 BC and fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, born around 4–6 BC.
• [ii] Fulfilled prophecy sets the Bible apart from all other religious books.
• Isaiah 46:9–10 (NIV): "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come."

Prophecies About Jesus’ Birth

• Genesis 12:3 "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
• Fulfilled in Acts 3:25–26: "Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed. When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you."
• Genesis 17:19 "Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him."
• Fulfilled in Romans 9:7: "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."
• Genesis 28:14 "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring."
• Fulfilled in Luke 3:34: Jesus is a descendant of Jacob.
• Genesis 49:10 "The sceptre will not depart from Judah... until he to whom it belongs shall come."
• Fulfilled in Luke 3:33: Jesus comes from Judah.
• 2 Samuel 7:12–13 "I will raise up your offspring to succeed you... and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."
• Fulfilled in Matthew 1:1: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
• Isaiah 7:14 "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel."
• Fulfilled in Luke 1:35: "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."
• Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem... out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel."
• Fulfilled in Matthew 2:4–6: "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written."
• Hosea 11:1 "Out of Egypt I called my son."
• Fulfilled in Matthew 2:15: "And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'Out of Egypt I called my son.'"

Jesus' Ministry and Life

• Genesis 3:15b "He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
• Fulfilled in 1 John 3:8: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."
• Exodus 12:5 (symbolic of a perfect lamb) " a male without defect".
• Fulfilled in Hebrews 9:14:
• "Christ offered himself unblemished to God."
• Psalm 8:5–6 "You made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory..."
• Fulfilled in Hebrews 2:9: "But we do see Jesus... crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death..."
• Isaiah 35:5–6 "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped..."
• Fulfilled in Matthew 11:5: "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed."
• Isaiah 40:3 "A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord.’"
• Fulfilled in John 1:23: "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness."
• Zechariah 9:9 "See, your king comes to you... riding on a donkey."
• Fulfilled in Matthew 21:6–9: "They brought the donkey... Jesus sat on it."

Jesus’ Betrayal, Death, and Resurrection

• Zechariah 11:12–13 "They paid me thirty pieces of silver... threw them to the potter."
• Fulfilled in Matthew 27:9–10: "They used them to buy the potter’s field..."
• Exodus 12:46 "Do not break any of the bones."
• Fulfilled in John 19:33–36: "They did not break his legs... 'Not one of his bones will be broken."
• Leviticus 17:11 " It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life."
• Fulfilled in Matthew 26:28: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out... for the forgiveness of sins."
• Psalm 22:1 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
• Fulfilled in Matthew 27:46: "Jesus cried out. 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
• Job 19:25 "I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth."
• Fulfilled in Luke 24:6–7: "He is not here; he has risen!"
• Isaiah 25:8 "He will swallow up death forever."
• Fulfilled in 1 Corinthians 15:54: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

Jesus’ Role in the Church

• Psalm 68:18 "When you ascended on high, you took many captives."
• Fulfilled in Ephesians 4:8–10: "When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people."

Mathematical Evidence for Fulfilled Prophecy

• [iii] Peter Stoner, in Science Speaks, calculated the probability of just 8 prophecies being fulfilled by one person = 1 in 10¹⁷ (100 quadrillion).
• 48 prophecies = 1 in 10¹⁵⁷ greater than the number of atoms in the known universe.
• Jesus fulfilled over 300, which is statistically impossible by chance.
• This confirms that prophecy is not coincidence; it is evidence of divine authorship.

Conclusion

Why the Bible Is Completely Reliable

The Bible Is Historically Reliable

• Written by over 40 authors over a period of 1,500 years, from different cultures, languages, and continents.
• Despite that, it presents a unified message centred on Jesus Christ and the salvation of humanity.
• The New Testament was written within one generation of Jesus' life, mostly by eyewitnesses.
• No other ancient document is supported by such a short time gap between event and manuscript.

The Bible Has Unmatched Manuscript Support

• The New Testament has over 5,800 Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin, and thousands more in other ancient languages.
• Compared to other ancient writings, the Bible has: Shorter time gaps (as little as 40 years)
• Far more manuscripts (some ancient works have fewer than 20!)
• Textual agreement among NT manuscripts is 99.5%.
• The few differences are minor (spelling or word order) and do not affect any doctrine.

The Bible Has Been Verified by Archaeology

• Dozens of discoveries support the Bible’s historical claims:
• The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm OT accuracy.
• Tel Dan Stele confirms King David.
• The Pilate Inscription confirms Pontius Pilate.
• The Pool of Bethesda, Caiaphas Ossuary, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, and many more confirm real people and places.
• Archaeology has never disproven the Bible; it continually confirms its credibility.

The Bible Contains Hundreds of Fulfilled Prophecies

• The Old Testament contains over 300 prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. These prophecies were written centuries before His birth and include, His genealogy, His place of birth, His ministry and miracles, His betrayal and death and His resurrection and ascension
• Many of these were fulfilled in ways no human could control.
• The odds of one person fulfilling even 8 of these prophecies is 1 in 100 quadrillion (10¹⁷).
• Jesus fulfilled more than 300. This is statistical proof of divine authorship.

The Bible Has Changed Lives and Civilizations

• The Bible has shaped Western law, ethics, education, and government., It has been translated into over 3,500 languages., It remains the best-selling and most influential book in history., Its message of hope, forgiveness, and eternal life in Jesus continues to transform billions of lives.

Final Reflection

• 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NIV): "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
• The Bible is not a myth, nor a legend, nor the invention of men.
• It is God’s Word historically grounded, textually preserved, archaeologically confirmed, and prophetically fulfilled.

[i] 100 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus: Messianic Prophecies Made before the Birth of Christ-Rose publishing

[ii] https://www.newtestamentchristians.com/bible-study-resources/351-old-testament-prophecies-fulfilled-in-jesus-christ/

[iii] https://sciencespeaks.dstoner.net/Christ_of_Prophecy.html