Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, “
Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “
An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgement with this generation and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgement with this generation and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, someone greater than Solomon is here.(Matthew 12:38-42 WEBPB)
Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who are dying, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.(2 Corinthians 4:3-4 WEBPB)
“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
“He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”(Luke 16:19-31 WEBPB)
What about the more than a thousand of fulfilled prophecies, including hundreds regarding Christ Jesus?
Prophecies concerning Jesus and others have proven the message of the Bible.
a. Conservatively, at least 300 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament have been fulfilled perfectly in the New Testament. For example:
- Psalm 22, written around 1000 BC, was fulfilled during Jesus' crucifixion, when He was "pierced," His clothes divided, lots cast for His garments, and darkness covered the land.
- Isaiah 53, written around 700 BC, details the suffering servant and the crucifixion of Jesus.
- Psalm 16:10, written around 1000 BC, foreshadows Jesus’ resurrection.
- See many more examples in this link.
b. In total, approximately 2,500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, the majority of which have already been fulfilled to the letter—no errors. The remaining prophecies have either been overlooked or reach into the future and may be seen unfolding as days go by.
- The probability of over 300 prophecies being perfectly fulfilled in Jesus is colossal. The probability of the majority (commonly cited as about 2000) of the approximately 2500 prophecies recorded in Scripture being fulfilled is monumental.
- Statistically speaking, it's more likely for someone blindfolded to randomly select one specific grain of sand from all the beaches around the world on their first try than for all the prophecies of Jesus to be fulfilled in a person by chance.
- Furthermore, since the probability for any one of the, for computational purposes, 2000 prophecies having been fulfilled by chance averages less than one in ten (figured very conservatively), and since the prophecies are for the most part independent of one another, the odds for all these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance without error are less than one in 10^2000 (that is, 1 with 2,000 zeros written after it)!
c. The perfect fulfilment of such a vast multitude of prophecies provides staggering evidence of the Bible’s divine inspiration.
What about the archaeological evidence of these "fictitious" tales?
