DAY 14
CHALLENGE
“Why should I believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah?”
DEFENSE
The answer depends on one’s viewpoint.
If one is already a believer in the Hebrew Scriptures, then one can point to various prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus. There have been a number of understandings of the Messiah in Judaism, which makes the study of Messianic prophecy complex and beyond the scope of these daily entries.
However, it is worth pointing to a particular prophecy that was fulfilled through Jesus. The prophets declare that “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9; cf. Hab. 2:14).
When these prophecies were given, the number of people who believed in the God of Abraham was vanishingly small. The vast majority of people were polytheists, and the world was covered in pagan darkness.
Today, however, the situation is very different. Half of the human race worships the God of Abraham, and virtually everyone has heard of him. By comparison to the days of the prophets, the world is now covered by the knowledge of the Lord the way the waters cover the sea.
This did not happen by accident. It is part of God’s plan.
It also did not happen apart from Jesus of Nazareth. It was through him that the nations came to worship the God of Abraham. Consequently, he has a very prominent role in God’s plan.
This role is linked to his claim to be the Messiah. Without this claim, the nations would not have come to believe in God through him, and he is the single most successful messianic claimant in history, such that even those who do not believe in him routinely refer to him as “Jesus Christ” (Christos being the Greek word for “Messiah”). As a result, his role as Messiah must be given serious and open-minded consideration.
If one is not yet a believer in the Hebrew Scriptures, or even if one is, a particularly striking proof of Jesus’ role as Messiah is provided by his Resurrection. We have good evidence that this event happened (see Days 206–215), and just as miracles validate the ministries of prophets (see Day 78), this miracle validates Jesus’ ministry and qualifies him to tell us what his role in God’s plan is.