(NewsNation) — A seemingly jocular wager last year about the potential return of Jesus Christ has been resurrected on one online prediction market.
Bettors ponied up nearly $3.3 million last year on Polymarket to consider the question, “Will Jesus Christ Return in 2025?” Most voted “no,” with only about 4% voting in the affirmative at the peak last spring.
Support was well under 1% last month before the Messiah was officially ruled a no-show as of Jan. 1, 2026.
Who, or what, made that call? According to the event contract, “The resolution source for this market will be a consensus of credible sources.”
For those who didn’t get in on the action in 2025, the proposition effectively has been recycled as this question: “Will Jesus Christ return before 2027?”
As of Jan. 2, the event contract had generated more than $67,000 — with only about 2% voting in the affirmative.
Prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi have become known as forums to gauge odds in political races or other real-world events. Bettors buy “yes” or “no” contracts on future outcomes and may sell their contracts as prices fluctuate, or they can wait until the question is resolved.
As for the wager on Jesus, it’s “distracting” and “diminishes the value of actual prediction markets that provide insights and useful information,” Melinda Roth, associate professor of Washington and Lee School of Law, told Bloomberg.