Jesus Christ is Indeed the Messiah

or centuries it has been debated on whether or not Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.  Many have come, and will come, claiming to be the Christ.  How do we know who is truly the Messiah?  We find the answer in the Bible, the holy Word of God.

he Bible, written over a time-span of 1,500 years, by over 40 writers, accurately details the coming of Jesus Christ.  The Scriptures, given by inspiration of God (2 Tim 3:16), prophesied clearly regarding His birthplace, being born of a virgin, where He would grow up, His physical appearance, how He would die,  His resurrection, ascension, and ultimately, His second coming to bring in God’s kingdom to reign on the earth.  In 2 Peter 1:21 we read, “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  The Bible divinely prophesies about the coming of the Messiah and also documents how Jesus Christ fulfilled every requirement, proving that He is the Messiah.

The Prophecy Concerning the Messiah

aniel, a major prophet in the Old Testament, prophesied: 

“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,

To make an end of sins,

To make reconciliation for iniquity,

To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy,

And to anoint the Most Holy.

Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.  And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself,”

Daniel 9:24-26a

Written about 540 years prior to the coming of the Messiah, this prophecy declares what Jesus Christ will accomplish and when.

The Meaning of the Prophecy

essiah means “the Anointed One”, and He is the liberator or savior of an oppressed people.  Today, mankind is oppressed by sin.  Man cannot save himself from sin and needs salvation.  The world is filled with unrighteousness and  injustice.  People continually offend one another, making it impossible to achieve peace.  Everyone is looking for someone who can solve all the problems of man.  Daniel prophesied of such a One, the solution to all the problems.  The Messiah is the man, Jesus Christ.  He is the only Man who lived a perfect human life.  As a righteous man, He was cruelly crucified.   The shedding of His innocent blood took away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and thereby reconciled man back to God (Romans 6:10).  He also became the life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45b) to free man from sin and death (Romans 8:2) and give man the ability to live a righteous life (Romans 8:4).  The Messiah, as the Anointed One, fully liberated man from the oppression of sin.

he prophecy also describes when the Messiah would come.  Daniel wrote “from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks,” that is 69 weeks.  In the context of this passage, 1 week equals 7 years, thus 69 weeks are 483 years.  The Old Testament also counts 1 year as a prophetic year containing only 360 days (as opposed to the Gregorian calendar we use today which counts 365.25 days).  Multiplying 483 years by 360 days results in a time period of 173,880 days.  According to history during Daniel’s time, Israel was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, and Jerusalem was destroyed.  Years later, King Artaxerxes of Persia issued the decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem as recorded in Nehemiah.  Nehemiah 2:1 refers to the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year reign of King Artaxerxes which according to history occurred on March 5, 444 BC.  From this historic date counting exactly 173,880 days later brings us to March 30, 33 AD.  What significance does this date have?

ombining two passages in the New Testament, confirms March 30, 33 AD to be the day Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and was proclaimed king (Zechariah  9:9; John 12:12-16).  The gospel of Luke, indirectly gave the year of 33 AD.  According to Luke 3:1, Tiberius was in his 15^th year reign at the same time Jesus was about 30 years of age.  History states Tiberius became Ceasar the day Augustus died on August 19, 14 AD.  The start of his 15^th year would be August 19, 28 AD.  Luke 3:23 said Jesus was approximately 30 years old when He began His ministry.  His ministry ended 3.5 years later at His crucifixion in the year 33 AD.  In the year 33 AD, the Passover occurred on April 3.  The gospel of John tells us 6 days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany (John 12:1).  John 12:12-15 shows us that the next day Jesus entered Jerusalem and was proclaimed King of Israel.  This proves that the date He entered Jerusalem was March 30^th, 5 days before the Passover.  The gospels of Luke and John confirmed the only day Jesus Christ was proclaimed the King by the Jews to be March 30, 33 AD.  Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel to the exact date that Daniel said the Messiah, “the Prince”, would come.

here are many other prophecies in the Old testament detailing the coming of the Messiah, and the New Testament records the fulfillment of the prophecies through the Man, Jesus Christ.  A few examples are the birthplace of Christ being in the city of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1) and being born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 2).  Only God could inspire the many authors to write the Bible so precisely.  Also it was only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was uniquely qualified to be the Messiah as He fulfilled all the requirements of the prophecies.

od went to such great lengths to document His coming in the Scriptures and fulfill all the prophesies through His Son for one purpose: He wants to save you.  Jesus Christ as the Messiah is now waiting to become your Savior today.  He only asks you to believe in Him, to receive Him as your Savior, and to be baptized into Him (Romans 10:9; John 1:12; Mark 16:16).  The Bible tells us the greatest sin is the sin of unbelief (John 16:8-9).  The Bible made it abundantly clear that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, your Savior.  All you have to do is “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus Christ from among the dead, and you will be saved,” (Romans 10:9).  Dear friend, do not delay, and receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, your Messiah, your Savior.