Inventions of the Gospels II

In order to impress potential converts, particularly Jewish ones, Christian missionaries claimed that the life and death of Jesus was a fulfillment of prophecy. As was noted last month, they were not above making up stories to bolster their claims.
One classic example was the alleged birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. He was well known to be from Nazereth, an obscure town. The prophet Micah had foretold that the Great king or Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. To make it appear that Jesus was born there, gospels attributed to Luke and Matthew made up the most absurd and far fetched stories. They invoked such things as a guiding star, the massacre of children by Herod and an empire-wide census ordered by Augustus. None of these tales were ever verified by historical writings or other evidence.
Christians claimed that the crucifixon of Jesus was foretold by Psalm 22 in the Jewish scriptures. The suffering person declares "my god, my god, why have you forsaken me?" He claimed he could count his bones (i.e. the verse seems to refer to a victim of famine not crucifixion). Also, that "evildoers surround me" and others "cast lots over my clothes." Beginning with the earliest canonical gospel, attributed to Mark, Jesus was portrayed in the same situation. He was surrounded by evildoers--the two thieves, who were probably a mere invention, since theft probably wouldn't warrant the death penalty. Likewise, Roman soldiers supposedly cast lots over his clothes. It's highly unlikely they'd be interested in such sweaty, bloodstained garments. And Jesus in the end uttered the "cry of dereliction" of the Psalm. The "My god, my god...." last words were almost certainly put in his mouth just as additional "fulfillment" of prophecy.