Using the Historical Proof of Scripture to Come to Jesus with Confidence and Hope

This is an excerpt from the Body of Proof Bible Study Book by Jeremiah J. Johnston.

Any parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle, can probably relate with having to repeat exciting announcements to children. They usually say something like, “Wait, what?” or “Seriously?” Whether because of disbelief or unfamiliarity, they need to be told more than once. Or if you have coached a team, maybe you’ve said some- thing like, “It’ll be worth it in the end,” to encourage the players to trust you and the process. Athletes must be reminded of where they are and the goal and then adjust their expectations. Jesus’s disciples were no different. They suffered from a brand of disbelieving faith and wrong expectations, and they misunderstood what the real Messiah and true Messianic mission looked like. So, Jesus had to speak very pointedly—and they did not like it. And in response, Peter made a remarkable confession, boldly proclaiming Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. Yet, what kind of Messiah would Jesus be? Jesus had been hinting at all His messianic mission would entail, but the disciples still didn’t understand. They expected a conqueror, not a sufferer. Jesus didn’t wait to explain; He took the teaching opportunity.  

At first, Peter got it right. But Peter went from proclaiming Jesus the Messiah to being called “Satan” and being told to get back in line just a few minutes later. Can you relate? We can get things right in our faith, and then have the rug pulled out from us when we misapply what we get right. This is why context is so helpful when we study Scripture. Did you know the Gospels record less than one month of Jesus’s life? In fact, we only have snippets, or parts, of around twenty-four to twenty-six days of the earthly life of Jesus. In God’s plan, we didn’t need more than a month of Jesus’s life recorded for the power of the gospel to be unleashed and mankind to be rescued. As we open our Bible study this week, the most important aspect of the Gospels is the intentional focus on the final eight days of Jesus’s earthly ministry. This final week or so of Jesus’s life is referred to by many as “The Passion of the Christ.” Hearing this descriptor may be confusing to some. Why do so many people refer to Jesus’s suffering, death, and resurrection as “the passion”?

The term “passion” is connected to the Latin word passiō, which means suffering. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus resetting the disciples’ (and our) expectations about what kind of Messiah He would be. These predictions were meant to lead the first disciples and disciples today to realize Jesus is who He claimed to be. Because Jesus is who He claimed to be we can look to Him with confidence and hope. Jesus’s passion predictions are the climactic tipping point of the Gospels. But the passion was not just predicted in the Gospels, the predictions began in the Old Testament. To quote a great twentieth-century scholar, “Jesus found himself in the Old Testament.” The whole cannon of Scripture predicts and proclaims the resurrection. When we read the Old Testament, the Messiah is not a side-bar issue but the focal point. Jesus relied on the Old Testament to clarify His mission and ministry. Because of this we know the cross was not an accident or triumph of evil; it was the preordained will of God, and it was foretold in the Old Testament. Jesus saw Himself as fulfilling Old Testament prophecies. Jesus quoted or alluded to Deuteronomy around fifteen or sixteen times, Isaiah around forty times, and the Psalms around thirteen times.

Predictions are fascinating, and when they come true, they’re compelling. History remembers well the guarantees of Babe Ruth, Joe Namath, and Muhammad Ali. Skeptics wonder if Jesus really knew what He was doing. And the truth is, yes, Jesus knew exactly what He was doing. He predicted His victory too.