While I am completing my new book on the 365 old testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, from time to time I will include a few excerpts from that book here on B.P.U. The completed work will be much more detailed and extensive. The prophecies that Jesus fulfilled give us both credible evidence for our faith, but also important information that we can share with others who have doubts about the identity of Jesus Christ as God and the only Savior of the world.
The Messiah will have a ministry of healing to validate his identity.
Old Testament Prediction:
Isaiah 35:5-6 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.
New Testament Fulfillment:
Matthew 11:1-6 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Application:
Can you imagine a person telling you that someone would arrive on the world scene at some point in history and that person would be the eternal creator of heaven and earth coming to heal mankind of all of their problems? How could the validity of this claim be tested? One method would be to tell you in advance what this person would be like. What this person would say and do, the kinds of works that they would perform that would validate their identity.
Take for example, The way that you will know this person is by their ability to give sight to the blind, sound to the deaf and mobility to the physically handicapped. Even if you were not alive on the earth when this person was present, you could read the eyewitness testimony of others who had seen and heard what this person had said and done. Virtually everything we believe about past history, we believe because of the eyewitness testimony of others who were there at that point in history. How do we know that George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln were actual persons in past history? We read the testimony of others who saw them, heard them, and then recorded the events for us. The man Jesus Christ is a real person from past history that has been recorded for us by the men who saw, heard and recorded his life for us. There is more historical evidence for the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ than any other historical person in history.
Isaiah recorded that one of the ways in which we will know the promised Messiah is by his ability to open the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and make whole the limbs of the handicapped.
John the Baptist was the last of the old testament prophets. His coming was predicted by Malachi.
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
Jesus confirmed that John the Baptist was to be Elijah, but due to Jesus being rejected and crucified by the leaders of Israel, his ministry as Elijah was cut short.
Matthew 11:14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.
When John was arrested and placed in prison, as he sat there all alone he began to wonder whether Jesus was the promised Messiah. “If Jesus is the one, then why am I sitting here in prison? After all, I was appointed by God to go before the Messiah and announce his arrival. If Jesus is him, why has this happened to me?”
John sent a message from prison to Jesus to ask him if he was the promised Messiah.
“And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
Jesus reply back to John is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 35:5-6: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing”
Jesus told John: “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
“Blessed is he who is not offended because of me”. Often when we suffer as we are Christians, we wonder if Jesus really is the one. We imagine somehow that following Jesus will mean that our problems will be fewer that before we gave our life to him. In reality, trials and tribulations in our life will never end until Jesus returns for us at the rapture. Jesus told us ahead of time that we could expect trials to continue in this life, but not to be in despair because he has already overcome the world:
John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Though trials are certain for all of us who follow Jesus, we have confidence that he will help us make it through each one. A natural result of following Jesus and trusting him through our trials is that we will find that we can have great peace in the midst of those trials. Our response in all moments of fear, anxiety and difficulty is to pray and commit ourselves to the will of the Father.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
We can do this because we know and understand that if the Father loved us so greatly that he has given us his only son, then along will the trial we go through, he will provide his care.
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
The ministry of healing that Jesus displayed was intended to be a sign to the whole world, both during the days that Jesus performed these works, as well as to the present day. There has never been another who could simply touch the eyes of the blind and make them see. Jesus healed everyone who came to him, not just on a few occasions., but always. The eye witness testimony of Jesus is that everywhere he went he opened blind eyes, unstopped deaf ears, and made the crippled stand and walk. His ministry of healing is the old testament prophetic sign, fulfilled in the new testament, that he is the promised Messiah.
