Logan Thompson looked out over the chapel. It was filling up. He supposed he should feel nervous, but he didn’t. This was a special Bible contest to introduce the new fall Sunday school material. Even though it was Saturday afternoon, a lot of parents and most of the kids had come to see what was so special about this quarter.
The crowd grew quiet as the youth leader, Tyler Johnston, got to his feet. After welcoming the audience, Tyler announced, “This coming quarter we’re going to be studying prophecy—things that the Bible says will happen but haven’t taken place yet. We thought it would be good to find out why we believe these things really will happen. In this contest, Jesus Christ is the main subject. We have three teams: Selena Robertson, Troy Daley, and Logan Thompson are the captains. They may confer with their teams regarding responses, and anyone on the team may give the answer. The winning team goes out for pizza next Saturday for lunch!”
Turning to the team leaders sitting behind him, Tyler said, “Who knows how many Old Testament prophecies about Christ actually were fulfilled in Jesus and are recorded in the New Testament?” Selena’s hand shot up, but she answered hesitantly.
“Maybe around fifty?”
Tyler smiled, but he shook his head no. “Anyone else have an idea?”
There was silence, then Logan raised his hand slowly. When Tyler nodded to him, he said, “I don’t know a definite number, but there are hundreds of verses that mention things which were supposed to happen to the Messiah, and they did happen to Jesus.”
“That’s true, Logan. Occasionally, just a part of a verse said something about the coming Messiah. Can anyone tell me why it’s important to know that those prophecies about Jesus Christ really were fulfilled?”
Someone from Troy’s team spoke out, “Because we need to know that the Bible is true.”
“That’s right. Anyone want to add something to that?”
Again Logan raised his hand slowly. “Knowing that these things are true helps me to know I can trust what I read in the Bible. What God says will happen, really does happen.”
“Good point, Logan,” Tyler replied. “These verses are the foundation upon which we build our faith.”
Looking down at his list of questions, Tyler went on. “What’s the very first verse in the Bible that gives a prophecy about the Messiah?”
Nearly everyone raised his hand on that one. It was Selena’s team’s turn, and someone answered, “Genesis 3:15: ‘And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.’”
“Good! Who knows the last verse in the Old Testament that was fulfilled in Jesus’ life?”
There was a flurry of pages turning as the team members looked for the verse. Then, almost together, Logan’s and Troy’s hands shot up. “Okay, it’s Logan’s turn.”
“Zechariah 13:6: ‘And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’”
“Very good, Logan. Now, Troy’s team, what is the New Testament’s fulfillment of the verse in Genesis?”
The team members looked at each other in dismay. “We don’t know!” they said finally.
“Does anyone know?” asked Tyler.
Logan looked around. There were no hands, so he raised his again.
“Okay, Logan, what do you think?”
“Jesus bruised Satan’s head by dying for us and giving us power over sin, and Satan bruised Jesus’ heel by causing the people to kill Him.”
“Excellent!” Tyler responded. “Logan, that gave your team a point. Now we’re back to Selena’s team. Can you give the fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah?”
After a few moments of quiet discussion, the answer was given. “The Zechariah verse was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified and the nails were put into His hands.”
The contest went on, with different prophecies from the Old Testament being matched to their fulfillment in the New Testament. Logan’s team was soon far ahead of the others, and at the conclusion of the contest, it was obvious they were the winners.
Tyler concluded, “We’ve covered a lot of the prophecies of things that happened to Jesus when He lived on earth the first time. In closing let’s consider the Scripture where Malachi talks about what will happen after Jesus comes back to earth. During the Millennium He’ll be King of the whole earth and everyone will obey Him.”
There was recognition and applause for the winning team, then Tyler continued, “The things we’ve talked about today are important because we realize that what the Bible says really is the truth. That’s why we can look forward with certainty to things that will happen in the future. We’ve learned that when God says something will take place, it really will happen!”
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