The Prophesies of Jesus’ Crucifixion

Last week one of the church members preached a sermon on the prophesies of Jesus’ crucifixion. It was an interesting sermon and despite having spent many years as a Christian and been to a quite a few Christian conferences, it is not one I think I have heard before. This made a nice change and, given the Easter period, nicely topical too.

The sermon basically said that there were 33 specific prophesies related to Jesus’ crucifixion and then ran through a list of each source prophesy. Time constraints meant that the fulfilment of each could not be gone into, but the reference for each fulfilment was helpfully out up on the OHP. Certainly a lot of effort had gone into the sermon and for me, it was the first time I’d really sat up and paid attention to a sermon in a very long time.

Is self-reference valid?

A big problem I have with this sort of claim for the fulfilment of prophesy is that the prophesy and the fulfilment and the interpretation is all held within the bible. Prophesies and fulfilments really do need to have reliable external sources to back up both ends of the claim. Using the bible to self-reference its own prophesies has got to be an obvious opening for criticism even from the most ardent of believers. More than that, each fulfilment appears to be retrospectively matched with the prophesy that is deemed to fit best. This is something that I find deeply unsatisfying.

I won’t dwell on this though, so moving on…

Thinking Sceptically

I can’t remember all of the prophesies discussed and I certainly didn’t count to see if there were 33 mentioned in the sermon. What I did do with each one though was run a quick mental check to see if I thought that each prophesy was specific enough and how well I thought it matches the fulfilment without too much call to interpretation.

What I did find was that in my opinion too many of the reported prophesies are not specific enough for my satisfaction. I found that this even applies to the more famous ‘Servant King’ prophesies found in Isaiah.

Back at home after the service my wife asked me what I thought of the sermon and I briefly explained the above and how I found it interesting but not convincing. I found myself being a little surprised when she used the word ‘sceptical’ in her own description of her thoughts about some of the items. This surprised me as I didn’t expect it, her faith is not going through the same crisis as my own, so it was surprising to hear her use that phrase. Maybe my own experience is having an effect on her. Pushing her in the same direction that I have just travelled in matters of faith is not on my agenda so I am not going to pursue it. I guess we’ll just have to see what transpires in that matter.

Striking the Heal and Broken Bones

There is one prophesy that I wish to pay more attention too because it’s the stand out item that I took away from the sermon.

The sermon made reference to the traditional idea that crucifixion involved crossing the feet and nailing them to the front of the cross with a single nail going through both feet. However, recent evidence apparently shows that this is probably wrong and the more likely way of nailing the feet to the cross is one foot either side of the vertical and one nail through each heal securing the feet.

Reference was then made to the Fall from the Garden of Eden and the serpents curse, which involved mention of the serpent striking the heal of man. This is apparently now a prophesy for the method of Jesus’ foot attachment to the cross. This is what I mean my retrospective application of a loose phrase that is not a specific prophesy.

My wife agreed with my concerns over this item but she did also point out that the Genesis phrase used is an odd phrase and why would it be said like that if not intended for future reference? She makes a good point, however one should also consider that this is being taken from the English translation, the original language version should really be used here to see what the actual phrase was and how the English translation fits with that context. This actually applies to all of the prophesies to be honest, so it raises the valid question of why should a sermon such as this be taken seriously when it only refers to the English language version of the Bible?

I then pointed out that surely a nail driven through the heal to secure that foot to a cross would effectively render the heal bone broken, thus negating the no broken bones prophesy. My wife suggested that was being overly picky and that the context of the no broken bones prophesy is specific to the practice of the Roman soldiers breaking the legs of the crucified in order to hasten death. She makes a good point, again.

My own memories of the no broken bones prophesy is that it was a literal and wider prophesy relating to the whole life of Jesus. Now that I am older I am happy to accept that it’s a more specific intention and that the heal bone issue is not covered, however it is another example of how non-specific the wording combined with retrospective application leads to joining up events in a manner that suits the reader. As such, I can’t accept this as reliable prophesy and fulfilment.

After the sermon, I had asked the church member in question the same question about the heal and the broken bone and he said it was a good question and he would talk to a Christian doctor he knows and come back to me. We’ll see what happens on that one.

Personally, the whole sermon was interesting and engaged me, but ultimately I found it intellectually and spiritually unsatisfying and it confirmed for me that my decision to move to atheism is the right one.

One thought on “The Prophesies of Jesus’ Crucifixion

  1. Mmm…. Well, I read you reply on contraception and there is much there I could rebut, but the most prescient point is the frame of reference you astutely observed: That is one of faith v. one of atheism/skepticism. To that I borrow from Aquinas, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” That, by the way, is not a cop out for understanding or explanation, because he emphasized, “A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.” Faith, or revelation, is superior to unaided intellect or science. although neither can contradict the other as truth is truth. (Of course as humans we have an infinite ability of deceiving ourselves.) But intellect and science are earthbound abilities and incapable in describing the world beyond matter. (I am a scientist by training.) And yet, we all know love and friendship exist, but these are not things made of molecules. Sure one could claim they are, but that’s a very implausible argument.

    Then I read your post on creationism and you seem to posit that science has the answers. Now I am not a fundamentalists who believes in a complete literal interpretation of the Bible because it is not a scientific document although completely true in its purpose and revelation. But science certainly has not figured out existence nor evolution as is commonly believed. Sadly, much of science discipline has been abandoned and become politically driven. There was something else, but now I forget.

    Lastly, this post about prophesies: I don’t know what your preacher said but I have been most impressed by the prophesies that pointed to Jesus. Let’s be clear, prophesies are not exactly predictions or specific accounts, but point to the Messiah’s fulfillment. Many are eerily exact and on the road to Damascus the risen Christ explained to some disciples using the OT how he was the fulfillment of these prophesies and the OT itself. The Jews and many non-Jews were waiting for a messiah and gleaned much form these prophesies that even the prophet could not say exactly how they would be played out. One example of many, in Zechariah 9:9, the prophet speaks of a future king presenting himself to Jerusalem while riding on a humble donkey. This foreshadowed something that happened about 500 years later. As explained in Luke 19:35-37, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and presented himself as the Messiah, the King. Again, I don’t know what your preacher said, but even telling of Adam and Eve points to Jesus.

    Without being too picky, as a kid I stepped on a nail that wen through my foot but it was not call a broken foot. The bone was simply pierced. And as to the method of crucifixion, there are as many THEORIES on that as there are floors in the Empire State building. We don’t know for sure but I’ll bet the Shroud of Turin might be authentic and hold those answers.

    Anyway, as I believe and discovered for myself, skepticism and atheism are both dead and futile ends. So I will pray you find whatever you need from faith.Granted, I am a much faulted individual but my intent is sincere.

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