“What Will It Take?”

“This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”  Matthew 21:4 (ESV).

There is some discussion on exactly how many Messianic Prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Most agree that at least 300 Old Testament Prophecies were fulfilled, but J. Barton Payne has found as many as 574 verses in the Old Testament that somehow point to or describe or reference the coming Messiah. Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah or His times.” [1] Regardless of which number you use, it’s evident that the odds that Jesus would fulfill from 300 to 574 prophecies that were prophesied about him for thousands of years before His birth are staggering. John MacArthur said that he could not have come to faith in Jesus had He not been prophesied about throughout Scripture. And I agree with Him.

You see, the Old Testament, all the way from Genesis through Micah, gave specific prophecies that Jesus fulfilled to the letter. This is what convinced His disciples that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. Just look at what Jesus told the disciples of John the Baptist when he asked, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matt. 11:3), and what did Jesus reply to them?

“And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Matt. 11:4-6). This was a reference from Isaiah 29:18-19, 35:5-10, and Malachi 3:1, which prophesied some 700 and 400 years before the birth of Jesus.  You see, Jesus knew that John the Baptist, his cousin, would be familiar with these references in the Old Testament Scriptures. And that John would be convinced beyond any doubt that Jesus was indeed “the one who is to come”.

The leaders of the Jews also knew the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah, and “When the chief priest and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them, and when they sought to seize Him, they feared the multitudes, because they held Him to be a prophet.” (Matt. 21:45-46). You see, anyone familiar with the Books of Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament knew what Jesus was teaching when he said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes”? (Matt. 21:42).

You see, Jesus was sent to the Lost Sheep of Israel, to the Jews first, to show them that He had fulfilled over 300 prophecies given to the Jews for thousands of years about His coming. He wanted to bring all His lost sheep back to God, but as a nation, they would not be convinced. No matter how many times Jesus performed miracles that directly pointed to Him being the promised Messiah, they would NOT be convinced; they refused to believe.

Many of the normal Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles did believe; they accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah, and because of their faith, they would enter the coming Kingdom of God, simply through faith that their God was a promise keeper, and that He had indeed sent His only begotten Son to rescue His people from their sins.

Today, my friends, we have a question before us as well: “What will it take to convince you that Jesus is the only way to the Father?” Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). Will the more than 300 fulfilled Old Testament Prophecies convince you?  Will the more than 20 healings and miracles recorded in the Gospels convince you? Will the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to the Apostles and many disciples, as well as to more than 500 people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6), convince you that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the only one who could take away the sins of the world?

God has given all of us indisputable proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” What else do you need to be convinced?

Won’t you allow the Biblical evidence to convince you to put your faith and trust in God’s Only Begotten Son, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:16-19). What will it take for you to accept the gift of eternal life that Jesus died to secure for you? “What will it take?”

Listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your heart, don’t put it off, don’t try to reason it away. Trust in Jesus today and find that peace you have been searching for. God has given you all the proof you need. Accept his precious gift of eternal life today.

 "Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"

[1] from https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html