Reason 9 of 13
The Messiah was described centuries before
The Hebrew Scriptures, written long before Jesus, speak of a servant who would suffer for the sins of others, a ruler from Bethlehem and a pierced one. The Dead Sea Scrolls prove these texts are older than Jesus.
The suffering servant
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 describes a servant of God who is despised, pierced for the transgressions of others, silent before his accusers, buried with the rich and then sees light and is exalted. A complete copy of Isaiah among the Dead Sea Scrolls dates to the second century BC, so the text cannot have been written after Jesus.
3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. 4Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:3-6 (WEB) · context
9They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:9 (WEB) · context
11After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:11 (WEB) · context
Bethlehem and the pierced one
Micah names Bethlehem as the birthplace of a ruler whose origins are from of old. Zechariah writes of Jerusalem looking on the one they pierced and mourning for him.
2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.
Micah 5:2 (WEB) · context
10I will pour on David’s house and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. They will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10 (WEB) · context
16For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet. 17I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me. 18They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.
Psalms 22:16-18 (WEB) · context
The strongest objection, stated fairly
The Gospel writers knew these texts and could have shaped their stories to fit them.
How it answers
Some details were outside anyone's control, such as where Jesus was born or how He died. And no one would invent a crucified Messiah to win Jewish converts: Paul called it a stumbling block. The early Christians found these passages after the events had surprised them.
23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks,
1 Corinthians 1:23 (WEB) · context
Where Christians disagree
- Jewish interpreters usually read the servant of Isaiah 53 as the people of Israel. Psalm 22:16 has a textual question: the traditional Hebrew text reads like a lion at my hands and feet, while the Septuagint and a Dead Sea Scroll fragment support a verb such as pierced. We give these honestly; the case does not rest on one verse.
Sources
- Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Micah 5:2; Zechariah 12:10; Psalm 22
- The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Israel Museum, Jerusalem
- Michael L. Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, vol. 3 (Baker, 2003)
Why the evidence matters
If Jesus rose, His offer is real
God loves you and gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish.