When asked outright if He was “the Coming One” (Luke 7:20), Jesus gave a better answer than a simple “yes”, or “no”. Instead, He listed the kind of things He was doing for people – blind people were receiving their sight back, lame people were walking, leprous people were being cleansed, deaf people were hearing, dead people were being raised back to life (Luke 7:21-22).

His list was significant for two reasons. Firstly, because it mirrored the words of the Jewish prophet, Isaiah, who about 700 years earlier looked forward to a time when God would come to visit His people – and do exactly the kind of things Jesus was right then performing (Isaiah 35:4-6). He was effectively saying to His inquirers – don’t take my word on whether I am your Messiah or not, look at what I am doing and ask yourself – does it correspond with what your prophets told you to expect? The conclusion He intended them to draw is obvious. He was pointing them to the word of God to confirm His identity.

Secondly, the list of actions that Jesus drew attention to were not ordinary works. They were genuinely miraculous – far beyond the reach of mere mortals. The reason His miracles are important is that they provided those who saw them self-evident confirmation that He was from God, and therefore worthy of their faith: “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; “but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father [is] in Me, and I in Him.” (John 10:37-38)

Because of the uncanny link between what the Jewish scriptures announced their Christ would do, and what Jesus actually did – some people attempt to sidestep the implications by claiming a conspiracy theory. They suggest that the Jewish scriptures were constructed after the event to give credibility to Christianity. To a Jew, the idea that the scriptures they had guarded for well over 1000 years by the time of Jesus’ life, and that contain a record of their national history – the idea that they were fabricated during the life of Jesus would not simply be ludicrous, it would be offensive at the deepest possible level. It would be to tamper with their entire national identity. But the fact is, the complete Jewish scriptures had been available in a Greek translation called the Septuagint for over a century before the birth of Jesus Christ. Even the most hard-nosed conspiracy theorist is therefore looking down the barrel of more than a century between the completion of the translation of the Jewish scriptures into Greek, and the life of Jesus. This doesn’t help them much however, because to look ahead with pinpoint accuracy over a century instead of a millennium is still impossible for humans. And that brings us back to the point of the Bible’s prophecies: their precise fulfilment self authenticates the Bible as a book from God: “when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD has not spoken…(Deuteronomy 18:22).

The Jewish nation is unique among all others in that they were specially chosen by God. This privilege also made them the custodians of God’s word:

What advantage then has the Jew…Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. (Romans 3:1-2)

God made promises to the fathers of the Jewish nation, beginning with Abraham to whom He said: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 22:18)

The Jewish people learned through God’s word to look for Abraham’s descendant: the “seed”, who would come to them bringing promised blessing. They sometimes referred to this person as the Messiah (Hebrew word), or the Christ (Greek word) (John 1:41). In addition to being Abraham’s descendant, God announced the Christ would be the son of David – meaning He would be born into the Jewish royal family (Isaiah 9:6-7).

But I want to turn your focus to the remarkable prediction of the town in which Christ would be born. When Jesus was born (into the Jewish royal line, note!), King Herod took the news of a potential rival so seriously that he made plans to execute Him while still an infant. He called for the Jewish religious leaders, to find out the name of the town in which they expected their Christ to be born. Without objecting to his request as strange, they replied: “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, [in] the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” (Matthew 2:5-6)

They were quoting Micah’s approximately 700 year old prophecy (Micah 5:2). They believed it, and Herod believed it too – as shown by his later slaughter of all infants under 2 years old in that town, in the hope of eliminating a rival king.

Because Jesus was born in Bethlehem He fulfils one of the most basic criteria (acknowledged by the Jews themselves) required of the Christ (Matthew 2:1). But there is more – Luke gives extra detail, showing that the town in which Jesus was born was not manipulated by Mary His mother: the reason she and Joseph were in Bethlehem at the time of His birth was that Augustus Caesar, the Roman emperor, had issued a decree requiring all people to go to their birth town for a census. Unless this had happened Jesus would have been born in Galilee (Luke 2:4). God brings His word to pass with style!

Faith is not a leap in the dark. At its simplest, it involves placing your confidence in someone else. We place our faith in drivers we don’t know every time we use a zebra crossing – relying on them to uphold the rules of the road and stay stopped until we cross over. We place our faith in our employers every time we turn up to work – it’s an expression of confidence in them to pay us at the end of the month for the work we have done up until that point. In a Biblical context, faith means taking God at His word. Many people wrongly think that this involves intellectual suicide, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The God of the Bible who calls us to place our confidence in Him has given us reasonable grounds for doing so in His book. One feature of the Bible that demonstrates its Author is worthy of our trust is its many fulfilled prophecies. Humans’ inability to tell the future is well documented; and no surprise, for this, Isaiah tells us, is something God has reserved for Himself:

“Present your case,” says the LORD…declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you [are] gods…(Isaiah 41:21-23)

This week our blog will focus on some of the prophecies fulfilled by the person at the centre of the Bible: Jesus Christ. Each day we plan to look at a plain prediction made about His birth, His life, His death, His burial and then His resurrection.

Slave ship captain turned preacher John Newton gives a thought provoking answer in his poem “What think ye of Christ?”

Before signing off with this poem, we hope you’ve found the series thought provoking. If you would like to know more please contact us for a free copy of John’s Gospel, which was expressly written “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).

Now for that poem:-

What think you of Christ? is the test
To try both your state and your scheme;
You cannot be right in the rest,
Unless you think rightly of him.
As Jesus appears in your view,
As he is beloved or not;
So God is disposed to you,
And mercy or wrath is your lot.

Some take him a creature to be,
A man, or an angel at most;
Sure these have not feelings like me,
Nor know themselves wretched and lost:
So guilty, so helpless, am I,
I durst not confide in his blood,
Nor on his protection rely,
Unless I were sure he is God.

Some call him a Saviour, in word,
But mix their own works with his plan;
And hope he his help will afford,
When they have done all that they can:
If doings prove rather too light
(A little, they own, they may fail)
They purpose to make up full weight,
By casting his name in the scale.

Some style him the pearl of great price,
And say he’s the fountain of joys;
Yet feed upon folly and vice,
And cleave to the world and its toys:
Like Judas, the Saviour they kiss,
And, while they salute him, betray;
Ah! what will profession like this
Avail in his terrible day?

If asked what of Jesus I think?
Though still my best thoughts are but poor;
I say, he’s my meat and my drink,
My life, and my strength, and my store,
My Shepherd, my Husband, my Friend,
My Saviour from sin and from thrall;
My hope from beginning to end,
My Portion, my Lord, and my All.

A notable feature of the world we live in is that no one person is in charge of it all. Instead, the world is broken up into various countries and unions, each with their respective leader. World leaders have huge impact of course, but in reality carefully negotiated coalitions are required when leaders attempt to fix problems beyond their own borders.

Read through the Bible, however, and you discover that things won’t always be like this. It looks forward to a day when, in contrast to all human government which is ultimately flawed, God will visibly step in and rule the world through His chosen king. This leader will have the power of creator, resulting in a renewed earth and unparalleled agricultural fruitfulness (Isaiah 35:1, 7) such that no one will worry about their food supply (Micah 4:4). He will also have the wisdom of God, resulting in the resolution of national conflicts by His adjudication before they can escalate, thus allowing safe disarmament (Micah 4:3). The identify of this supreme Lord? “Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phillippians 2:10-11).

Toughness and tenderness. We might consider these characteristics mutually exclusive. Would someone known only for their toughness be your first choice for a shoulder to cry over? Similarly, someone known only for their tenderness is hardly the person to have by your side when facing imminent danger. In the Bible, shepherds are portrayed as combining both these qualities – the toughness to fight off wild animals, yet the tenderness to care for young lambs. The Lord Jesus significantly identified Himself as the “Good Shepherd”. He displayed not just the inherent strength of the mighty creator, but also an unfathomable shepherd-like strength, seen in His willingness to endure suffering to save others (John 10:11). All who receive Him come into the good of His shepherd care, meaning, among other things, the guarantee of eternal safety (John 10:27-29), and vital nourishment for our souls as we feed on His word by reading the Bible.

We all love praise. Personally it tends to put a spring in my step for the rest of the day. Criticism, on the other hand, is hard to swallow. Typically it triggers a “not justified” initial reaction, with fair minded reflection taking a somewhat longer period to arrive at.
For sure, the most significant review we will ever receive is when our time comes to be assessed by God. This is a day we should all ponder solemnly. The principle that will be applied is perfect fairness (Romans 2:5-9). Nothing will be exempted from the scrutiny, even the secrets of our heart will be out in the open. And no one will be able to say they were treated in an undeserved way. Now consider this: if we’re conscious that we regularly fall short of even our own standards, how can we possibly hope to scrape by, and be accepted into God’s favour on that day?
The Bible repeatedly identifies Jesus Christ as the Judge (John 5:22, 2 Tim 4:1). And herein lies the glory of the Gospel: the One who is Judge of all, is first offered to all as the only Saviour who can remove our sins and provide us perfect acceptance with God.

In this series we are looking at answers to the Lord Jesus’ question “Who do you say that I am?” and considering the Bible’s claim that He is the only Saviour (Acts 4:12).

Christianity is unique for many reasons, and one of these is that it offers a saviour. The Bible teaches that each of us is born into the world estranged from God, as a direct result of our descent from the first man, who led the human race in rebellion against God (Romans 5:12).

This matters, because the Bible warns of a day of judgement after we die (Hebrews 9:27), where what we have done will be assessed by God (Romans 2:3-5,6). In view of this impending judgement, our greatest need is forgiveness – because God’s standard is perfect righteousness. Needless to say, we are incapable of insisting that God forgives us. If we are to be forgiven it must come from God. The good news is that God can and does offer forgiveness – not grudgingly, but freely, completely, unreservedly. This is available to all who receive His Son Jesus Christ (Acts 13:38-39). This is what the Bible means when it says “the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14)

In this series we are looking at answers to the Lord Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” In this blog we consider the Bible’s claim that He is the Creator of all things (Hebrews 1:1-3).

For many, the suggestion that we are made in the image of God by a special act of creation is simply inadmissible. The Bible however begins categorically with an account of the very first week in history during which the breathtaking universe we find ourselves part of was spoken into existence by the almighty God. Not only this, it asserts that the Creator stepped into the world He made, in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:10). It would be fair to expect spectacular evidence to support this claim, and that is exactly what we find in the four gospels! But don’t take our word for it, read them and decide for yourself.

“Who do you say that I am?” The Lord Jesus posed this simple question to His disciples during a quieter moment in their busy schedule (Mark 8:27-29). One thing is clear from the record of that conversation: even while He was still here on earth, there were competing theories as to His identity. Some were absurd, some sparked outrage, and some were simply hot air. Everyone can’t be right – but what do you say? The stakes could not be higher, for the Bible warns that your eternal destiny hinges on your response (John 3:36).