The Promise Of A Savior

Dr. Bradford Reaves

CrossWay Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

I’ve written many Christmas sermons. Christmas is a remarkable time of year when many people focus on the birth of Jesus Christ. Even amid gatherings, gifts, and the commercialized aspects of this time of year in our modern world, there still seems to be some shimmer of light of what is behind this celebration: The Promise of a Savior.

Universally, the Nativity is recognized as the Christian aspect of Christmas, and rightly so. There is so much symbolism here. Jesus, of course, is at the center - lying in a manger in a stable. And as we look at the Nativity, we see that Christ is not alone, but people surround him. These were ordinary people serving in a Divine event - The Word becoming flesh.

It is not an understatement that the arrival of the Messiah is unequaled in all events in human history. Superlative in every aspect. Hence, the reason time, seasons, calendars, and history are marked by it. The Birth of Jesus Christ, of course, is not an end in itself. It is the inception of the fulfillment of prophetic words given to the prophets and the induction of something greater to come. You see, without the birth of Christ, there is no Son of God. There is no Crucifixion. There is no propitiation of sin. But there is also no future return, future ascension of the throne, or future Kingdom of God that will be established on his return.

The arrival of Jesus the Christ, the conditions for his coming, his life, his death, and his resurrection are conservatively a fulfillment of over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament. Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah or His times. The Old Testament was written over a period of 1000 years, with the latest portion being 200 years before the arrival of Christ. Moreover, the authenticity of these biblical prophecies are confirmed by Here are just a few examples:

-The serpent and the "seed" of Eve will have a conflict; the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent. Jesus is this seed, and He crushed Satan at the cross. (Genesis 3:14-15, Galatians 4:4, Hebrews 2:14)

-Moses promised another prophet like him would come. Jesus is that prophet. (Matthew 21:11; Luke 7:16; 24:19; John 6:14; 7:40)

-The nations, people, and rulers plot against the Lord and His anointed. The Sanhedrin, the crowd, Herod Antipas, and Pilate plotted against Jesus.

-He would be of the Tribe of Judah (Gen 49:8-10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 1:1-3, Hebrews 7:14, Rev 5:5)

-He would be born in the Town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:205, Matthew 2:1-6)

-He would be in the linage of King David (Isaiah 9:7, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Jeremiah 25:5; 30:9, Matthew 1:1, Luke 1:32, Acts 13:22, 23)

-He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:13-14, Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 1:26-35)

-He would be called a Nazarene (Isaiah 11:1, Psalm 22:6-7, Matthew 2:23, Acts 26:9)

-The Star of Bethlehem at Jesus’ birth (Daniel 9:24-27, Numbers 24:17, Matthew 2:1-2)

-The Slaughtering of the Innocents (Jer 23:15, Matt 2:18)

-The Flee to Egypt (Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:15)

?

Then, we can add aspects of the Messiah’s life to the list:

-He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt (Matthew 21:4–10; Zechariah 9:9).

-A friend would betray him (John 13:18; Psalm 41:9).

-The betrayal would be for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14–16; Zechariah 11:12).

-The money would be used to purchase the potter’s field (Matthew 27:3–10; Zechariah 11:13).

-The Messiah would die a sacrificial death for us (Matthew 27:50; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Daniel 9:26; Isaiah 53:8).

-He would die with criminals, but His burial would be with the wealthy (Matthew 27:57–60; Luke 23:33; Isaiah 53:9).

-He would rise from the dead (Matthew 28:6; Psalm 16:8–11; Isaiah 53:10).

-He would say certain words on the Cross. He would be mocked, and people would gamble for His clothes (Psalm 22:1, 8, 18).

Mathematician Peter Stoner applies the modern science of probability to just eight of these more than 300 prophecies. This lead him to conclude that the chance of the prophesied Messiah fulfilling all eight is one in 10^17 (100,000,000,000,000,000.)

To comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it this way: “…we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly. Blindfold a man and tell him that he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one?”

“Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing just eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote in their own wisdom… This means that the fulfillment of just eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of those [eight] prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only one chance in 10^17 of being absolute.” (Stoner, Peter W. Science Speaks. Chicago: Moody Press, 1963, pp 100-107)