Fulfilled prophecies and testimonies, not beliefs “governed by passion,” are the proofs that ground Christian conviction. Justin also goes on to cite, almost in its entirety, the amazing prophecy of the Suffering Servant from chapters 52 and 53 of Isaiah. “[H]ear what was…said by Isaiah,” Justin writes, “‘Because they delivered His soul to death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, He has borne the sin of many…He was despised, and of no reputation. It is He who bears our sins, and is afflicted for us.’”[7]

Justin Martyr was a prolific Christian writer who lived in the first half of the second century. Though much of his work has been lost to history, a few of his treatises still remain to this day. One of them is a defense of the Christian faith written to the Roman emperor and senate around 150 AD, referred to as Justin’s First Apology. Here’s an abridged version of his opening:

To the Emperor, his sons, and the sacred Senate, with the whole People of the Romans, I, Justin, native of Palestine, present this address and petition in behalf of those of all nations who are unjustly hated and wantonly abused, myself being one of them…Our opponents proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all; for they do not discern the mystery that is herein, to which, as we make it plain to you, we pray you to give heed… In fact, we shall now offer proof, not trusting mere assertions, but being of necessity persuaded by those who prophesied of Him before these things came to pass, for with our own eyes we behold things that have happened and are happening just as they were predicted; and this will, we think appear even to you the strongest and truest evidence.[1]

I recently interviewed attendees at a Christmas festival here in the St. Louis area about the meaning of Christmas, and the contrast between Justin’s approach and the views I heard from Christians during these interviews couldn’t be more pronounced (if you’d like to listen to them yourself click here). Whereas Justin appealed to the clear match between the publicly known facts about Jesus and the ancient Hebrew prophecies about the coming Messiah, most of the believers I spoke with appealed to faith itself, to their subjective feelings and experiences, or to the way they happened to be raised.

Justin Appealed to the Argument of Fulfilled Prophecy Throughout His Treatise.

As we think about the situation in which we find ourselves today, many people—both inside and outside the walls of the church—seem to be unfamiliar with the line of reasoning that was of central significance to Justin, namely the argument of fulfilled prophecy. Of course, Justin didn’t invent this approach, since it is found in almost every speech given by the apostles as recorded in the book of Acts (cf. 2:22ff, 3:21ff, 8:28ff, 10:39ff, 13:27ff, 26:22ff, 28:23). And the apostles apparently received it from Jesus himself: “‘These are my words that I spoke to you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled’” (Luke 24:44).

Notice how Justin emphasizes this approach in his argument to the emperor and senate:

There were, then, among the Jews certain men who were prophets of God, through whom the prophetic Spirit published beforehand things that were to come to pass before they happened. And [in] their prophecies…we found Jesus our Christ foretold as coming, born of a virgin…and healing every disease and every sickness, and raising the dead, and being hated, and unrecognized, and crucified, and dying, and rising again…and being called, the Son of God. We find it also predicted that certain persons should be sent by Him into every nation to publish these things…among the Gentiles…For things which were incredible and seemed impossible with men, these God  predicted by the Spirit of prophecy as about to come to pass, in order that, when they came to pass, there might be no unbelief, but faith, because of their prediction.[2]

Justin Appealed to External Truths, Not His Own Subjective Experience or Changed Life.

Throughout his First Apology, Justin spends a great deal of time quoting all the various prophecies recorded throughout the Hebrew Scriptures and showing how they were fulfilled by Jesus. One important prophecy he interacts with is Micah 5:2-4, which was instrumental in my own conversion. Written some 700 years before the time of Jesus, the prophet Micah says:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient days…And he shall stand and shepherd his flock…And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. (Mic. 5:2-4)

It’s worth noting that Micah not only foresaw that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, but also that he would be “great to the ends of the earth”! Justin Martyr only saw very early hints that this promise was being fulfilled as Gentiles from all over the Roman Empire began to worship Jesus, but now some two thousand years later, the fact that this promise pointed to Jesus is clearer.

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