Teachinghearts	The Historical Christ Yeshua "Explore the Word. Change the World"	Statistics: Time: 100 minutes Print: 19 pages

Bethlehem		Egypt	Nazareth	12 Years Old	30 Years Old		3.5 Years			High Priest	King of Kings
4 BC	Birth	Early Life		In the Temple	27 AD	Baptized	Ministry	Death	31 AD	Heaven	Second Coming
Suffering Messiah									Conquering Messiah

Prayer "Nothing ... will be able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus"

Search me, God. See if there is some evil in me and set me free. Thank you.

It is estimated that there are about 425 prophecies about the Messiah in the Bible. In my opinion, some of them do not appear to be direct prophecies, and in other places (like the Psalms) I find clear prophecies about the Messiah in writings not belonging to the known prophets.

Unlike "normal" prophecies like Daniel and Revelation and in a few other Old Testament passages, most of the Messianic Prophecies are not introduced with such fanfare. The prophet does not say that he is in vision. The imagery is not filled with symbolism and strange animals. Because of this, critics maintain that we are just taking scriptures out of context, so those things that have a local application are made into something more significant.
I agree with this assessment in a few cases, what sometimes is listed as a prophecy seems to be just believers quoting and using scriptures the same way we do today. They make the experiences and promises personal to them. When this happens, and the underlying story has no other Messianic significance, then I will agree that it is suspect.

Israel lived the Prophecy. The big difference with the Messianic passages and other prophecies is that Israel daily lived out the prophecies of the Messiah, His life, His work and His significance to human history. Their whole existence was a prophecy in action. The temple services and the feasts were a living prophecy. The Messiah's future work was woven into the everyday fabric of the Hebrew life. Therefore, it is understandable that much of the prophecies appear to be part of their everyday life. God daily prepared all Israel for this event - and they missed it.

Skeptics Arguments
Skeptics either deny the existence of Jesus, or they claim that there was a Passover plot by the disciples to claim that Jesus was resurrected. People who do not want to believe this prophecy make several claims:

• Christians take any quotations out of context and apply it to Jesus.
• The disciples arranged certain events to make it appear that Jesus fulfilled prophecy. For example, they are accused of stealing the body to fake a resurrection story.
• Jesus did not die - He lost a lot of blood and fainted
• The disciples stole the body
• The women went to the wrong tomb
• Passover plot proposed by Hugh Schoenfield

  Jesus took into His confidence a young Joseph of Arimathea. Knowing the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, Jesus ordered His life in such a way as to fulfill them. For example, Jesus arranged a feigned death on the cross by being administered a drug when the vinegar was offered. Then after He passed out from the drug, Joseph took His body to one of his tombs. When the effects of the drug wore off, Jesus appeared alive and revealed himself as the Messiah.

  To arrive at this conclusion he rejected certain facts;
  • They were guarding the body so that the disciples could not steal Him.
  • Roman guards
  • Roman seal on the tomb
  • Large stone rolled in front of a solid rock tomb
  • The body was prepared for burial
  • The testimony of the disciples and 500 witnesses
  • There is no evidence for his conclusions.
  • Every single event on the cross fulfilled scripture.

While these could certainly happen, there are a number of events that neither Jesus nor the disciples could control and to have all of these events happen in one man is not a coincidence. To demonstrate this, we will look at prophecies that even the Jews regarded as Messianic and we will look at activities of the people who rejected Jesus. These people could not be forced to behave in ways that would fulfill prophecy.
We will also look at the coincidences in terms of the mathematical definition of an impossible event. Any event that has less than one chance in 10⁵⁰ of occurring is impossible.

The Probability of Jesus Fulfilling Prophecy in a Passover Plot

Number of Events	Probability
8	1017
16	1045
24	1073
48	10157

The probability that all the monkeys in Africa could run over to a single typewriter and, without error, retype all the books in the English language is 1 in 2 x 10¹¹⁰.
Those odds are better than the probability of Jesus fulfilling all Messianic prophecies.
The probabilities are based on eight predictions occurring in a population of 10¹¹ people (the total population who ever lived on the earth):
The total composite probability for eight events is 1x10²⁸ are calculated as follows:
= (1/a * 1/b * 1/c * 1/d * 1/e * 1/f * 1/g * 1/h) / total population
= (1/200,000 * 1/100 * 1/1,000 * 1/1,000 * 1/1,000 * 1/1,000 * 1/10,000 * 1/100,000) / 10¹¹
= 10²⁸ / 10¹¹ = 10¹⁷

I am unable to determine if these odds are correct by examining their methodology, so I have to determine if they are reasonable.

The Population Mathematics
First, I have to establish some population figures that are common to most calculations.

• 333+ Prophecies. The question is, how many Messianic prophecies are there? The Christian rhetoric is misleading when we claim that there is over 300 prophecies. We have found over 300 texts that point to a Messianic prophecy, but there are really only about 40 distinct prophecies. In addition, teachinghearts has found many hundreds more texts that are Messianic and which are even more convincing than the traditional texts.
• Global Population. The calculations are based on a total human population since modern man appeared 50,000 years ago that has been accepted as 106 billion (1 x 10¹¹). I calculate 8 to 12 billion in 6000 years with very conservative parameters.
• Global Population (1 AD). There is a concensus that the population in 1 AD was between 200 to 300 million people, and the population under Augustus was estimated as 15% or 30 to 45 million and was 65 million by the second century. Total citizens in Rome were estimated at 4,937,000 in 14 AD and at 7 million in 47 AD.
• Israel Population (31 AD). About 5-6 million lived in Judaea. One million died in the siege in 70AD. Israel's population in 2009 is estimated at a total of 7,233,701 with a growth rate of 1.671%. The largest population of Jews outside Israel is estimated to be about 6 million.
  » Judah Population. The Messiah must be a male from the tribe of Judah.
  After the Assyrian captivity, the people who remained on the land were from Judah, Benjamin and some Levites. Probably some of the other tribes were there too through intermarriage or if they escaped the Assyrian siege. At the beginning of the exodus the percentage of males from Judah was about 74,600/603,550, not including the Levites. This was about 12.4% of the population. Benjamin was 5.9% At the end of the exodus the percentage of males from Judah was 12.7% (76,500/601730) and Benjamin was 7.8% and their tribe was almost wiped out years later. Therefore, the vast majority of the population of Jews in 31 AD were from the tribe of Judah.
  Therefore, we will assume that any male selected is qualified, otherwise the odds would decrease further.
• Kings and Rulers. We will assume that all rulers are male since that was the tradition until recently.
• United States Population. Total USA population in 2002 was 280,562,489 and was about 300 million in 2006. This is the approximate population of the world in 1 AD.
• Prison Population. We will use the United States as the standard since they have the highest incarceration rates and our present population is the same as the global population at the time of Christ. I believe that this treatment is fair because a worst case scenario makes the events more probable and less of a miracle. This should help the critics.
  • United States. The United States has 5% of the world's population and 23.6% of the world's prison population. It has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world at 738 persons in prison or jail per 100,000 (as of 2005). In contrast, an estimate for all forms of imprisonment in China assessed the incarceration rate at 218 prisoners per 100,000 population in 2008.
  • Criminal Records. Over 7.2 million persons on probation or parole or incarcerated in jail or prison at the end of 2006. About 3.2% of the U.S. adult population, or 1 in every 31 adults, were incarcerated or on probation or parole at the end of 2006
  • Death Row. 3279 prople were on death row in the United States in 2009 out of 300 million (1:91500).
    271 million in 1998 with 3452 on death row (1:78500).
    201 million in 1968 and 517 on death row (1:388780).
  • Gender. In 2002, 93.2% of prisoners were male. The male incarceration rate is roughly seven times the female incarceration rate. So we will assume that all prisoners are male.
  • Mentally Impaired. We need to know what percentage of the free population could be mentally ill. The rate of reported mental health disorders in the state prison population is five times greater (56.2 percent) than in the general adult population (11 percent). The rate of mental health convicts quadrupled since 1998, because the definition was broadened to include depression. So now the rate is over 50% of incarcerated convicts are mentally impaired. This overestimates the problem of those who are truly mentally and functionally disabled through some chemical or biological defect, not because of the conditions of prison.
  • Innocent Condemned to Death. In 2003 alone, 10 wrongfully convicted defendants were released from death row. 69 men in 25 years were exonerated by DNA evidence (Cold Case). Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful convictions. So in the best case 10 people condemned to death are released each year, but on average it is 3 each year.
• Low Intelligence. 2.2% of the population is below an IQ of 70. 6.7% have borderline intelligence (70-79).
• Male Population. The Messiah must be a male. The number of females is slightly higher than males, but we will assume that 50% are males except where a particular population is mostly male.
  Although the definitions are based in "one person in the world", it should really be "one man in the world".

Prophecy Probabilities
The probabilities were based on the first eight prophecies. I was unable to determine how to verify some of these statistics, so I included other prophecies that could be substituted.

1. Bethlehem (Micah 5: 2) (1:200,000). One person in the World been born in Bethlehem.

   Prophetic Statistics			Candidates
   #	Item	Odds	31 AD	All Years
   1	Bethlehem	1:200,000	1500	5 x 106
   2	King on a Donkey	1:100	3,000,000	1 x 109
   3	30 Shekels	1:1,000	300,000	1 x 108
   4	Passive Defense	1:1,000	300,000	1 x 108
   5	Thieves and Rich	1:1,000	300,000	1 x 108
   6	Crucified	1:10,000	30,000	1 x 107
   7	Hands Pierced	1:1,000	300,000	1 x 108
   8	Potter's Field	1:100,000	3000	1 x 106

   
   » Bethlehem Population (1:220,000). It was a small town that supposedly had only a population of 300 - 1,000 people at the time of Christ. At a global population of 200-300 million that is a ratio of 1:200,000 - 1:300,000.
   In 2006 the population is Bethlehem was 29,930 and the global population was 6,564,356,742. That is 1: 219,324 people.
   » Refugees. After 1948, the population of the Bethlehem area increased to 50,000 when refugees flocked to the area. The global population was 2,556,000,053 in 1950. So even at its highest population, 1:51000 people in the world lived in Bethlehem. I selected this example because at the time Jesus was born there was a mild refugee problem as people returned to the area to register for taxes. However, the refugee problem at the birth of Christ was caused by those already born in Bethlehem, returning to Bethlehem. So we would be including people for which we have already accounted.
   These values are reasonable.
2. King on a Donkey (Zechariah 9: 9) (1:100). One person rode into Jerusalem, riding a foal of a donkey, claiming to be king of the Jews.
   » Candidates for King (1:300,000). In the economy of Rome a donkey was worth 127 denarii between 1 and 79 AD. An unskilled laborer earned 140 denarii per year while a soldier earned 225 denarii. Let us take the donkey out of the equation by assuming that any king can afford one and any charismatic poor man claiming to be king would borrow one from a rich follower and any lunatic would steal one. We will also assume that all kings would ride a donkey through the east gate as part of the inauguration ceremony. Therefore, the remaining question is how many people could make a serious claim to be king of Israel and be believed by the majority of the people?
   » Total Kings of Israel. We concluded that only the following would make successful claims to be king even though most are not from the tribe of Judah.
   • All Legitimate Kings (43). 3 + 20 Judah (933-586) + 20 Israel (930-722)
   • All Illegitimate Kings (14). 8 Herodians (37BC-70AD) + 10 Hasmoneans (168BC-37BC)
   • High Priest (52). 82 since Aaron. 52 after Babylon. This prophecy was made in the Persian occupation.
   • Sanhedrin (32). Leaders up to the ninth century.
   • Geon Yaacov (40). Leaders up to 1516.
   • The Chief Rabbinate (41). Rabbis took over from the Sanhedrin until 1918.
   • The Va'Ad Le'Umi (4). (1918-1948) British Mandate leaders
   • Modern Prime Ministers (12). (1948-2010) Israeli leaders were mostly elected.
   • Messiah (1). Jesus Christ
   • False Messiahs (128). We know of at least 28 claimants from 31-1994, plus several during the crusades.
   • Charismatic Lunatics (200). How many charismatic lunatics? We know of no claimants before Christ. Let us assume that ten men could successfully make this claim every century. Then there would be 200.
   • Foreign Occupiers Up to 31 AD (52). + 6 Babylon + 14 Persia + 27 Greece + 5 Rome up to Tiberius.
   • Foreign Occupiers After 37-1948 AD (96). Before 1918 much of the world was ruled by monarchies, not by popular vote. These dynasties lasted longer. Assume that the average monarchy lasts 20 years.
   This is a total of 914 possible claimants from the exodus to the present time. Even if we compared that to the population in 31 AD that would be 1: 300,000 and the odds are more astronomical when compared to total global population. To arrive at an odds of 1 in 100, then 3 million people would have to make that claim. Even if one person every year made a successful claim that woul be 6000:10,000,000,000 or 1:1,700,000
   » Judah (1:100). If Israel is mostly the tribes of Judah and fewer from Benjamin at the time of Christ, then at the most half of the population is male and a candidate Messiah. Therefore 3 million out of a world population of 300 million are candidate kings.
   It seems that the values were based on how many men could ride through the east gates on a donkey, not how many could have a reasonable chance of successfully making such a claim.
   So their numbers were generous and more than reasonable and this particular claim is extremely rare.
3. 30 Shekels (Zechariah 11: 12) (1:1000). One person paid thirty pieces of silver to turn someone in to the authorities.
   » 30 Shekels (103 Denarii). Since this is half the annual salary of an unskilled labourer, then the only people who could afford this bribe are the rich or an influential club. Bribes are common, but how common is it to bribe the authorities to execute a popular and an innocent man? An anonymous ssassination would be the preferred method. These statistics assume that 0.001% of the population at that time had the money and the influence to bribe the authorities. To arrive at a ratio of 1 in 1000, at least 5000 to 6000 Jews would have been able to accomplish this task and they must be able to include the high priest and the Sanhedrin in their plot. The Sanhedrin was about 72 people. The process of ascension to the high priest position was corrupted. It was now a position appointed by the Romans. The high turnover rate created many former high priests and members of this council. Even with 10 previous bodies, there would be 1000 influential men who could be bribed to influence the rest.
   So I believe the odds are reasonable.
4. Passive Defense (Isaiah 53: 7) (1:1000). A person charged and been innocent and not defended himself.
   » Defenseless People. Which innocent person would never defend himself when given the opportunity to appear in court? The other fact is that nobody else would defend Him according to the prophecy.
   The best answer is the mentally and functionally impaired, children, someone who is being rewarded for doing the time for another, one who received a serious brain injury while incarcerated and the Messiah. Even martyrs would defend themselves. So the question is, how many mentally handicapped and developmentally disabled people exist and how many are incapable of understanding the court proceedings, yet be charismatic enough to have such a wide appeal? This seems impossible.
   So the only alternative remaining is a candidate Messiah whose treatment in captivity left him so mentally injured at the time of the trial that he was mentally unable to defend himself or whose reputation was so damaged that he was socially unable to gather people who would assist in his defense. The original odds said that 1:100 were candidates and 1:10,000 were crucified. So the combined odds are 1:100,000.
   My odds concluded that 1:300,000 are candidates and 1:20,000 crucified. This is 1:6,000,000 combined.
   So the odds that this would happen to someone who was beloved just four days earlier has to be much more than 1:1000, so they are more than reasonable.
5. Thieves and Rich (Isaiah 53: 9) (1:1000). Jesus was crucified between two thieves, but was buried in the tomb of one of the richest men.
   » Helped by the Rich. The odds that two criminals would be crucified in Rome are very high. So let us define the real problem in terms of a rich person being crucified. Who could belong to this group?
   • Rich Man. If one buried with the rich is assumed to be rich, then the question is could a rich man be crucified? The odds that a rich Roman would be crucified are very low because Roman citizens could not be crucified. However, rich Jews could be crucified.
   • A Poor Criminal with Rich Friends or Rich Relatives. What are the odds that such a publically hated figure would be helped by a rich, influential person by giving him such a valuable piece of land?
   Personally, I would assume that even less people would receive this honor, so 1:1000 sounds reasonable.
6. Crucified (Psalm 22: 16) (1:10,000). Died from crucifixion.
   » Crucified (1:20,000). Crucifixion was practiced between the sixth century BC and the fourth century AD until 337 when Emperor Constantine 1 abolished it. How many were executed by crucifixion during that 1000 years (365000 days)? The worst case of crucifixions may have been during the slave revolt by Spartacus. 6,000 followers were crucified in 71 BC. This is an average of 16 per day. So in the worst case, 5,840,000 million people could have been executed during the 1000 years. Although few crucifixions were done afterwards, we will assume that there were none in the years before or after because we applied the worse case scenario to every year. So if the total population that ever lived were 100 billion. then 1:171,232 were crucified. I assume only 12 billion lived in the 6000 years. So 1:20,000 were crucified. In the year Jesus died, 200-300 million lived that is 1:33,000 to 1:50,000
   So 1:10,000 is reasonable, because it assumes that in a population of 300 million, like the United States that we executed 30,000. We have not had that many total men on death row in 100 years.
7. Hands Pierced (Zechariah 13: 6) (1:1000). One person has been wounded in their hands.
   Substituted. This seems to be almost the same prophecy as dying from crucifixion so I will substitute it.
8. Potter's Field (Zechariah 11: 13) (1:100,000). The money paid to betray Jesus would be returned to the priests and used to buy a potter's field.
   Substituted. I have no idea how to check these odds, so I will substitute another prophecy.

» Substitute Prophecies I am totally responsible for the logic supporting these statistics. I will use these to substitute for the previous statistics that I did not know how to verify.

9. Earthquake (1:1800 Days). When Jesus died, two powerful earthquakes split the rocks at His death and resurrection. Scientists insist that the frequency of earthquakes is not increasing. So, looking at the years since they started measuring we will take the worst year and choose earthquakes of 6.0 and above. In the ten years between 2000-2009 there were 1587 events. that is an average of 160 per year. This is 9,522,000 events in 6000 years (2,191,500 days). How many would be experienced within the few square miles that is Israel? The USA is larger and more active and it had 62 earthquakes of 6.0 and above within the same ten years. That is 6 per year or a 1:60 chance that an earthquake will occur in the United States on any day. Israel is 24650 square miles. If we assume that all the USA quakes are in the 750,000 square miles in Alaska and California. Then the odds of feeling the quake in a place 30 times smaller on any single day is 1:1800.
10. Darkness over the Land (1:4000 Days). Solar eclipses and nuclear winters are the only known events that produce darkness over the land. But solar eclipses do not last for three hours. I can prove that the darkness during the crucifixion was not a solar eclipse because the crucifixion occurred during a full moon and solar eclipses can only occur during a new moon. So we will ignore the obvious miracle and use statistics based on the known causes of darkness.
    In any given year there are only 12 solar eclipses possible. Most of these can only be observed over the ocean and it is a rare event to see one over land and even rarer to see it in one particular place. Between 1998 and 2020 there are 33 solar eclipses world wide, 14 were total. Only two were visible over Israel within that period. This is a ratio of 2 in 7305 days or 1:3700. Between 1900 and 2200 only 17 eclipses will be visible over the larger area of Britain, 14 are total. That is 17 in 109575 or 1:6500.

A Plot from Birth
To begin, Jesus and His parents were poor. To say there was a plot would mean that from His birth, His parents would have had to engineer a series of events to give the Child the life experiences and credentials needed to fulfill the prophecy. It was also obvious that Mary carried the stain of an apparent out-of-wedlock pregnancy. She was called a prostitute and He was called a bastard who did not know His father and a niddah (conceived in the filth of menstruation) So it seems incredible that these parents would have engineered this type of life for this kind of baby. The odds were against them.
In addition, this child would have to grow up and meet the expectations of His parents and then proceed to fulfill the works attributed to the Messiah. A plot from birth? Not likely!

Important Messianic Prophecies Daniel 9 - Baptism and Crucifixion Daniel 11 - Death during Roman rule Genesis 22 - (Abraham and Isaac) The Sanctuary and Feast systems Isaiah 7 - Born of a Virgin Isaiah 9 - Light of the world Isaiah 40 - The Coming of the LORD Isaiah 49 - The Role of Christ Isaiah 53 - Suffering Messiah Psalm 22 - The Crucifixion Psalm 41 - Betrayed by a friend Psalm 69 - Events at the Cross Psalm 16 - Guided by God Zechariah 9 - King rides a donkey Zechariah 11 - Sold for 30 shekels Zechariah 12 - Accepted by the Jews Zechariah 13 - The Day of the Lord

Key Messianic Prophecies.
Although it seems foolish that his parents could engineer these events for their illegitimate baby, they would have to make sure that the following events occurred. These are listed because they are basic requirements that Jesus met that were not under His control or that of His disciples:

Basic Messianic Prophecies.

• Lineage. He was from the correct lineage through both Mary and Joseph
• Residence. He lived in all the 3 places attributed to the Messiah (Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth). Out of all the hundreds of little towns in Israel, Micah identified the name of the town of Bethlehem as His birth place around 722 BC (Micah 5:2).

Messianic Prophecies fulfilled by His Enemies.
He could not engineer these actions, because they were the actions of others who were His enemies. So, it was in their best interest to not behave in ways that would fulfill prophecy. And these were not prophetic facts that we have created after the fact - these were accepted by the Jews at that time.

• Murder of Children by Herod. Herod ordered this slaughter to kill the new king whom he thought would be a rival to his throne.
• Crucifixion. He was crucified on a Roman cross
• No Broken Bones. It was unusual for the legs of a crucified person to not be broken.
• Nailed Hands and Feet. His hands and feet were nailed. The method of crucifixion was unknown at the time of the prophecy. Yet hundreds of years before, the prophet testified to this method of death.
• Rejected. The Jewish nation rejected Him four days after they were ready to crown Him king.
• Vinegar. He was given vinegar to drink instead of water.
• Gambled for His clothes. The Roman soldiers gambled for His clothes.
• 30 Pieces of Silver. Jesus was betrayed for this amount of money. It was the price of a slave.
• Passover Death. Jesus died on the day and hour of Passover. This was not an ordinary Passover season. This Passover coincided with the Sabbath - making it a High Sabbath.
• Violence and Torture. He was beaten by the Romans and slapped in the Sanhedrin.
• People Spit on Him. Everyone spit on Him and hurled verbal abuses.

Messianic Time Prophecies.
He could not engineer these actions, because they were time prophecies not subject to any human control.

• 490 Years. He would be alive around 483-486 years after the Babylonian captivity.
• Life. He would be alive and He would die during the Roman empire.
• The Raiser of Taxes. Augustus Caesar. He would be alive under this ruler.
• A Vile Person. Tiberius Caesar. He would be alive under this ruler.
• Gentiles Accepted Him. His movement has spread around the world. By the year 2001, 2 billion people (or one third of the World's population) were Christians.
• Judah. He would be sent when the tribe of Judah still existed. This must be before 136 AD when the nation was scattered. Ten other tribes had vanished after the Assyrian captivity in 722 BC.

Supernatural Messianic Prophecies.
These events could not be controlled by His disciples because they were actions of nature above human control.

• Miracles. He performed many supernatural miracles never before seen. Jesiwh records accused Him of sorcery.
• Darkness over the Land. There was darkness while He was on the cross.
• Veil in the Temple Torn. At His death the 30 feet long heavy curtain in the sanctuary was ripped from top to bottom.
• Virgin Birth. If a claim of a virgin birth had happened then one of two situations would have occurred.
  • Believed. This child would have been seen as a miracle and his mother would have been famous.
  • Not Believed. This child would have gone through life labelled as a bastard and his mother a whore. Critics do not believe this and apparently, the neighborhood did not believe Mary either, but His life fits this profile.
• Earthquake. There was an earthquake when He died and at His resurrection.

The Law as Messianic Prophecies.
He obeyed all the laws during this period.

• Sacrifice for Sin. He would be offered as a sacrifice in exchange for sin.
• Burden of Sin. He would bear the burden of sin, like a guilty man.
• Carcass in the North of the City. He would be disposed of in the north of the city.
• He is the Sanctuary. He is all the parts of the sanctuary and all pieces of the offering.

Messianic Prophecies That Could Be Engineered.
Skeptics claimed that the writers lied about the events or that Jesus and the disciples engineered events to fit the profile of the Messiah. Supporters claim that there are 333 or more prophecies that point to Jesus. In fact it is over 300 texts, but fewer distinct or core prophetic events. Out of these there are only a few that He could control and even these were fulfilled in the context of His enemies' actions. So here are a list of prophecies that He could have manipulated and in some cases He acted to fulfill the events.

• Rides into Jerusalem on a Donkey. He arranged for the donkey, but nobody forced the people to greet Him as king and complete the prophecy.
  This prophecy has a second requirement. He must be rejected by the people! So how did He engineer the adoration and the rejection in four days? They rejected Him for saying He was the Son of God, yet these facts were known before He was hailed as king. Nothing He did during that week caused the general public to reject Him. He did not engineer the acceptance and rejection.
• Drink Vinegar. His declaration that He was thirsty prompted them to give Him vinegar. Since He was nailed on the cross He had no control over what they would do nor make them give Him vinegar. However, we showed in one of our lessons that He probably saw a set of prophetic symbols being played out on the cross and realized that one symbol was missing. He needed to drink stale wine to complete the curse on the sanctuary. It also fulfilled Psalm 69: 21. So He said, "I am thirsty" and let providence determine what they would give Him to drink.
• Character and Emotions. He could fake the emotions and behavior attributed to the Messiah.
• Suffered. He could have behaved badly or in such a way that it was guaranteed that He would be rejected and crucified. However, nobody was looking for a suffering Messiah, not even His disciples.
  So if He was a fraud, then He was not a particularly bright one. He was fulfilling prophecy that nobody believed in or wanted to believe. They were looking for a conquering king, not someone who would die as a common criminal.
• Parables. He certainly could have structured His messages to conform to this style of giving information.
• Created Prophecies. Critics claim that we create prophecies where none existed. For example, Jesus quoted Psalms as writings which were a source of comfort, not because David was writing words that the Messiah would say in the future. We view them as prophecies because Jesus said that David prophesied about Him.

Prophecy As a Road Map. Is it cheating to do things that fulfill prophecy? No.
If you realize what prophecy accomplishes then you will understand His actions. Prophecy is given as a sign of what will happen to you and what choices you should make. Prophecy also fulfills the law. So the representitive of God who is an object of prophecy may be fulfilling the law, not necessarily trying to fulfill a prophecy. In addition, to be the object of the prophecy you must fulfill all requirements or be the only one who could possibly complete all requirements. Out of the dozens of distinct Messianic actions, there were few that He could control. This does not diminish the fact that He was the fulfillment. In fact, He had to choose to submit to the most horrendous requirements of the prophecy and the law.

• Joseph. He had a prophetic dream about his future. He had to have faith in this glorious future in order to survive the years of slavery and imprisonment. The lesson is that a prophecy can guide your faith and hope.
• Jesus. The Torah was littered with prophecies and laws about Him. He acted to obey these laws as the SHEMA demanded. He must put aside His own desires and do the will of God. This was to submit graciously to unjust suffering and death. So His action were to submit, not to enrage people to the point of sinning in order to fulfill the prophecy. This is why He was silent at the trial. He submitted peacefully to the arrest, but their subsequent actions were poured out on a compliant and peaceful Man. He did not incite them to fulfill the prophecies. The Torah also promised that God would guide Him and tell Him which way to go. So He rode a donkey through the east gates of Jerusalem and said that He was thirsty just before He died.

New Messianic Prophecies.
Besides adding to the knowledge about some of the traditionally accepted prophecies, we at Teachinghearts.org have discovered about 300 new prophecies as a direct revelation from God through the supernatural gift of knowledge. These prophecies are in the Torah, the lives of the patriarchs and the Jewish traditions and in nature. The most important lesson learned was to negotiate this image of Christ that was both positive and negative. Previously, people have made swiss cheese out of prophecies by picking and choosing obvious texts but rejecting those that seemed to contradict by labelling the Messiah as a sinner.

• The Curse. One major contribution is realizing how Jesus Christ became the curse and what the terms of the curse dictated what He would suffer.
  • The Messiah as a Meal (Cannibalism). We must consume the Messiah to be saved.
  • Besieged. Jesus is surrounded and captured. He is the war trophy, the prisoner, the meal at a Passover seder and the prey eaten by a pack of ravenous animals.
  • Earthquake. I first found this curse in the seven last plagues before I found its source in the Torah.
  • Temple. The Messiah is a temple that would be destroyed in a specific order.
• Death by Crucifixion. We also proved death by crucifixion by pointing out new prophecies that highlight how His body would be displayed.
  • Lifted Up With Arms Spread. This position on the cross was prophesied in many ways.
  • Spotted and Striped Appearance. His body would be covered in red and blue marks and spots.
  • Four Holes in His Body. Many laws said that He would have four holes in the four corners of His body.
• The Messiah is the Sin Offering. One of our major contributions is seeing Jesus as the sinless sin offering.
  • The Serpent on the Pole. We have a different interpretation than the traditional one. Christ became sin on the cross when He took responsibility for our sins and He looked like the greatest sinner.
  • Donkey. Christ was burdened with our sins and appeared unclean to us.
  • Separated from Mother. He would be separated from His mother before He became the sin offering.
• The Female Offering. Jesus was portrayed as a female, because He had to submit like a cursed woman in order to accomplish His task.
• All The Law as Messianic Prophecy. Taking a cue from Christ's word in Luke 24: 44, I found prophecies in every book and more in the Psalms. I concluded that Jesus not only obeyed all the law, but that the law itself is a prophecy that is based on an eternal road map.
• Jewish Traditions as Messianic Prophecies. These are Jewish traditions ignored by the church that neither Jesus, the disciples nor the church identified as being Messianic. Yet, after almost 2000 years God is suddenly revealing the prophetic nature of this material that has been the sole property of the Jews for all these years.
  • Seder (The Order). This service is not in the order of the exodus events. It is in the order of the crucifixion events.
  • Holiday Torah Readings. The special readings for the feast days are prophetic, but Exodus 22: 24 - 23: 19 stands out as one of the readings done during Passover. Why would the Jews read about avoiding bribes and hiring false witnesses and perverting justice during Passover? This activity is not related to the exodus. Yet it was the crime that the priests committed when they condemned Jesus to death. God had been warning them for centuries not to commit this crime during Passover (Pesach).
  • The Twelve Tribes (Besieged). The layout of the tribes around the Mishkan were designed to tell the story about what would happen to Jesus Christ in the last week of His life.
    » In the Path of The Ancestors. We show that the life experiences of the patriarchs were meant to be an inspiration of faith. However, we went one step further to show that these experiences were not random events. They were patterned after a specific set of similar experiences designed like the layout of the campsite of the twelve tribes. Because of this engineered or designed nature of these afflictions, we conclude that they are prophecies not random life events.
  • Five Signs of Judaism. They paint a prophetic picture of the destiny of the Messiah as He willingly obeyed the law and submitted to death. His outer human body was cut off or circumcized and buried like the foreskin. His body was hung on a post like the mezuzah. He had four holes in His body like the tzitzit. Like the teffilin, He was strapped to the cross with His hands bound and His forehead wrapped by a crown of thorns.
  • Jewish History. Jewish records in the Talmud report strange events between the forty years between the crucifixion and the destruction of the temple that signifies supernaturally that the temple services had changed.
    Every night the temple doors opened and the eternal flame of the menorah light was extinguished. On Yom Kippur the lot that indicated the Lord's goat, always came in the same hand and was never governed by chance since.
• Laws of Science. The other amazing thing that God taught me is how the symbols of the Plan of Salvation are written into the laws of nature.
  • The Colors of the Rainbow. They symbolize the series of works that must be done to perfect human.
  • Clean Animal. The structure and behavior of these animals represent what happened to Christ.
  • Pure Science in the Sanctuary. Finally, God showed me the evidence of modern science in the Old Testament. They reveal that all laws are first based on spiritual laws and that salvation is the recreation of the human race. The torah contains the pattern of the Periodic Table, a better model of particle physics than the Standard Model, the science behind the formation of rainbows, sleep, genes, DNA replication and many more topics.

The Critics
Critics make many claims about the authenticity of the Bible stories, casting dispersions on everything without even considering the details of the story. Their position is that it is all myths and fables and they will not bother with the details.

• Crossing the Red Sea. They claim that the Israelites crossed a marsh that was only six inches of water.
  • Army Drowned. It is possible for anyone to drown in two inches of water if they fall face forward and are incapacitated and no help is around. But how can an entire army drown in six inches of water?
  • Wall of Water. The story claims that the water was heaped up like walls, towering around them.
• Miracles of Jesus. They claim that He never performed any miracles because His magic tricks were of such poor quality that they were not better than other charlatans because they did not convince the people. They claim that the miracles were frequently performed "in private, sometimes in the night, and often under the injunction of secrecy".
  • Public Miracles. In making these blanket statements they ignored all the public miracles and the many people and whole towns that saw His works and believed Him. They also rejected the eye witness testimony of the disciples as biased and as part of the overall plot by con men.
  • Tell No Man. In the instances where Jesus asked people not to tell anyone about the particular miracle, they ignored the possible reasons why. He did not want the people to see Him as the conquering Messiah because He came to suffer rejection. Therefore, He told his disciples not to tell people that He was the Messiah or Son of God, choosing to be called the Son of Man. So He did not want them to talk about His transfiguration. He did not want the leper to talk about his cure until he had seen a priest as the law required. He might not want miracles, such as healing on the Sabbath to be punlished, because they may cause difficulty for him.
  • History of Miracles. Critics assume that such display of miracles would be automatically honored. The people constantly tried to stone Moses, even three days after the Red Sea miracle. They ignore the history which showed that a lack of belief is not always the quality and public nature of the miracle, but the fault of the mob. They ignored the fact that great miracles did not cause the people to obey or treat the miracle worker with respect because they also reject these stories.
• Existance of Jesus. They claim that He did not exist and that historical references to Him were planted by Christians.

The Birthday
Today, Christians around the world celebrate December 25 as the birth date of Christ. But this is incorrect. The date was chosen to attract the people of the pagan religion, who celebrated the birth date of the sun on that day.

The story of the birth of Christ and John, pinpoints the exact date of his birth. We present this evidence in another lesson.

• The Place of Birth. There is one point of interest about the caves and the feast of booths. During this time the Israelites were supposed to live outside in booths. One side of this temporary dwelling was supposed to be constructed next to a permanent wall. The rest of the structure was made of branches. Stables were normally inside a cave. The structure made in the feast of booths sound a lot like the inside of a cave.
  So the ancient feast actually portrayed the type of dwelling in which the King of the universe would live when he came to live with mankind.
• The Bread of Life. So Christ (the Bread of Life) was born in Bethlehem (the House of Bread) and came to tabernacle with mankind during the feast of Tabernacles. John states that the Word became flesh and tabernacled (lived) among us. (John 1: 14)
• Born to Die. His place of birth was a sign of His death. (Luke 2: 12)
  In the ancient world, animals were kept in caves, their feeding troughs were made of stone.
  He was born in a cave and wrapped in strips of cloth and laid on a bed of stone.
  He was buried in a cave wrapped in strips of cloth. Like a dead man.
  He was born to die.

Lineage
Matthew's genealogy traced the lineage of Jesus as the son of David through Joseph - His legal father (Matthew 1). Luke's genealogy traced the lineage of Jesus as the son of God through Mary - His mother (Luke 3: 23-38).

In Luke, Joseph was called the "son of Heli", while in Matthew he was the "son of Jacob". Is this an error?

The Jerusalem Talmud states that Mary was the daughter of Heli (Haggigah, Book 77, 4). Heli was Mary's father and Joseph was his son-in-law according to modern reckoning. But this designation "son" instead of "son-in-law" was common in those days. It was not an error.

Even today, according to Jewish tradition - you are a Jew if your lineage could be traced through your mother. The new Testament shows Jesus' heritage, through both Joseph and Mary. Since Joseph was not His Father, it is the ancestry of Mary that was most important. She was from the line of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Judah and Jesse and David. And He was a Jew because of His mother.

Virgin Birth
The Bible states that He was born from the "seed of a woman". This is significant because of what it does not say. He was not from the seed of a man as normal humans are. Therefore, His only human biological connection must be from a woman only. He must not have the genes of any man from earth. Therefore, He must be either born from a virgin or from a conception that did not involve a sexual act.

The New Testament states that Jesus was born to the Virgin named Mary after she conceived a child by the Holy Spirit. Current Jewish interpretation implies that the Old Testament did not say that a virgin would conceive, but that a young woman would. One would be a miracle, the other would not. Let us examine the evidence.

The Jewish Perspective. What was the Jewish perspective prior to Christ. The original Hebrew word is almah which could mean virgin or maiden (young woman). Historically, the term young woman implied virginity. So while an old woman could be a virgin she could not be a young maiden. Therefore, in modern thinking, the prophecy either means that His mother would be a virgin or that she was young. So the Hebrew term is ambiguous.

To find out how the ancient Hebrews interpreted the prophecies we have to go back to the Septuagint. When the Hebrew was translated into the Greek, there were two distinct Greek words for a virgin and a young woman. The Hebrew translators chose to use the Greek word for virgin. This is strong circumstantial evidence that the ancient Hebrews thought that a virgin (not simply a young woman) would conceive.

The Family Tree of Jesus.
Jesus was from both the tribe of Judah and Levi. His geneology is recorded in two places. Matthew 1: 1-17 records the ancestors of Joseph, His step-father. Luke 3: 23-38 records the ancestors of Mary's husband as the son-in-law of Mary's father.
In addition, Luke 1: 5, 36 establishes that Mary had a cousin who was from the tribe of Aaron, the priests from Levi.

God ("Biological Father and Creator").
Adam ("Ancestor of All People"). The son of God.
Abraham ("Ancestor of Israel"). Father of Isaac. 20 generations from Adam.
Isaac ("The Promised Son"). Heir of the promise. Father of Jacob.
Jacob ("Ancestor of the Twelve Tribes of Israel"). His name was changed to Israel.
Levi ("Ancestor of Mary and Elizabeth"). Line of priests. The third son, who was one of the twelve tribes.
Judah ("Ancestor of Mary and Joseph"). Line of kings. The fourth son, who was one of the twelve tribes.
David ("Tribe of Judah"). Second king of Israel, fourteen generations from Abraham. Chosen by God.
Joseph ("Step Father"). Matthew 1: 1-17 records the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph who was from the tribe of Judah. Luke 1: 27. He came through David's son Solomon (Matthew 1: 6).
Jesus ("Son of God"). 77 generations from God according to Mary's geneology and 63 generations from God by the geneology of Joseph.
Mary ("Biological Mother"). She comes from the tribe of Judah according to the genealogy of Luke 3: 23-38. Although it was recorded as the genealogy of Joseph the "son of Eli" it was actually "the son-in-law of Eli". This was the lineage of Mary. He came through David's son Nathan (Luke 3: 31). Mary was also a relative/cousin of Elizabeth who was from the tribe of Levi (Luke 1: 36).
So Mary must have been from the tribe of Judah through her father's side and from the tribe of Levi through her mother's side. So Jesus was biologically from both the lines of kings and priests and legally from the line of kings through adoption.
Salome ("Aunt"). Possibly the sister of Mary. We have to compare the list of women standing at a distance from the cross in several books to establish a possible relationship.
• Mary, Mary and John's Mother. Matthew 27: 56: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, who were James and John (Matthew 4: 21; Mark 10: 35).
• Mary, Mary and Salome (John's Mother). Mark 15: 40: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome. Therefore Salome is the mother of James and John.
• Mary, Mary, Mary and Mary's Sister. John 19: 25: Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary His mother, and His mother's sister. All the women mentioned were named Mary, with the exception of "Mary's sister". So she must be Salome, the mother of John the disciple. Therefore John was His cousin. It explains why John took care of Mary. She was a family member. She was His aunt.
  The reason why he became the beloved disciple was probably because he was the only family member who acted as if He believed the claims of Jesus.
John the Beloved Disciple ("Cousin"). Cousin of Jesus, son of Salome.
Elizabeth ("Cousin of Mary"). Comes from the tribe of Levi through Aaron (Luke 1: 5, 36)
Zacharias ("Husband of Elizabeth"). Comes from the tribe of Levi from the division of Abijah (Luke 1: 5)
John the Baptist ("Cousin"). Son of Elizabeth (Luke 1).
James and Jude ("Brothers"). James 1: 19. Jude 1. Mark 6: 13. Matthew 13: 55-56 states that Mary later had other children. He had four brothers and some sisters. These were not her step children. A prophecy from Psalm says that His mother had other sons.
I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother's sons. (Psalm 69: 8)

Residence
The Bible indicates that the Messiah would come from at least 3 different places - Bethlehem, Nazareth and Egypt. Events conspired to get His parents to these locations.

• Bethlehem. When Augustus Caesar issued a tax, he forced all people to go to the original places of birth to register. This meant that Mary, who was 9 months pregnant was forced to make a long arduous journey that no one would reasonably have made to fulfill the prophecy. They might not have known what the prophecy wanted, but God made a Roman Emperor issue a law that would force the prophecy to be fulfilled.
• Egypt. The Messiah would come out of Egypt. Again, because of political circumstances Joseph was forced to flee to Egypt because King Herod was trying to destroy the baby by killing all Jewish babies of a certain age. Joseph was told by an angel to go to Egypt. They returned to Israel after the death of Herod. So Jesus spent His life as a young boy in Egypt.
• Nazareth. After coming from Egypt, the family went to live in Nazareth where Jesus grew up.
• Capernaum. He would live in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Historical References
There are historical references to the existance of Jesus and the trial of Jesus. They are from writers hostile to Christianity. Their accounts show at least three things.

1. There was a man named Jesus Christ (Yeshua).
2. That He was executed.
3. His movement survived His death.

• Josephus' Account. The Jewish historian, Josephus referred to Jesus in two places. He referred to the stoning of James in 62 AD as the brother of Jesus who is called Christ.
  In the other reference this is what he had to say about Jesus:

  About the same time there lived Jesus, a wise man for he was a performer of marvelous feats and a teacher of such men who received the truth with pleasure. He attracted many Jews and many Greeks. He was called the Christ. Pilate sentenced him to die on the cross, having been urged to do so by the noblest of our citizens; but those who loved him at the first did not give up their affection for him. And the tribe of the Christians, who are named after him, have not disappeared to this day

• Tacitus' Account. (56 - 117 AD) Speaking about the burning of Rome, the Roman historian Tacitus (who hated Christians and Jews) has this to say:

  Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, and the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.

• Babylonian Talmud. It mentions Yeshua (Jesus) Who was hanged on the eve of Passover because He practiced sorcery and enticed and led Israel astray (Sanhedrin 43A).

  It has been taught on the eve of the Passover they hanged Yeshua. And an announcer went out in front of him for forty days saying, 'He is going to be stoned because He practiced sorcery and enticed and led Israel astray. Anyone who knows anything in his favor, let him come and plead in his behalf.' But, not having found anything in his favor, they hanged him on the eve of the Passover.

• Talmud. Although the accounts were not flattering, the Talmud states that Miriam (Mary) conceived Jesus by the best man of the bridegroom while she was menstruating. So Jesus was an illegitimate bastard, born to a prostitute in the filth of menstruation (a bastard and a niddah).
  So I assume they hated Him. But, despicable as He was, He existed according to the records of an unbiased source.

Hematidrosis: Sweating Drops of Blood
As He prayed, He perspired great drops of blood. Medical doctors have recorded cases when this process of hematidrosis occurs. Usually the victim is under extreme anxiety such as the threat of pain or death. This causes the tiny capillaries in the sweat gland to burst and blood to seep into the sweat glands and out to the skin.
One reported case was that of a British girl in World War II during the time when London was being bombed. Every time the city was attacked, this frightened girl would sweat blood.
» Haemolacria: Tears of Blood. A new or rare phenomenon seen in 2009. The cause is unknown.

Psychological Torture: The King's Game (Swords and Kings)

Roman Forms of Corporal Punishment There were three levels of severity for flogging. Fustigatio. For a light offense. Flagellatio. For criminals Verberatio. Most severe. Accompanied by other punishments including crucifixion

The Romans played a cruel child's game called "Swords and Kings" with the prisoners who were waiting to be crucified. It was described by a writer in Alexandria where the mob entertained themselves by making fools out of idiots and the mentally handicapped. The Roman soldiers would take one of their prisoners and make a mock king out of him. They would catch them and dress them up in purple robes like kings. Then they would sit them down and mock worship them. They beat and taunted the prisoner until it was time to be crucified.
They threw a robe across the shoulders of Jesus and placed a stick in His hand for a scepter. They twisted flexible branches with one to two inch thorns and made a crown. Then they shoved it on His head. This caused much bleeding, because the scalp has many blood vessels.
Yeshua was most likely taken to the Fortress Antonia for this beating.

Roman Flogging Instruments The Jews have a law about flogging no more than 40 times. In practice, they limited it to 39 lashes just in case there was an error in counting. But there is no evidence that the Romans had a limit. Elm Rods. For whipping free men Vine, Laurel or Myrtle Canes. Military Whips. Straps of different materials.   » Ferula - Leather strap   » Scutia - Thongs of twisted parchment   » Flagrum or Flagellum. 2 or 3 lashes with various objects tied to the ends or along the length. Flagrum Metallic dumbells Astragala Ram bone Scorpion Thorns or metal hooks which tear flesh

The Agony of the Whipping
The prisoner was stripped of his clothing and his hands tied to a post above his head. Or, he was tied and bent over a low pillar or laid on the floor. This exposed his back and legs and allowed hitting from both sides.

Dr. C. Truman Davis, describes a flogging as follows:

The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus' shoulders, back and legs. At first, the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. The small balls of lead first produce large, deep bruises, which the others cut wide open. Finally, the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons, and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped. The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood.

» Disemboweled. Sometimes the beatings are so severe the victim is disemboweled.

» Crucifixion Diseases. The Bible says that He bore our diseases. An examination of several real diseases show a remarkable similarity to the suffering of Christ and the symbols of the Plan of Salvation. These diseases are either triggered by the same events he endured or have the same symptoms.

• Leprosy. He was treated with scorn like a leper.
• Helicase Malfunction. It causes premature aging, sun sensitivity, skin lesions and spots.
• Porphyria. Triggered by stress, excess iron (nail and sword) or the sun. It causes blisters, pain, swelling and cramping.
• Sleep Disorders. Sleep paralysis, cataplexy, REM Without Atonia, hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations, bedwetting, night terrors, sleep walking and sleep talking.
• Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF). Affects people of Mediterranean descent, muscle pain, skin lesions, joint attacks and chest pain.

The Cross
Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution which was used by the Romans for slaves and criminals until AD 337. Crucifixion was invented either by the Persians between 300-400BC or by the Syro-Phoenicians about 600 BC. However, before it was invented, about 1000 BC King David prophesied about the crucifixion of Christ.
Nailed. ... They pierced my hands and my feet. (Psalm 22: 16)

The entire cross weighed over 300 pounds (136 kg) and the patibulum (cross beam) weighed 75-125 pounds (35-60 kg). The nails were about 5-9 inches long (13 to 21 cm) with a square shaft 1 cm wide. There were several types of crosses.

• Crux Decussata. It is shaped like an "X". The crossbar and stipes were the same length.
• Crux Commissa . It is shaped like a "T". A crossbar is affixed to the top of a stake.
• Crux Immisa. A crossbar is affixed 2 to 3 feet from the top of a stake, leaving space for a titulus.
• Crux Simplex or Crus Palus. A stake without a cross beam.

Parts of the Cross Immisa King of the Jews (Titulus)     Patibulum   Stipes   Titulus. A small sign which stated the victim's crime was nailed above the head Patibulum. The horizontal cross beam Stipes. The upright post Sedulum. A small seat to sit on.

Jesus and His Cross

• Carrying the Cross. He probably carried the cross beam, not the entire cross. It weighed about 34 to 57 kg and was tied on His neck and across His shoulders. He carried the patibulum of the cross like an ox or donkey carried a yoke on their shoulders.
  The Titulus, bearing the description of the crime, was fixed to a short staff and carried ahead of the execution procession.
• Hands Nailed to the Cross. He was nailed in the wrist not the palm. Nailing in the palm would tear the flesh since it would not support His weight. A flat disc of wood was placed on the wrist to prevent the flesh from tearing through the nail head. The soldier drives a heavy, square, wrought iron nail through a flat piece of wood, then the depression in front of His wrist between the radius and ulna, deep into the wood. The nail is placed past the wrist next to the base of the thumb in a space between the radius, ulna and the eight small carpal bones. It avoids the nerves and major blood vessels so that the victim does not prematurely bleed to dead and He could still feel the pain.
  » Median Nerve. If it pierces the largest nerve in the hand, it causes severe burning pain and permanent paralysis of the hand.
  » Nailed in The Hands or Wrist? Most sources claim that the nails were placed in the wrist because the hands would tear. However, a documentary by National Geographic Channel's Quest For Truth: The Crucifixion, showed an experiment proving that a person can be suspended by the palm of the hands.
• Patibulum and Titulus. Then the cross bar is raised up and placed on the upright. Then the titulus is nailed above His head, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews".
• Feet Nailed to the Cross. His feet were first turned to the side and His legs bent at the knees. Then the left foot was placed on top of the right foot. The left foot is now pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed so that He had room to sit and stand.
  To prevent tearing of the flesh through the nail head, a flat piece of wood was placed over his feet, and a larger spike was hammered through the wood, both feet, and the cross.
• Anesthesia. A mixture of vinegar (gall) and wine could be given as a mild anesthetic. Jesus refused to drink it.
  They gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it He was unwilling to drink. (Matthew 27: 34)
• Spear Wound. The Roman guards pierced the body with a sword or lance to ensure that the victim was dead. Traditionally, this was believed to be a spear wound through the right side of the chest that pierced the heart. But for many reasons I believe that it was through His left side.

Crucifixion Anatomy and Physiology Nails. Wrists and feet nailed. Ropes. Arms tied to patibulum. Chest Muscles. Intercostal, pectoral and diaphragm. Sedulum. Victim assisted breathing by standing or sitting. Stand. Weight on feet Sit. Weight on arms Sword. A spear 5 - 6 feet (1.5-1.8 m) pierced the heart. Crucifracture. Normally, the legs were broken below the knees to hasten death by asphyxia.

The Agony of the Crucifixion
Jesus was crucified naked. It was prophesied that people would stare at Him. It was humiliating.

» Hard Labor. The efforts to breathe on the cross were an exercise in hard and painful labor. He died slowly and painfully by slowly suffocating.
Normally, the victim's legs were broken so that he could not push up on his feet to breathe. However, Jesus died before they broke His legs - fulfilling the prophecy that not one of His bones would be broken. Before the legs were broken, the slow process of suffering and resulting death during a crucifixion is described in an article by Dr. David Terasaka.

... it appears likely that the mechanism of death in crucifixion was suffocation. The chain of events which ultimately led to suffocation are as follows:
With the weight of the body being supported by the sedulum [a seat], the arms were pulled upward. This caused the intercostal and pectoral muscles [muscles in the rib cage] to be stretched. Furthermore, movement of these muscles was opposed by the weight of the body. With the muscles of respiration thus stretched, the respiratory bellows became relatively fixed [in the inhale position, making exhalation virtually impossible, leaving only shallow breathing. The shallow breathing eventually caused muscle cramps].
As dyspnea [difficulty breathing] developed and pain in the wrists and arms increased, the victim was forced to raise the body off the sedulum, thereby transferring the weight of the body to the feet [tarsal bones]. Respirations became easier, but with the weight of the body being exerted on the feet, pain in the feet and legs mounted. When the pain became unbearable, the victim again slumped down on the sedulum with the weight of the body pulling on the wrists and again stretching the intercostal muscles [between the ribs]. Thus, the victim alternated between lifting his body off the sedulum in order to breathe and slumping down on the sedulum to relieve pain in the feet. Eventually, he became exhausted or lapsed into unconsciousness so that he could no longer lift his body off the sedulum. In this position, with the respiratory muscles essentially paralyzed, the victim suffocated and died. (DePasquale and Burch)

» Great Suffering. Death by crucifixion was a process that took three hours to four days depending on the severity of the beating. Then the beaten prisoner was tied to the patibulum and walked to the site of the crucifixion. A severe beating stripped the back and would generally cause great blood loss, making the victim too weak to carry the patibulum and hasten death at crucifixion. Efforts to breathe by lifting and lowering the body would cause the raw back to scrape against the upright post and to rotate the wrist around the nails and cause great pain along the median nerve and back.
» Cause of Death (Broken Heart Syndrome). The cause of death was due to several possibilities including shock by blood loss, exhaustion asphyxiation (suffocation), cardiac arrhythmia or congestive heart failure. But the prophetic evidence is that His heart was broken or ruptured.
» Attacked by Wild Animals. Insects and birds of pray would invade the open wounds, the eyes, nose and ears and increase the misery of the victim. The corpse would sometimes be left on the cross to be eaten by scavengers unless the family received permission to bury the body. The birds were not allowed to cannibalize His body, but He may have been bothered by insects.

Crucifixion Week Timeline

The Final Days of Jesus
Kislev 25	About 100 days before He rode through the east gate, the Jews try to stone Him during the Feast of Dedication (Channukah) so He left Jerusalem				John 10
Nisan, 31 AD	Lazarus was raised from the dead about a week before, after being dead for 4 days				11
The Final Week of Jesus		Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
Saturday Night [Nisan 9]	Six days before Passover Mary washes Jesus' feet with perfume at the home of Simon the leper. This act triggers the anger of Judas	26:7	14:3	-	12:1
	Judas betrays Him with a bribe of 30 pieces of silver	26:15	14:10	22:4	-
Sunday [Nisan 9]	The people come to see Lazarus and Jesus	-	-	-	12:9
Night [Nisan 10]	Sunday evening was the beginning of Nisan 10, the day to select the Passover Lamb	Matthew 21	Mark 11	Luke 19	John 12
Monday [Nisan 10]	Jesus sends His disciples to find a donkey	2-5	2-5	21	14
	Jesus goes to Jerusalem on a donkey	7-9	7-9	35	-
	The people shout Hosanna!	9	9	38	-
Night [Nisan 11]	Jesus goes back to Bethany (House of the poor or afflicted), 2 miles from Jerusalem	-	11	-	-
Tuesday [Nisan 11]	The fig tree is cursed	-	12	-	-
	Jesus drives out the money changers and cleansed the temple	12	15	45	-
	The fig tree is withered	19	20	-	-
Night [Nisan 12]	Jesus goes back to Bethany	-	-	-	-
Wednesday [Nisan 12]	Scribes question Jesus about His authority	-	28	20:2	-
	Prophecy: No stones left in the temple	24:2	13:1	21:5	-
	Prophecy: The end of the age and the Second Coming signs	3	4	7	-
	Priests plot at Caiphas' house two days before the feast	26:3	14:1	22:2	-
Night [Nisan 13]	Judas had betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver before	26:15	14:10	22:4	-
	Jesus goes back to Bethany	-	-	-	-
Thursday Nisan 13	Disciples ask where Passover meal will be	17	13	9	-
	A man carrying water leads the disciples to the Upper Room	18	13	10	-
The Three Days of Suffering		Matthew 26	Mark 14	Luke 22	John 13
In the Hands of Caiaphas (The High Priest) and the Religious Rulers
Night	Beginning of the three days and nights in the "bowels of the earth" (Thursday sunset)
The Last Supper (Thursday Evening) Nisan 14	Jesus and the 12 disciples come to the upper room in the evening	20	17	14	-
	Washes the disciple's feet	-	-	-	4
	Announces the betrayal by the one who dips in the bowl with Him	23	18	21	26
	Bread. This is My body	26	22	19	-
	Wine. This is My blood	27	24	20	-
	Will not drink the fourth cup until the New Jerusalem	29	25	18	-
	Who is the greatest disciple	-	-	24	-
Gethsemane (Thursday Night)	Sang a hymn. Went to the Mt of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane	30	26	39	18:1
	Praying alone in agony, a stone throw away	-	-	41	-
	One angel came to strengthen Him	-	-	43	-
	Let this cup pass from Me	39	36	-	-
	Sweat blood	-	-	44	-
	Found the disciples (Peter, James, John) sleeping three times	45	37	46	-
	Judas betrays with a kiss. A crowd came with swords and clubs	48	45	48	3
	Peter cuts off Malchus' ear with a sword. Jesus heals him	51	47	50	10
	This hour and the power of darkness are yours	-	-	53	-
	Disciples fled	56	50	-	-
	Naked man	-	51	-	-
Trial (Friday Night)	Trial 1: Annas	-	-	-	13
	Trial 2: The high priest Caiphas and the council	57	53	54	24
	Try to get false testimony	59	55	-	-
	Found two false witnesses	60	-	-	-
	Jesus admits that He is the Son of God	64	62	70	-
	Caiphas tears his clothes saying that Jesus has blasphemed	65	63	-	-
	Blindfolded, beat and spat on Him and mocked Him	67	65	63	-
	6:00 AM. Peter denies Him 3 times and curses. Cock crows.	74	72	60	27
Night 1	End of the first night (Thursday sunset to Dawn on Friday). Passover supper to Cockcrow
In the Hands of Rome and the Civilian Government		Matthew 27	Mark 15	Luke 23	John 18
Trial (Friday Morning)	Trial 3: Governor Pilate. Delivered Him bound	2	1	1	29
	Judas hangs himself after giving back the 30 pieces of silver. Judas fell and his intestines burst out in the Field of Blood. Acts 1: 16-20	5	-	-	-
	Potter's field bought for 30 pieces of silver	7-8	-	-	-
	Trial 4: Herod (because Jesus was from his jurisdiction in Galilee)	-	-	7	-
	Herod and his soldiers mock Him with contempt. Dressed Him	-	-	11	-
	Trial 5: Sent back to Pilate who calls the priests, rulers and people	-	-	11	-
	Remained silent before his accusers	12-14	3-5	8-10	-
	Pilate's wife warns him about her dream	19	-	-	-
	Pilate washes his hands of the guilt of innocent blood	24	-	-	-
	The people said "His blood be on us and on our children!"	25	-	-	-
	Exchanged for Barabbas, imprisoned for insurrection and murder	26	15	25	40
Mocked (Friday Morning)	Beaten and handed over for crucifixion	26	15	-	19:1
	Stripped, dressed in purple robe, crown of thorns, reed	28	17	-	2
	Mocked and beaten by the soldiers. "Hail, King of the Jews"	29	18	38	3
	Wears purple robe, crown of thorns. "Behold the Man"	-	-	-	5
	"Behold your King" Hour 6? (6 AM Roman time, other gospels give Jewish time). People said "We have no king but Caesar"	-	-	-	14
	Jesus carries the cross	-	-	-	17
	Simon of Cyrene carries the cross	32	21	26	-
	Went to Golgotha (Calvary), "place of a skull"	33	22	33	17
	Tastes and refuses wine mixed with gall (myrrh)	34	23	36	-
The Wrath of God (Friday Morning)	Crucified naked at hour 3 (9:00 AM)	35	22	33	23
	Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing	-	-	34	-
	Soldiers tore His outer clothes into 4. Gambled for His seamless tunic	35	24	34	23
	Above His head. "Jesus of Nazareth. King of the Jews"	37	26	38	19
	Two robbers crucified on the right and left	38	27	33	18
	Passers by hurl abuse	39	29	35	-
	Priests and scribes mocked Him	41	31	-	-
	Two robbers mock and insult Him	44	32	39	-
	One robber asks Jesus to remember him	-	-	40	-
	Gives mother to a disciple	-	-	-	26-27
Darkness (Friday Noon - 3:00 PM)	Three hours of darkness (Noon to 3:00) or (hour 6 to hour 9)	45	33	44	-
	Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabacthani (Around hour 9)	46	34	-	-
	People thought He called Elijah	47	35	-	-
	"I am thirsty". Given sponge, sour wine on hyssop reed to drink	48	36	-	28
	"It is finished". Yielded up the Spirit with a loud voice	50	37	46	30
	Veil torn from top to bottom	51	38	45	-
	Earthquake, rocks split, resurrection of many people	52	37	45	-
Burial (Friday Afternoon)	Side pierced with a spear. Blood and water	-	-	-	34
	Joseph asks for His body	58	43	50	38
	Buried in a new tomb. Wrapped in linen and spices (myrrh, aloes)	59	46	53	38-42
	Women prepare spices and perfumes for His body	-	16:1	56	-
Day 1	End of the first day (Dawn on Friday to sunset Friday). Roman trial and crucifixion and burial
Sabbath Nisan 15	Sabbath rest in the grave. Tomb sealed and guarded by Pilate	66	-	-	-
Night 2	End of the second night (Friday sunset to Dawn on Saturday). Dead
Sabbath	Jesus is swallowed up and still resting in the grave on Saturday	-	-	-	-
Day 2	End of the second day (Dawn on Saturday to sunset Saturday). Dead and resting in the grave
Evening Nisan 16	Jesus is still in the grave Saturday evening (The first day of the week)	-	-	-	-
Night 3	End of the third night (Saturday sunset to Dawn on Sunday). In the grave	Matthew 28	Mark 16	Luke 24	John 20
Resurrect	Before dawn on Sunday. Earthquake. Resurrection
Sunday	Earthquake	2	-	-	-
	An angel rolled away the stone, body gone	2	4	2-3	1
	Guards fell as dead men	4	-	-	-
	Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna and others came to the grave with spices	1	1-2	1,10	1
	One Angel spoke to women. "He is risen"	5-6	6	4	-
	Angel said that Jesus is going to Galilee	7	7	-	-
	Priests and elders gave guards money to say that the disciples stole the body	11-15	-	-	-
	Mary told the disciples that the body was missing	-	-	9	2
	Peter and others came to the empty tomb and saw grave clothes	-	-	12	3-9
	Two angels sitting at the head and feet where the body had been	-	-	4	12
	Mary met Jesus and worshipped	-	8-10	-	14-
	Do not cling to me because I have not yet ascended to my father	-	-	-	17
	Mary told the disciples that she saw Jesus. They doubted	-	10-	9-11	18
	Jesus met 2 on the road to Emmaus near sunset, walked 7 miles	-	12	13	-
	He showed how Moses and the prophets spoke about Him	-	-	27	-
	They recognized him in the breaking of bread	-	-	30-35	-
Ascension	Jesus stayed near evening then vanished after eating with them.	-	-	31	-
Day 3	End of the third day (Dawn on Sunday to sunset Sunday). Resurrection and ascension
Sunday Evening (First day of the week) Nisan 17	The first appearance of Jesus to 11 disciples, except Thomas.	16	14	36	19
	He showed them the holes in His hands and feet	-	-	39	27
	Great Commission	19	15	47	21
	Power and signs will follow because they will receive the Holy Spirit	-	17	49	22
	He breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit	-	-	-	22
	Jesus ascended to heaven	-	19	51	-
	Thomas said that he did not believe	-	-	-	25
8 Days Later	The second appearance of Jesus to them. Thomas is there	-	-	-	26
Before 40 Days	The third appearance of Jesus was at the sea of Tiberias (Acts 1: 3)	-	-	-	21:1
Day 50	Pentecost (Shavous). The Holy Spirit came in fire	Acts 2

All gospels must be read carefully to place the timing of Mary washing Jesus' feet and Mary given to John.

• Mary Washes Jesus' Feet. Mark 14: 1 appears to say that the event happened two days before the Passover, while John 12: 1 says it happened six days before. All the gospels place the event before Judas went to the priests.
  Putting the two events together we concluded that Mary washed His feet six days before Passover, then Judas went to them with his offer of betrayal. Then two days before Passover they were finalizing their decision about when and how this would occur. So Mark begins with the plans the priests were making (verse 1), then proceeded to say how and why that plan had been hatched (verse 3).

  Six Days Before Passover			Two Days	Passover
  Mary Washed Jesus' Feet	Judas Was Angry at the Cost	Sold to the Priests	Plans Final	Kissed

  We could also conclude that Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before. Then two days before, Mary washed His feet. But for symbolic reasons we chose the previous time line since the law says that after a person is anointed, he must wait at the sanctuary and the Lord will appear on the eighth day. Jesus first appeared to Mary after the resurrection, eight days after she anointed Him.
• Jesus Gives Mary to John. Only John reports this event. It occurred before He said that He was thirsty, but after the cross was placed between the two thieves, the titulus was nailed above his head and they gambled for His clothes. John does not mention the darkness. The other gospels place His expression of thirst after the darkness. For symbolic and practical reasons we placed the events before the darkness on the cross. They could see each other.

  Light				Darkness
  Cross Raised	Titulus	Gambled for Clothes	Mary Given to John	Thirsty

Jewish Messianic Texts
According to Edersheim's Appendix 9 ¹, over 456 texts were interpreted as Messianic references in the writings of the rabbis. Here are some of those texts.

Book	Texts
Genesis	(Creator). 1: 2; 2: 4; 4: 25; 5: 1. (Covenant Maker). 14: 1; 15: 18; 19: 32; 22: 18; 33: 1; 38: 1,2. (Judah, Dan and Gad identified with the Messiah). 49: 1,9,10,12,17,19; 50: 10.
	3: 15; 35:21; 49: 1, 10-12
Exodus	4: 22; 12: 2,42; 15: 1; 16: 25,33; 17: 16; 21: 1; 40: 9,11. Messiah is the LORD G-d of the exodus
	12:42; 17:16; 40:9-11
Leviticus	26: 12,13. Messiah is the God who led them in the exodus
Numbers	6: 26; 7: 12; 11: 26; 23: 21; 24: 17,20,24; 27: 16. Messiah is the LORD of the old testament
	1:26; 23:21; 24:7, 17-24
Deuteronomy	1: 8; 8: 1; 11: 21; 16: 3; 19: 8,9; 20: 10; 23: 11; 25: 19; 30: 4; 32: 7,20; 33: 5,12,17 25:19; 30:4-9
Judges	5: 31. The LORD who will fight His enemies
Ruth	1: 1; 2: 14; 3: 15; 4: 18,20 1:1; 3:15
1 Samuel	2: 10. The LORD who will fight His enemies. 2:7-10, 35
2 Samuel	22: 28; 23: 1,3,4. The Rock who will rule. 22: 28-32; 23:1-5
1 Kings	4: 33. 5:13
1 Chronicles	3: 24. Descendant of Zerubabbel. 3:24
Esther	1:1 "The ninth is that of the Messiah the son of David" (Ahasuerus was the sixth of ten kings)
Psalms	2; 2: 4,6-9; 16: 6,9; 18: 31,50; 21: 1,2,3,4,5,7; 22: 7,15; 23: 5; 31: 19; 36: 9; 40: 7; 45: 2,3,6,7; 50: 2; 60: 7; 61: 6,8; 68: 31; 72: 1,8,10,16,17; 80: 17; 89: 22-25,27,51,53; 90: 15; 92: 8,11,13 [7,10,12]; 95: 7; 102: 16; 106: 44; 110; 110: 2,7 116: 9,13; 119: 33; 120: 7; 121: 1; 126: 2; 132: 14,18; 133: 3; 142: 5;
	18:28-32; 21:1-8; 45:7-18; 61:7-9; 72:1-20; 80:15-18; 89:51-52; 132:10-18
Proverbs	6:22
Ecclesiastics	1: 9,11; 7: 24; 11: 8; 12: 1
Songs of Solomon	All references to Solomon. (Messiah as king) 1: 8,17; 2: 8,9-10,12,13; 3: 11; 4: 5,16; 5: 10; 6: 10; 7: 6,13; 8: 2,4,11,12 (Messiah as bridegroom)
	1:8,17; 4:5; 7:4,12-14; 8:1-4
Isaiah	4: 2,4,5,6; 6: 13; 7: 21; 8: 14; 9: 6,7; 10: 27,34; 11: 1,2,3,4,6,7,10,11,12; 12: 3,5; 14: 2,29; 15: 2; 16: 1,5; 18: 5; 21: 11,12; 23: 8,15; 24: 23; 25: 8,9; 26: 19; 27: 10,13; 28: 5,15,16; 30: 5,6,10, 18,19,25,26; 32: 14,15,20; 35: 1,2; 40: 1-3,5,10; 41: 18,25,27; 42: 1; 43: 10; 45: 22; 49: 8,9,10,12,13,14,21,23,26; 51: 12,17; 52: 2,3,7,8,12,13; 53; 54: 2,5,11,13; 55: 12; 56: 1,7; 57: 14,16; 59: 15,17,19,20; 60: 1,2-4,7,8,19,21,22; 61: 1,5,9,10; 62: 10; 63; 63: 2,4; 64: 4; 65: 17,19,25; 66: 7; 68: 22; Isaiah 2, 11, 42; 59:20
	4:1-6; 9:5-6; 10:24-27; 11:1-16; 14:29-30; 16:1-5; 28:5-6; 42:1-9; 43:10; 52:13-53
Jeremiah	3: 17,18; 5: 19; 12: 9; 16: 13,14; 23: 5,6,7 (Branch); 30: 9,21; 31: 8,20,31,33,24 (New Covenant); 33: 13; Jeremiah 23, 30, 33; 48:47; 49:39
	23:1-8; 30:8-11,21; 33:12-26
Lamentations	1: 16; 2: 22; 4: 22 (Israel was lost on the day of the Lord - the crucifixion). 2:22; 4:22
Ezekiel	11: 19; 16: 55; 17: 22,23; 25:14; 29:21; 32:14; 36: 25,27; 39: 2; 47: 9,12; 48: 19 (Covenant kept). 38:16
	17:22-24; 34:20-31; 37:21-28
Daniel	2: 22,35,44; 7: 9,13,27; 8: 13,14; 9: 24; 12: 3,11,12. Daniel 10:14 Messiah is the Son of Man who will cleanse the temple and rule the earth
Hosea	2: 2,13, 18; 3: 5; 6: 2; 13: 14; 14: 7 (Last days). Hosea 3:4-3:5
	3:3-5; 14:5-8
Joel	2: 28; 3: 18 (Holy Spirit comes)
Amos	5:18; 8:11; 9:11 (Punishing and restoring Israel)
Obadiah	18,21 (Israel will defeat Esau (Edom))
Micah	(Israel restored) 2: 13; 4: 3,5,8; 5: 2,3; 7: 6,8,15. Micah 4
	4:8; 5:1-3
Nahum	2: 1
Habakuk	2:3; 3:17-18
Zephaniah	3: 8,9,11 (Israel forgiven). Zephaniah 3:9
Haggai	2: 6 (Nations come when they are shaken)
Zechariah	1:20; 2:10; 3: 8,10; 4: 7,10; 6: 12; 7: 13; 8: 12, 23; 9: 1,9,10; 10:4; 11: 12; 12:10; 14: 2-6, 7,8,9. 14:9
	3:8; 4:7; 6:12-13; 10:4
Malachi	3: 1,4,16,17; 4: 1,2,5 (Elijah comes)
These are the current Jewish Messianic and last day texts according to Judaism 101 website.
Messianic text in the Targum