I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled. Mark 14:49

The disciples had just finished their last supper with Jesus. Judas had left the supper to go get the multitudes that were against Christ. Jesus had cried out in prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane, finally telling God, “not my will but your will be done.” Jesus was about to die on the cross, and He made the above statement to those that were arresting Him. The scriptures were being fulfilled.

Jesus had a purpose on earth.

Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Pilate *aid to Him, “What is truth?” John 18:37-38

In another discussion with Pilate hours before he was hung on the cross, Jesus states His purpose for coming to the world, “to testify to the truth.” Earlier in the Garden of Gethsemane, He had said the same thing “the scriptures must be fulfilled.” His purpose in coming was to testify to the truth. To fulfill the scriptures.

So, what did the Scriptures say? I encourage you to read Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, both detailed prophecies in the scriptures about Jesus. A few verses from Isaiah 53 are below.

He was despised and abandoned by men,
A man of great pain and familiar with sickness;
And like one from whom people hide their faces,
He was despised, and we had no regard for Him.

However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore,
And our pains that He carried;
Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
Struck down by God, and humiliated.
But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our [well-being was laid upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:3-5

Biblical scholars have said that there are about 300 prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah. So, Jesus clearly said that he was that Messiah. He said that He came to fulfill prophecies. He came to testify to the truth.

The core question of that day for Pilate is the greatest question before us today, true or false? The question that divides. Is the Bible true? Is Jesus true? Because, if the Bible and Jesus are true, things change. Personal lives change. If the story of the Bible is true, hopeless becomes hopeful, no peace becomes everlasting peace, security is found in a world of chaos, absolute truth is found in the middle of the gray areas of life.

If this is the greatest question before us or, at a minimum, one of the greatest questions, I encourage you to dive into the Bible for yourself. Rather than taking anyone’s word for it, a friend, a preacher, a religion, a denomination, the media, dig in to see what the book says for yourself. Not just the famous stories of Moses and the Red Sea, Jonah and the whale, etc., but the details of the book.

Scripture is a daily resource and guide in a confusing world.

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