Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible

by J. Warner Wallace

OBJECTION: IF THE PROPHECIES ARE SO GOOD, WHY DON’T MORE JEWS ACCEPT THEM? Jewish believers typically take the following approach when evaluating messianic prophecies: 1. They limit the verses and prophecies they are willing to include in the investigation. 2. They exclude any verse that describes the Messiah —as a person—in any detail. 3. When interpreting the remaining verses, they reject any interpretation that points to a person rather than the nation of Israel or a group of people within the nation. 4. They ignore the “cloaked” verses (which point to a person of interest in hindsight). But is this approach to the biblical evidence reasonable? Can you imagine doing something similar in a criminal case? Imagine, for example: 1. Limiting the evidence you’re willing to include in the investigation. What good investigator doesn’t want to expand the yellow tape as far as possible to make sure he or she gathers everything? 2. Disregarding any evidence that describes the suspect in any detail. What kind of detective would purposely reject the evidence that most clearly and specifically points to a suspect? 3. Rejecting any interpretation of the evidence that points to a suspect in favor of an interpretation that points to something other than a suspect. Why would a detective try to reinterpret evidence to avoid any inference to a suspect? 4. Ignoring all the “cloaked” evidence (which points to a suspect in hindsight). Why wouldn’t a good detective want to confirm his or her c...