Great stories take time to write. J.R.R. Tolkien used his personal experience fighting in the trenches of WWI and the backdrop of WWII to write his Lord of the Rings trilogy. It took him 18 years to complete the three volumes. Russian writer Leo Tolstoy took seven years to complete the 1300-page epic novel War and Peace. And, in 1939, Gone with the Wind made its theatrical debut—but only after Margaret Mitchell spent 13 years composing the four-hour classic.
The Christmas story wasn’t an overnight inspiration. Long before Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, God had been writing a script, cultivating expectation in page after page of prophecy throughout Scripture. In fact, about of one-fourth of the Bible is predictive prophecy. And, while many of the prophecies had a near-term, historic fulfillment, each also pointed to a future, greater fulfillment at the coming of Christ. Prophecy is God hanging Christmas lights throughout history, shining the way to Jesus.
There are easily more than 300 prophecies identifying the coming Messiah. Consider the following selection:
- The Messiah will be born a descendent of Abraham (Genesis 22:18)
- The Messiah will be born from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10)
- The Messiah will be born a descendant of David (Psalm 132:11, Jeremiah 23:5)
- The Messiah will be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
- The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
- The Messiah will be presented gifts at His birth from kings (Psalm 72:10)
- The Messiah will be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
- The Messiah will bless people with peace (Psalm 29:11)
- The Messiah will begin His ministry in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1)
- The Messiah will teach in parables (Psalm 78:2)
- The Messiah will be a king (Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 2:6)
- The Messiah will be called Lord (Psalm 110:1)
- The Messiah will be rejected by the Jews (Isaiah 28:16)
- The Messiah will be accused falsely (Psalm 35:11)
- The Messiah will be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9)
- The Messiah will be silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53:7)
- The Messiah will be betrayed with 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12)
- The Messiah will have His hands and feet pierced (Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 12:10)
- The Messiah will be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9)
- The Messiah will rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10)
Though just a small sample of prophecies, it is a remarkable list. It’s conceivable that any person could fulfill one or two prophecies mentioned. But for a person to fulfill all of them is a statistical absurdity.
In 1958, Peter Stoner, Chairman of the Mathematics and Astronomy Department at Pasadena City College, decided to calculate the probability of one person fulfilling all the Old Testament prophecies pointing to the Messiah. The odds were so astronomical that Dr. Stoner decided to limit his calculations to just eight prophecies. His scientific conclusion was that for one person to fulfill just eight prophecies was 1 x 1017. That’s one person in one hundred quadrillion people!
Let’s put those odds into perspective. It’s estimated that 108 billion people have lived on earth since the beginning of time. Imagine all those people living on our planet all at once. Then imagine, not one, but one million of those over-populated spheres floating about in space. That’s one hundred quadrillion people and only one person among all of those millions of billions of people could possibly fulfill just eight messianic prophecies. Reasonable people, like Dr. Stoner, conclude that it’s a practical impossibility.
Yet Jesus fulfilled, not just eight, but every single one!
HANGING CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
Some people think prophecy is only interesting to biblical scholars. But prophecy is helpful for every one of God’s people in two ways: confirmation and expectation. First, prophecy gives us confirming confidence in the identity of Jesus, the Messiah. When I call a ride service to pick me up at the airport, I might let the driver know “I’m the fellow in the blue blazer and tan pants with the red suitcase” so that he locates the right customer at the curb. When Jesus was born, people could have immediately identified Him as the expected Messiah through Old Testament prophecy.
Today, prophecy continues to validate the uniqueness of Jesus and gives us strong confidence that He alone is God’s Son, the Savior sent to save the world.
Just as prophecy is helpful for looking backwards, it’s equally helpful for looking forward into the future. For hundreds of years, God revealed bits of information that assured His people that a real Messiah was coming. And prophecies not yet fulfilled at Jesus’ first advent cultivate great hope in God’s people today as we look toward Jesus’ return. Prophecy is like a highway sign letting a tourist know that they are on the right road and that their destination is just ahead.
Some time ago, a psychology professor made the unusual discovery that spoilers don’t spoil anything. While most people think that knowing the end of a story ruins the final outcome, research shows that having a little information about the final chapter actually enhances a reader’s experience. Follow-up research also discovered that knowing the end helped a reader enjoy the entire story, not just the finale.
Every prophecy in the Bible is a “spoiler alert.” Throughout the pages of Scripture, God announces His triumphal plan to send His Son to live, die, rise from the dead, and return in glorious splendor to defeat His enemies and reign forever. The story is still being written and we are living our own chapter of God’s redemptive plan. However, we know how the story ends and unfulfilled prophecy inspires us with expectant hope.