Pastor Frank DeFusco
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Their answers varied. “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Jesus goes on to ask, “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus did not rebuke Peter, but instead Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
The Old Testament contains 332 Messianic prophecies that not only predict the promised Messiah’s nature (God incarnate), but also His birth (Seed of the woman/virgin birth), where He is born (Bethlehem, Judah), His lineage (through that of King David), His miracles, that He will be betrayed and rejected, His death, His resurrection, and His future return. Isaiah predicts the Messiah will be the Son of God, and titled “El Gibbor,” which means, “Mighty God “(Isaiah 9:6 and 10:21). Daniel predicted the actual day when the Messiah would be presented to the Jews, in Jerusalem, which was the same day that Jesus of Nazareth, sitting atop a colt of a donkey, rode into Jerusalem, while the crowd cried out Hosanna, “Blessed is the King of Israel, that comes in the name of the Lord.” (John 12:12-15).
Mathematician Peter Stoner calculated the probability/odds of any one man fulfilling even a minuscule 8 of the over 300 prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus, at 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. Put in perspective-– imagine that the entire state of Texas is covered with silver dollars two feet deep that includes one marked with red paint. Set a blind man amid them, then as he is walking about, he bends over and the first silver dollar he picks up is the red one. In comparison, the Mega Millions lottery had a $1.6 billion jackpot in October 2018, whose odds of winning were merely 1 in 302,575,350. After studying the evidence, well-known atheist, Professor C.S. Lewis, converted to Christianity. Afterward, he was frequently confronted by people who rejected Jesus Christ’s claims that He is God. In response, Professor Lewis commented, “You must make your choice. Either the man was and is the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit on him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
So, the question posed by Jesus to His disciples, I now pose to you: “Who do you say Jesus is?” I pray your answer is, “My Lord and my God.”
Pastor Frank teaches two Bible Studies a week, Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and Thursdays at 4 p.m., in Pima/Toltec Rooms, Sports Club. Call Ellen at 610-428-7244 if you have questions.