11. The Portrait in the Prophets — What the Messiah Was Promised to Be

The Christian Statement

The Hebrew prophets, writing across a period of approximately eight centuries, produced a detailed portrait of the coming Messiah. The specificity of this portrait — drawn by multiple independent authors in different historical circumstances — is one of the most extraordinary features of the Hebrew Bible and the foundation of the Messianic apologetic.

The portrait includes:

Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
Called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1, applied Messianically)
From the line of David (2 Samuel 7:12–16; Isaiah 11:1–10)
Entered Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9)
Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12–13)
Silent before his accusers (Isaiah 53:7)
Hands and feet pierced (Psalm 22:16)
Garments divided by lot (Psalm 22:18)
None of his bones broken (Psalm 34:20; Numbers 9:12)
Side pierced (Zechariah 12:10)
Buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9)
Rose from the dead (Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53:10–11)
Ascended to the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1)

Mathematician Peter Stoner calculated the probability of one person fulfilling just eight of these prophecies by chance as 1 in 10^17. The probability of one person fulfilling all of them is effectively zero on any naturalistic account.

The disciple does not present these as a comprehensive proof. They are presented as an invitation: read your own scriptures carefully, and ask who fits this portrait.

12. Isaiah 53 — The Text the Adversary Most Wants Unread

The Christian Statement

Isaiah 53 deserves its own section because it is unlike any other prophetic text. It does not merely predict events. It describes a theology of substitutionary suffering that is articulated with a clarity and depth that the New Testament writers did not exceed.

The full passage (Isaiah 52:13–53:12) deserves to be read in full, which is done in Appendix B. Here are the key claims the text makes about the servant:

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering (53:3)
He took up our pain and bore our suffering (53:4)
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities (53:5)
The punishment that brought us peace was on him (53:5)
By his wounds we are healed (53:5)
We all, like sheep, have gone astray... and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (53:6)
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth (53:7)
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter (53:7)
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death (53:9)
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer (53:10)
After he has suffered, he will see the outcome of his work and be satisfied (53:11)
He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (53:12)

✶ Jewish Objection: Isaiah 53 is about Israel — the suffering servant is the Jewish people, not an individual Messiah.

✔ How to respond: This is the dominant interpretation in post-Talmudic Jewish commentary and it deserves careful engagement. But the corporate interpretation has significant problems. First, the text consistently distinguishes between "we" (the speakers) and "he" (the servant). The speakers confess that their sins were laid on the servant. Israel cannot bear the sins of itself. Second, the servant is described as sinless — "he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully" (53:9, NET). Israel is never described as sinless in the prophetic literature. Third, the servant suffers vicariously for the speakers, bringing them healing and peace. This substitutionary logic requires an individual, not a collective. Fourth, pre-Christian Jewish interpretation was overwhelmingly Messianic — the shift to the corporate interpretation occurred primarily in the medieval period, largely in response to Christian use of the passage. The Talmud itself (Sanhedrin 98b) asks about the Messiah's name and answers with reference to the suffering servant.

SOURCE: Michael L. Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 3 (Baker Books, 2003). Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Longmans, 1883). Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Messianic Christology (Ariel Ministries, 1998).