How can you be sure that Jesus is who He says He is? Taking the Bible as a divinely inspired book as it claims in 2 Peter 1:21 is the premise that we will take. For those who are skeptics, I implore you to have an open mind and study the book of Daniel, which was written around 600 years before Christ came upon this earth. The information in Daniel is so historically accurate; scholars claimed that it was written in AD, not BC. Yet the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in caves, prove that the book of Daniel, which predicts the countries of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, in successive ruling powers, was written before some of those nations were even on the scene. If you want to dig a little further, you’ll find this information in Daniel chapters 2,7,8,-11. Even Jesus quoted from Daniel and took his writings to have authority and be authentic. And if Jesus quoted from a historical book, then maybe we should take a closer look.

Today, I want to take a step into the first century Middle Eastern world. It is 31 AD and in an upper room is a 30 -something-year-old man with a group of His closest friends. But there isn’t peace amongst the group. Instead, they’ve been arguing among themselves who was the most valuable person within their ranks. Who brought the most to the table, and who should be honored among the 12 of them.

Everyone took their place, seated in a circle; at least no one could claim to be higher than the other based on their physical location. There was an eerie silence. It was so uncomfortable and thick, and it was palpable. Everyone knew what had to be done, but no one would dare lower themselves to do so. It was the Near Eastern tradition to have the servant go around and wash the dusty feet of the travelers. All roads may have lead to Rome, but they were dirty dusty roads.

No one could go around washing the other’s feet and still be counted the greatest. So they sat there in stone-cold silence, remaining unclean and unkempt. But then they heard a slight stir. Their breaths were held in, and they all turned to the direction of where the sound had come. A collective gasp was made, and shame immediately filled their souls. Their Rabbi had gotten up and removed His outer garment and had a towel wrapped around His waist. He picked up the pitcher of water and filled the basin, and made His way towards the stunned circle of His friends.

They could not even look Him in the eye. THEY should be doing this for Him, but there He was, filled with compassion, cleaning their dirty, dusty feet. By the time He finished, there was barely a dry eye left in the room. The emotion was overwhelming. But He was not finished cleaning. Yes, He had cleaned the dirt off of their feet, but now it was time to address the stain upon their souls.

“Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:27-28 BSB. The stain on their soul was the result of sin in their hearts. He would die so that they could live. When He said those words, perhaps at that moment, they did not realize it, but later, when they contemplated on the last few moments with Him, as they reread the sacred text, perhaps they recalled this phrase from the book of Daniel:

And He will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week He will put an end to sacrifice and offering…” Daniel 9:27 BSB.

In that upper room almost 2000 years ago (10 more years it’ll be 2000 years from that moment), the Creator of the universe pulled from a text in the Old Testament about confirming the covenant with many. And that by confirming the covenant, He would put an end to the sacrifices and offerings that happened in the sanctuary service. According to the Gospel of John, He was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” John 1:29 BSB.

Knowing that One would rather die than have you go through eternal damnation, that He would instead serve than to be served, that He would give all He had because you and I had nothing to offer; this is someOne you can trust, and believe that He is who He says He is.

Additional Resources:
PhD. Hasel, G. 1990. The Book of Daniel Confirmed by the Dead Sea Scrolls