The games are over. The champions are celebrating. The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments (often referred to as March Madness) are finished.
Maybe you don’t care that much about college basketball, that’s fine. Maybe you don’t care that much about basketball, but you’re competitive so you entered into your own little tournament with others. Maybe you just love basketball, and you did the same. You filled out a bracket, selecting your choices for the winners of each game.
Over 60 games are played until one team wins the championship. Do you know the odds of selecting a perfect NCAA march madness basketball bracket? 1 in 130 billion!
Here’s the good news. You don’t have to fill out a perfect bracket to win. You just have to be better than your competitors. If you get 39 games correct, and everyone else in your competition gets less than that, you win!
This “bracketology” makes me think of the odds of Jesus fulfilling over 200 prophecies about him, written in the Old Testament.
Imagine his parents, teachers, and followers keeping tabs of his life and ministry, and each time Jesus fulfills one of the prophecies they cross it off, and move the other prophecy to the next bracket, etc. And finally, he nails them all! Champion!
Do you know the odds of Jesus fulfilling just 8 of those prophecies? 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000! And he fulfilled way more. Perfectly!
Here’s why that matters. Your bracket of fulfilling all of the Bible’s commands and expectations for you is not perfect. And it’s likely that someone else has fulfilled their bracket better than you have. Does that make you a loser? Are you stuck in your sins? Going to hell? No.
Jesus’ winning performance promises that your bracket is still a winner. Jesus fulfills it all for you! Jesus submits his bracket with your name on it. Champion!
When you feel like your life is a letdown or a lie, when you plod through the day hopelessly, then take heart in this appearance that Jesus made to two of his followers after he rose from the dead. They were convinced that they were losers.
Then “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
PRAYER: Jesus, your precise fulfillment of each prophecy proves that you are the only true Savior. May it give me reason to live confidently, victoriously and in perfect peace. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY: Read in Luke 24:13-35 the whole story, and see how these followers celebrated their victory!