"I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen." (Luther's Morning Prayer)
Sunday, April 21, 2024 - Day 112 (Through the Bible in a year readings for today: 2 Samuel 4-6; Luke 18:18-43)
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” (Luke 18:31-33 ESV)
“Everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished...”
One of the biggest problems Bible doubters have is the incredible odds against all of the Old Testament being fulfilled by one person. Yet, that is just what the account of the life of Christ reveals.
Peter Stoner, in Science Speaks (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963), determined the probability of one man fulfilling eight of the prophecies of the Old Testament for the Messiah to be 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Imagine taking 100,000,000,000,000,000 silver dollars and covering the state of Texas. That many coins would be two feet deep. Now mark one, stir the whole mass thoroughly, blindfold a person, and ask that person to pick the marked one in one try. Those are the exact same odds of anyone fulfilling eight of the Messianic prophecies by chance alone.
Peter Stoner then goes on to consider the possibility of any one person fulfilling 48 of the prophecies by chance. Here the odds jump to 1 in 10 to the 157th power (1 billion X 12). That number would look like this:
1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
What is even more amazing is the reason that Jesus endured this: “For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”
Jesus died and rose for sinners like you and me!
Thank You, my Lord Jesus, for fulfilling every single Old Testament prophecy so that I can be forgiven and look forward to eternity with You. Please use me to share Your amazing story with others. Amen.
“See” you at the Communion rail this morning!
Pastor David Paape
Daily Bible Reading Chart covering the entire Bible in one year.
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