"That Jesus was crucified [under Pontius Pilate] is as certain as anything historical can ever be" ~ Liberal Scholar John Dominic Crossan.
There is a unique "Isaiah Argument" for Christianity that exists for no other religion. Isaiah was a Hebrew Prophet in the Royal Court of King Hezekiah. He delivered various prophecies about the future, especially about the Messiah, and what this Messiah would do when He came.
1. Isaiah 53 is one single passage that has probably led to Millions accepting Christ because it such a Clear Prophecy about Him that pre-dates His Birth:
This is a Clear Prophecy that the Messiah will offer Himself as a Sacrificial Lamb for the sins of His People. Only Jesus Christ has ever done this.
Here is a Video about this with some 4 MN views from Tree Life of Ministries in Israel itself. It is in Hebrew, but there are English sub-titles.
https://youtu.be/cGz9BVJ_k6s
2. This also shows the Pharisaic/Rabbinic conception of the Messiah is wrong: Although some Pre-Christian Rabbis got it right, that the Messiah would suffer, after Isaiah 53 caused such great controversy that many became Christian because of it, because it was evidently fulfilled in Jesus Christ, some began to deny the Messiah would suffer and die for our sins, and instead claimed this Prophecy was referring to the Nation of Israel. Even a slight knowledge of Isaiah suffices to refute that: Isaiah says the Servant is Righteous and Innocent and suffers for the sins of His People. Right from the beginning of Isaiah, however, the Prophet says the people most certainly are not righteous and sinless, but fallen and sinful! Hence, the Servant is not the people themselves, and that is a Pharisaic/Rabbinic Sophism which Christianity has often answered before.
See Isaiah 1:4 for e.g.: "Woe, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who act corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged!"
Lol, easiest false argument to ever knock down. Granted that the people are a sinful nation, therefore, and the Messiah is an Innocent Victim suffering for their and the world's sins, it clearly follows that the Servant/Messiah is not the people themselves, but the Messiah who dies for the sins of His people. Next, the Messiah is not Israel, but a Son of Israel, whose mission/vocation is to gather in the Gentiles/non-Jews, and bring God's Salvation to the ends of Earth. Isaiah 53 is actually the 4th of 4 Suffering Servant Passages in Isaiah, and this is clearly stated in an earlier one, Isaiah 49: "5 And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob [Israel] back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— 6 he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
The Messiah is someone who has to spread God's Message of Salvation to every Nation, as Jesus Christ alone has clearly done in history; there were other false messiahs in Jesus Christ's time, some of them are mentioned in Acts and by Josephus, but neither of them did these 2 things.
3. Why this Prophecy is evidence for Divine Omniscience: So, as mentioned, only 2 things are taken for granted here (1) That Jesus Christ truly was crucified, which even Crossan says is as certain as a historical fact can ever be. (2) That Christianity did spread throughout the world, bringing the message of salvation from the God of Israel and His Suffering Messiah, exactly as the prophecies of the Servant in 49 and 53 require.
So, how did all this come about? Just a "chance" fulfilment as usual? Gotta love that chance. Rather, since it's extremely unlikely Jesus Christ could ever have known that the True Messiah was supposed to die and sacrifice Himself for our sins - as most of the Rabbis have held otherwise - unless in fact He were the True Messiah and Son of God and, even having done that (as Crossan and others acknowledge He did), could never have ensured that His Message would live on and reach the farthest ends of the Earth, as it had to per Isaiah 49, and as it actually has in history, then that's further evidence of Christ's Omniscience and Omnipotence. He was able to foretell these things and then bring it about because He was God.
Thoughts?
There is a unique "Isaiah Argument" for Christianity that exists for no other religion. Isaiah was a Hebrew Prophet in the Royal Court of King Hezekiah. He delivered various prophecies about the future, especially about the Messiah, and what this Messiah would do when He came.
1. Isaiah 53 is one single passage that has probably led to Millions accepting Christ because it such a Clear Prophecy about Him that pre-dates His Birth:
Quote:
This is a Clear Prophecy that the Messiah will offer Himself as a Sacrificial Lamb for the sins of His People. Only Jesus Christ has ever done this.
Here is a Video about this with some 4 MN views from Tree Life of Ministries in Israel itself. It is in Hebrew, but there are English sub-titles.
https://youtu.be/cGz9BVJ_k6s
2. This also shows the Pharisaic/Rabbinic conception of the Messiah is wrong: Although some Pre-Christian Rabbis got it right, that the Messiah would suffer, after Isaiah 53 caused such great controversy that many became Christian because of it, because it was evidently fulfilled in Jesus Christ, some began to deny the Messiah would suffer and die for our sins, and instead claimed this Prophecy was referring to the Nation of Israel. Even a slight knowledge of Isaiah suffices to refute that: Isaiah says the Servant is Righteous and Innocent and suffers for the sins of His People. Right from the beginning of Isaiah, however, the Prophet says the people most certainly are not righteous and sinless, but fallen and sinful! Hence, the Servant is not the people themselves, and that is a Pharisaic/Rabbinic Sophism which Christianity has often answered before.
See Isaiah 1:4 for e.g.: "Woe, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who act corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged!"
Lol, easiest false argument to ever knock down. Granted that the people are a sinful nation, therefore, and the Messiah is an Innocent Victim suffering for their and the world's sins, it clearly follows that the Servant/Messiah is not the people themselves, but the Messiah who dies for the sins of His people. Next, the Messiah is not Israel, but a Son of Israel, whose mission/vocation is to gather in the Gentiles/non-Jews, and bring God's Salvation to the ends of Earth. Isaiah 53 is actually the 4th of 4 Suffering Servant Passages in Isaiah, and this is clearly stated in an earlier one, Isaiah 49: "5 And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob [Israel] back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— 6 he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
The Messiah is someone who has to spread God's Message of Salvation to every Nation, as Jesus Christ alone has clearly done in history; there were other false messiahs in Jesus Christ's time, some of them are mentioned in Acts and by Josephus, but neither of them did these 2 things.
3. Why this Prophecy is evidence for Divine Omniscience: So, as mentioned, only 2 things are taken for granted here (1) That Jesus Christ truly was crucified, which even Crossan says is as certain as a historical fact can ever be. (2) That Christianity did spread throughout the world, bringing the message of salvation from the God of Israel and His Suffering Messiah, exactly as the prophecies of the Servant in 49 and 53 require.
So, how did all this come about? Just a "chance" fulfilment as usual? Gotta love that chance. Rather, since it's extremely unlikely Jesus Christ could ever have known that the True Messiah was supposed to die and sacrifice Himself for our sins - as most of the Rabbis have held otherwise - unless in fact He were the True Messiah and Son of God and, even having done that (as Crossan and others acknowledge He did), could never have ensured that His Message would live on and reach the farthest ends of the Earth, as it had to per Isaiah 49, and as it actually has in history, then that's further evidence of Christ's Omniscience and Omnipotence. He was able to foretell these things and then bring it about because He was God.
Thoughts?
