Evidence of Jesus

The Claims of Jesus

Jesus as made many claims such as " I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36), and "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Those are some quite outstanding claims for anyone to make. Jesus has also said that his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) and that he did not come to bring world peace (Matthew 10:34), but rather to give us a personal peace that the world cannot give (John 14:27, John 16:33). The Jesus of the bible claims to have resurrected in the flesh (Luke 24:39) and is said to be now serving as High Priest in the Sanctuary of Heaven (Hebrews 8:1-2). What is Jesus doing now? Interceding for us (Romans 8:34).

Interestingly, there are many today who place Jesus in the same level as other "gods" in order to bring about religious unity and a utopia (the zeitgeist movement appears promote such a thing). A careful look at the esoteric doctrine of secret societies and their history shows an apparent onslaught against Jesus Christ and Word of God.

For extra-biblical evidence of Jesus, see this documentary

Messianic Prophecies

There are various messianic prophecies in the old testament that point to Jesus (see Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:1-3 for example). His birth (Isaiah 7:14), ministry (Isaiah 61:1-1), manner of teaching (Psalms 78:2), betrayal (Zachariah 11:12-13), his oppression and response to it (Isaiah 50:6, Isaiah 53:7), his crucifixion (Psalms 22:16), the vinegar and gall given to him at his last moments of life (Psalms 69:21), being numbered with transgressors and interceding for them (Isaiah 53:12), the reason he came to die (Isaiah 53:5) and the sparing of his bones (Psalms 34:20) are some of the many messianic prophecies. The probability of one man fulfilling all these prophecies is exponentially improbable.

The 70 Week Prophecy

Daniel 9:24 states that "70 weeks are determined" for Daniel's people (the Jewish nation), then verse 25 says explains that this time period is "from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks" (that's 69 weeks). According to Ezra 7:7, the command to restore and build Jerusalem (which marks the beginning of the 69 prophetic weeks) was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, year 457 BCE. Following the "day for a year principle" of Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6, 69 weeks (483 days) would be 483 years. Going 483 forward in the future from 457 BC would take you to 27 AD, which according to Luke 3 is the "fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar", the time of the baptism of Jesus. (Tiberius was granted power in 12 AD).

The 70th Week

After Jesus was baptized he proclaimed "The time is fulfilled" (Mark 1:15). Notice there is one week [7 years] left over from the 70 weeks. Verse 27 explains that after the 69th week "He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice". The middle of the 70th week would be around 31 AD when Jesus was sacrificed on the cross. In 34 AD, the stoning of Stephen marks the end of the 70 week prophecy and the Jewish nation as God's chosen people. Those who are of Christ today are "Abraham's seed and heirs to the promise" (Galatians 3:29) and God's covenant was only renewed in that His law would be written in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). Jesus made a sad remark to the Jews in Matthew 23:37 of how they descended from those who killed the prophets and how God wanted to take them under His wings like a hen, but they refused. It's so very sad that it was their stubbornness that kept them in captivity by other nations. Jesus had come to save them from this stubbornness of sin, and in stubbornness they have rejected him. The Jews wanted an earthly messiah and kingdom, while God simply wanted their heart. He wants our hearts too for His kingdom.

Also see Zeitgeist Refuted