The Case for Jesus as Christ.
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There are 323 messianic prophecies made in the Bible, and Jesus fulfilled 109 here on earth.
You may be thinking, so he didn’t fulfill all of them? No he didn’t. It is important to note that the Bible in the OT talks about the Messiah coming twice. The first time is to suffer and die for our sins and the second time he comes to conquer and set up his eternal reign. But for Jesus to fulfill over 109 in his first trip is amazing, and here’s why (through numbers and probability):
There have been multiple groups of men to complete calculations on the probability of one man completing all these prophecies. Multiple studies have been done on one man completing just eight prophecies (the easiest eight as well might I add), and the probability of one man accomplishing this feat was 1 in 10^17.
To help you grasp how big that number is, take silver dollars. If you laid 10^17 silver dollars out over the face of Texas, that would cover the whole state two feet deep. Now say I mark one of those silver dollars tar heel blue and blindfold you. You can travel anywhere you want to in Texas but you can only pick up one silver dollar. What’s the chance of you picking the tar heel blue one? That chance is the same as the prophets in writing just eight prophecies and having them all come to be fulfilled.
Here’s another: The probability of you becoming President and winning the Mega Millions billion dollar lottery is 9.8 times 10^15, which is GREATER than the probability of a man fulfilling eight biblical prophecies.
And Jesus FULFILLED 109!!!
To take it further, one study by a group led by Professor Peter Stoner calculated that the probability of any one man fulfilling 48 prophecies was 1 in 1^157. 1 in 10^157!!!
For reference again, once you get past 1 in 10^50, the probability basically becomes impossible. This is why it is so hard to calculate the probability of one man completing all 109 prophecies Jesus did, because the number is SO SO low.
Here’s an example of how big 10^157 is:
Electrons are tiny and help make up atoms. It takes 2.5 times 10^15 electrons to make one inch. And if we counted at 250 electrons a minute, which would be fast, it would take 19 MILLION years to count each electron in that one inch.
Now take 10 inches of electrons. That number is 9.53 times 10^153 (close to 10^157), which is still less than the probability of a man fulfilling 48 prophecies. Take that number, and at the same counting pace it would take 190 MILLION years to count all electrons! 190 MILLION years!
Here’s another:
It has been estimated that there are somewhere between 10^20 and 10^25 grains of sand on the whole earth. That is a wide range for an estimate, but it is the best we as humans can do, without counting them all. Suppose you took one grain of sand and used a laser to engrave your initials on it. Now mix it up with all the other grains of sand everywhere in the world. The probability you pick a grain of sand with your engraved initials is FAR FAR greater than the probability of one man fulfilling just 48 prophecies! In fact, its 6 times greater!
And again, Jesus FULFILLED 109 prophecies!
Lastly, and most drastically, take this example:
The probability of you being struck by lightning, winning a gold medal in the olympics, winning the Mega Millions billion dollar lottery, being born with either 11 fingers or toes, winning an Oscar, being attacked by a shark, being injured by a toilet, making it to the NBA, and lastly, being killed by a meteorite, is
4.87 times 10^49. WHICH IS STILL THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO HAPPEN THAN ONE MAN FULFILLING 48 PROPHECIES!!!
To my bettors out there, are there any of you who would not invest in a financial venture or a sports bet where the chance of failure was 1 in 10^17? How about 1 in 10^157?
The absolute safest bet you can ever make is Jesus being Christ. Take it to the bank!