Hahaha, gave me a chuckle.
Consider this con job then....
Being familiar with OT scripture then weaving a Jesus story afterwards to make it seem Jesus was whom was spoken of.
Have you ever seen how deft some magicians are with a deck of cards, or pulling a rabbit out of a hat?
themickey: "Being familiar with OT scripture then weaving a Jesus story afterwards to make it seem Jesus was whom was spoken of."
Why? Because the idea of God becoming a man and dying for our sins was completely foreign to the Jewish mindset. Those that did foretell of Jesus in the Scriptures likely did not understand much more than what the Holy Spirit was revealing to them for the purpose of writing it in the Scriptures.
The Jews were looking for their Messiah, but they did not expect Him to come the way He did and die the way He did.
This was “hidden.”
Now that Jesus has come, we can look into the Old Testament prophecies and see how they described Jesus.
This isn’t sleight of hand stuff, no deck of cards needed or rabbits being pulled out of hats.
It is the work of God’s Spirit.
It was the work of God’s Spirit to put bits and pieces scattered throughout the Old Testament.
It was the work of God to fulfill exactly the prophecies that were fulfilled. Only God could have pulled all of it together. A person couldn’t make these kinds of prophecies happen. Think about it, Jesus had to be born at the time prophesied by Daniel, had to be born in Bethlehem, prophesied by Micah, would heal people’s illnesses, a direct descendant of King David, the God who would come to save them and also open the eyes of the blind and heal the deaf and lame.
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame
leap like a deer,
leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Isaiah 35:4-6
It also took the work of God’s Spirit to open up the disciples’ understanding of all the different prophecies about Jesus, and this came AFTER Jesus rose from the dead.
Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself. Luke 24:25-27 BSB
The Holy Spirit is able to reveal the truthfulness of the gospels to those who seek Him in the gospels.
The Scriptures clearly foretold that One would come who would be a substitute for our sins by dying in our place. Here is just one example: “We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
There is also the prophecy in Daniel that gave the exact number of years until the Messiah would come. That period turns out to be the same time that Jesus was on the earth. This prophecy also said the Messiah would be cut off but not for himself, which fits nicely with how Jesus was “cut off” (killed) for others.
https://jewsforjesus.org/learn/the-messianic-time-table-according-to-daniel-the-prophet/
If Jesus was not of God, then how is it that Jesus unlocked the mystery of Himself in the Old Testament? If Jesus had been just a mere man, then would it really have been likely that he would have gone against the mindset of the Jews of the concept of what was then thought to be blasphemous to have a God-man as well as the need for God to die in our place?
Christianity is not a one-man con job. It is not the con job of the Scriptures. It is the work of God.
