Is Jesus really the Christ? The Messiah? The promised one who God would send to deliver the world from the bondage of sin? The reason we Christians celebrate Christmas is because we believe the Messiah has come and that Jesus of Nazareth is him. But is that true?
The identity of Jesus has been disputed since his lifetime. In Jesus’ day there was a lot of confusion about who Jesus was. If you look at John 7 for example, we see that some believed Jesus was just a good man, some believed him to be a great teacher, others regarded him to be a prophet, some believed he was a rebel leading people astray, and some believed that he was the Messiah. If you look at Matthew 16 Jesus asked his disciples: who do people say that I am? His disciples said that people in their day thought Jesus was either John the Baptist or Ellijah or Jeremiah or some other Old Testament prophet reincarnated. Even today, while many do believe Jesus existed, they have serious doubts about his identity. A poll done by Pew Research in August 2020 “found that 52% of American adults believe that Jesus was a great teacher and nothing more.” So just over 5 in 10 people in our nation don’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
Some even claim that Jesus never admitted to being the Messiah. That is not true. We see that Jesus did in Matthew 16:15-17, Mark 16:61-62, John 4:25-26, John 5:16-18, and he referred to himself as the Son of Man 82 times throughout the gospels; that is a phrase that refers to the Messiah as God in the flesh. So clearly Jesus of Nazareth believed himself to be the Messiah.
But again I ask: is this true? Is Jesus the Messiah and Christ? Is Jesus the Son of God? Is he who he claims to be? And if so, how can we know? What’s the evidence that points to Jesus being the God-promised, anointed and chosen one, who came to deliver Israel and the world from sin? There are four pieces of evidence to consider that supports Jesus is indeed the Messiah.
Evidence #1: Genealogies.
If you recall, the gospel of Matthew opens with a genealogy which begins by saying, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1). Matthew then makes a list of 42 generations until we come to the end of the lists where Matthew writes, “Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.” I told you before Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus can be used to prove Jesus’ existence. But there’s more to it than that. The true purpose behind this genealogy is to prove three facts: 1) Jesus, being descended of King David, is the rightful king of Israel; 2) Jesus, being descended from Abraham, is a Jew; and 3) Jesus, therefore meets the Old Testament requirements to be the promised Messiah. Remember, according to tradition, the Messiah must be a Jew and come from the royal line of David, Jesus did that according to Matthew’s genealogy.
But there is another genealogy we have not mentioned yet and it’s found in the gospel of Luke in 3:23-38. We see that it begins by saying, “Jesus…being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli” (3:23). From there Luke takes us to King David, to Jacob, to Isaac, and to Abraham. Showing us, as Matthew did, that Jesus is a Jew and a royal descendant of King Daved. But then Luke goes beyond where Mattew does; Luke does not stop with Abraham. Luke goes on to show that Jesus is even descended of Noah, Lamech, Methuselah, Enoch, Seth, and even the first man of God’s creation – Adam. Then, Luke ends his genealogy with the words, “the son of God” (3:38). So Where Matthew uses his genealogy to show that Jesus is the true Messiah, Luke’s genealogy is purposed to show that not only is Jesus the Messiah, Jesus is actually the Son of God who has eternally existed.
Evidence #2: Prophecies.
There are a total of 500 prophecies found in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. They deal with the life of the Messiah, his death, his resurrection, and even his second coming; and some deal with his birth. If Jesus is not the Messiah then, he would not have fulfilled any of these prophecies beginning with those prophecies that regard the birth of the Messiah. So, what are those prophecies that concern the Messiah’s birth and did Jesus fulfill them?
The first prophecy that concerns the Messiah’s birth is found in Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and she shall call his name Immanuel.” In case you’re wondering, Immanuel means God with us. So the Messiah, who would come into the world through a virgin and would also be Himself God, according to Isaiah’s prophecy. And according to Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth found in Matthew 1:18-25, Jesus fulfilled this prophecy.
Our second prophecy comes from Micah 5:2: “But you, O Bethelehm Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” This prophecy tells us that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, which belongs to the tribe of Judah, and is eternally existing. And according to Matthew’s gospel in Matthew 2:1-12, Jesus fulfilled this prophecy.
Our third prophecy comes from Numbers 24:17: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.” This prophecy refers to a star that will appear in the sky as a sign that the Messiah has come. According to Matthew’s gospel in Matthew 2:2, Jesus fulfilled this prophecy.
Our fourth prophecy comes from Hosea 11:1: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” This prophecy tells us that the Messiah would flee into Egypt at a very young age. According to Matthew’s account of the gospel in Matthew 2:13-15, this was fulfilled when Joseph, being warned by an angel that Heroed was going to search for the Messiah to destroy him, took Mary his wife and Jesus, who was at the age of two, and fled from Bethlehem to Egypt.
Our fifth prophecy comes from Jeremiah 31:15: “Thus says the LORD: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” In Genesis, Jacob took a wife by the name Rachel. They had two sons: Joseph and Benjamin. Benjamin went on to become part of the tribe of Judah, where Bethlehem exists. This prophecy refers to a night the descendents of Rachel through her son Bejamin would be murdered. According to the gospel of Matthew in Matthew 2:16-18, this was fulfilled the night King Herod ordered the murder of every child in Bethlehem two years of age and younger in order to kill the rightful king of the Jews after hearing about his birth from the wise men. And according to Matthew’s gospel that newborn king that Herod searched for but did not find was Jesus.
Our sixth and final prophecy has to deal with Joseph, Mary, and Jesus returning to Nazareth where Jesus would be raised and called a Nazarene, which we believe comes from Psalm 22:6-7 and Isaiah 53:3. According to Matthew in Matthew 2:19-23, this was also fulfilled.
The truth is, these are just the ones mentioned in Matthew’s gospel. There are more prophecies concerning the birth of the Messiah and Jesus fulfilled them all. Did you know that the chance of one person fulfilling just eight of the Messianic prophecies is 10 to the 17th power in terms of probability? In fact, did you know that Jesus went on to fulfill a total of 324 prophecies during his lifetime? No one else had done that. And what prophecy remains concerns the Messiah’s second coming, which I have no doubt Jesus will do.
Evidence #3: Our third evidence proving that Jesus is who he claims to be is eyewitnesses.
In Matthew 17:1-13 we are told that Jesus took Peter and James and John up to a very high mountain, and was transfigured before them. We are told that “his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” We are also told that “Moses and Elijah” stood “talking with him.” And we are told that a voice from the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
In Peter’s second letter he wrote to the believers about that night saying: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18).
Peter is writing to believers saying that the message he and others claim about Jesus being the Messiah and Son of God is not a lie or a myth. He goes on to say that he was present and witnessed Jesus being transfigured and heard the voice of God the Father saying that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed His only begotten Son!
Evidence #4: Miracles.
Billy Graham once said, “The main reason for Jesus’ miracles was to demonstrate that God was with Him, and that He was the promised Savior sent from God.” There are a total of 37 miracles that are recorded throughout the gospels that Jesus did. Now we all know the virgin birth and resurrection are miraculous pieces of evidence that Jesus is who he claims to be, and that should be enough. But let me give you seven that are recorded in the gospel of John.
We have the miracle where Jesus changed water into wine (John 2). We have the healing of the official’s son (John 4). We have the healing of the paralytic at Bethesda (John 5). We have the feeding of 5,000 (John 6). We have Jesus walking on water (also in John 6). We have Jesus healing the blind man from birth (John 9). And we have Jesus resurrecting Lazarus from the dead (John 11).
Did you know that John’s sole purpose in writing his gospel was to show the miracles that Jesus did, that we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God? In John 20:30 and 31, John wrote that “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life.” In John 21:24 and 25, John also wrote as he was concluding his account of the gospel, “This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” In other words, John is testifying that he recorded, in the very least, seven miracles he witnessed Jesus do which proves the testimony of Jesus. And he recorded them so that we might believe in the testimony of Jesus and be saved.
Did you know that even Jesus testified that his works were evidence of his testimony? In John 5:36, Jesus said, “For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” He said in John 10:25, “The works I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me.” He said in John 10:37-38, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again, in John 14:11, Jesus said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” What is Jesus saying? He is saying, ‘if you don’t believe in my testimony, if you don’t believe in who I say I am, look to the miracles I do as evidence.’ According to Jesus, the miracles he did during his lifetime was evidence that he is who he says he is – the Messiah and Son of God.
Based on these evidences, I believe Jesus is indeed who he claims to be. I believe he is the Messiah and Christ. I believe he is the Son of God. I believe he is the Son of Man. My hope is that you do as well. For only those who believe and accept Jesus’ testimony by faith shall be saved.