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Why I Believe

(Quotes from Scripture are taken from the New International Version unless indicated otherwise. For clarity, I have capitalized references to G-d and Messiah.)

What's a nice Jewish boy doing confessing Jesus as his Lord? Why does he frequent churches? Is he out of his mind or has he abandoned his faith and his people for some goyishe (Gentile) idolatrous religion?

I'm glad you asked! Fact is, I am eager to "...give an answer to everyone who asks ...[me] to give a reason for the hope that...[ I ] have." (I Peter 3:15) The reasons I believe fall into two major categories: Biblical evidence that Yeshua (Jesus) is Messiah and my changed life.

When God promised a messiah, he did not leave it to our imaginations, and with good reasons. There have been pretenders. Everytime there has been a bleak moment in Jewish history, someone has popped up claiming to be "Moshiach" (Messiah). For these false messiahs and their followers, the result has been the same. Disappointment. For this reason, God painted a very specific picture of Messiah.

There is another reason God left clues regarding Messiah. He wanted us to recognize Messiah when He came. When I am supposed to meet someone Whom I have never met, I usually give a brief description of myself—"I wear glasses. I have a beard. I will be wearing a red shirt. I will stand by the 'Exit This Way' sign. I will be there at 7:00." The clues God left are called messianic prophecies.

While there are hundreds of prophecies, I wish to list a few of them in the table below—over which no one has complete control.

Prophecy
Tanach (Old Testament) Passage
New Testament Fulfillment
Descedant of Abraham
"...and all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed through you."

Genesis 12:3
"A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham."

Matthew 1:1
Descendant of Judah
"The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until He comes to Whom it belongs [Shiloh] and the obedience of the nationsis His"

Genesis 49:10
"Judah was the father of Perez...and Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ."

Matthew 1:3,16
Born in Bethleham
"But you, Bethleham, Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me One Who will be Ruler over Israel, Whose origins are from old, from ancient times"

Micah 5:2
"So Joseph went up from the town of Nazereth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethleham the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David...While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born."

Luke 2:4,6
Place of Ministry
"...in the future, He will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordon—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light...."

Isaiah 9:1,2
"When Jesus heard John had been put into prison, He returned to Galilee...to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan—Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light...."

Matthew 4:12, 14-15

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, "I am the light of the world:
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life"—John 8:12

Jerusalem Time