I READ IT IN A BOOK
By Jon Quinn
I read it all in a book. You have probably read this book before. At least you have read in it. I read about how a great teacher was put to death. The book told how He was betrayed by a friend for thirty pieces of silver. It told of His betrayer becoming remorseful and throwing the money down in the temple. It told about how the teacher's disciples were scattered, running away from Him to save their own lives when the mob came to arrest Him. The book told about the false witnesses lying about Him and how that He did not open His mouth to make a defense even though He was guiltless. The book graphically depicted how they beat Him, spit upon Him and mocked Him. And then, how they pierced His hands and feet and put Him to death along with criminals. It told of how both enemies and friends witnessed these events and how His enemies divided His garments and gambled for His clothing. It told that they offered Him vinegar to drink as He suffered. The book told of the words He spoke including the awful cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" The book said that even though He suffered such a violent death that none of His bones was broken; but His side was pierced through and that He would be buried in a place for the rich.
Though these events have been written about in many books through the centuries, the book to which I am referring is the first book to have ever mentioned them. Do you know the name of the book to which I am referring? Perhaps you are thinking "That's an easy one...you're referring to the New Testament." No, that's not the one. The New Testament was only the second book which recorded the events above. The first book to ever do so was the Old Testament!
THE DEATH OF CHRIST, THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE SKEPTIC
"And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures" (LUKE 24:27).
The Old Testament was completed about 450 B.C. All of the events you read about concerning the death of Jesus in the above section were written down over four centuriesbefore He was born! There are many, many evidences that the Bible is what it claims to be, but this is one of the most powerful evidences that the Bible is really the product of the mind of God and not the imagination of men.
The skeptic and the doubter are hopelessly inadequate to explain how it was that these events were predicted so precisely hundreds of years before they occurred if the Bible is not the Word of God. Some have suggested that maybe the Old Testament was really written later, after Jesus had already gone through this ordeal, and merely pretended to have been written earlier. Or at least that it had been altered after the crucifixion to make it fit with what occurred. But such is impossible! Here is why.
ARCHAEOLOGY, THE SEPTUAGINT AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
"Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said unto them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day" (LUKE 24:45,46).
The writings that make up our Old Testament were all completed by 450 B.C. One way we can check on this today is through archaeological investigation. For example, Jeremiah's scribe, according to the Old Testament, was named "Baruch" (JEREMIAH 32:12, etc.). Archaeologists have found the seal he would use to seal his letters. Also discovered are the seals of several other individuals named in the Bible showing that these people lived during the times that the Bible says and not later.
Secondly, the Septuagint proves conclusively that these prophecies were written centuries before Christ. In the several centuries before Christ, more and more Jews found themselves speaking, or at least writing, in Greek. A group of scholars got together about 250 B.C. to translate the Old Testament Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek. The fact that the Septuagint exists at all proves that the Hebrew prophecies were already in existence at least two and a half centuries before Jesus' birth. Finally, the wonderful discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls which included many preserved manuscripts from the times before Jesus also show that these prophecies had already been recorded.
THE PROPHECIES AND THE FULFILLMENT
"Now He said unto them, 'These are My words which I spoke unto you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the
Psalms must be fulfilled" (LUKE 24:44).
Those remarkable prophecies listed earlier about the death of Christ, written centuries before His birth, can be found as follows:
PROPHECY FULFILLMENT
Betrayed by friend PSALM 41:9; 55:12-14 JOHN 13:21
30 pieces of silver ZECH 11:12 MATT 26:15
Money thrown back ZECH 11:13b MATT 27:5a
Disciples run away ZECH 13:7 MARK 14:50
False witnesses PSALM 35:11 MATT 26:59,60
Remained silent ISAIAH 53:7 MATT 27:12
Beaten, spit upon ISAIAH 50:6 MATT 26:67
Mocked PSALM 22:7,8 MATT 27:31
Pierced hands & feet PSALM 22:16 LUKE 23:33
Put with criminals ISAIAH 53:12 MATT 27:38
Friends witness death PSALM 38:11 LUKE 23:49
Enemies reproach PSALM 109:25 MATT 27:39
Gambling for clothes PSALM 22:18 JOHN 19:23,24
Suffering thirst PSALM 69:21 JOHN 19:28
Forsaken cry PSALM 22:1a MATT 27:46
Bones unbroken PSALM 34:20 JOHN 19:33
Pierced side ZECH 12:10 JOHN 19:34
Buried with rich ISAIAH 53:9 MATT 27:57-60
These are not the only passages which prophecy of Jesus' death. And we haven't even had time to consider the "picture prophecies" such as the Passover lamb and the brass serpent lifted up in the wilderness. But that's O.K. We can read all about it in the books; either the Old Testament or New Testament!
