Okay, finishing up the prophecies on the Crucifixion here are numbers 47 through 56 in DOC's
link.
47. Cloths (sic) divided and gambled for- Ps 22:18, Jn 19:23-24
Again, we return to Psalm 22, a lament. Verse 18 says:
they divide my garments among them,
and for my raiment they cast lots.
John 19:23, 24 do indeed say the soldiers divide Jesus' clothes among themselves and cast lots for a seamless tunic he was wearing. This was, in fact, a priestly garment. Only John says Jesus was wearing such an article of clothing. It's pretty obviously his invention, since Jesus, a carpenter from Galilee, would not have owned this very special sort of tunic. At the end of verse 24, John tells the reason for the soldiers casting lots for Jesus' clothes (a rather unlikely event, since said clothing would have been drenched in sweat and stained with blood):
This was to fulfill the scripture,
"They parted my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots."
So, once again, the author of John scoured the scripture to find a "prophecy" (actually a psalm) he could fulfill.
48. Became very thirsty- Ps 22:15, Jn 19:28
Again, John says this was done to fulfill scripture. It's the same-old same-old.
49. Gall and vinegar offered Him- Ps 69:21, Mt 27:34
Actually, the Gospel of John says that vinegar and
hyssop, rather than gall, were offered to Jesus Mark just says vinegar was offered. Luke doesn't mention the incident. Hyssop would have helped deaden the pain. In Ps. 69:21 the psalmist (supposedly David) complains that his enemies gave him poison for food and vinegar to drink. It's really rather doubtful that the Romans would have cared about those being tortured to death being thirsty.
50. His forsaken cry- Ps 22:1, Mt 27:46
Yes. both Mark and Matthew say that Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me." This would be inexplicable except for the fact that this is the opening of Psalm 22, supposedly written by King David. Hence, this is a literary device to to link Jesus and David.
51. Committed Himself to God- Ps 31:5, Lk 23:46
Again, having Jesus quote a Psalm verse is a literary device, not a prophecy.
52. Bones not broken- Ps 34:20, Jn 19:32-36
This one is rather amusing. putting it in context Ps. 34:
19, 20 say (emphasis added):
Many are the afflictions of the righteous;
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
The LORD obviously did
not deliver Jesus out of his affliction. Thus, John is misusing the psalm in his effort to make it into a prophecy.
53. Heart broken- Ps 69:20; 22:14, Jn 19:34
The incident where a Roman soldier spears Jesus in the side, and blood and water come out, is only found in John. Psalm 69:20 only says that insults have broken the psalmist's heart. Psalm 22:14 says, "I am poured out like water." In both cases it's really stretching things to try to make these verses prophetic of the Crucifixion. Once again, the resume has been padded.
54. His side pierced- Zech 12:10, Jn 19:34+37
John again claims Jesus was speared to fulfill scripture. Yet, none of the Synoptic Gospels mentions this incident, so significant in John. Again, the spearing of Jesus would seem to be John's invention.
55. Darkness over the land- Amos 8:9, Lk 23:44-45
Amos 8 is an apocalyptic prophecy of the end of Israel, not of the Crucifixion.
56. Buried in rich man's tomb- Isa 53:9, Mt 27:57-60
Yes, our present translation of Isa. 53:9 reads:
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
However, there are problems with this verse. The rich man doesn't fit unless Isaiah was saying the rich are wicked. Some variant translations substitute the words "evildoers" or "satyrs' in place of "rich man."
As to whether the body of Jesus was actually given to Joseph of Arimathea, we only have the words of the gospel writers. In fact, as a condemned criminal, found guilty of sedition and put to the most degrading form of death the Romans used, Jesus may not have even been accorded a decent burial. The Romans may well have cast his body into a common open grave, covered it in lime and eventually buried it as the pit began to fill up.
In my next post on this subject I'll finish the 60 prophecies.
