A Prophecy Fulfilled - The Birth of a Savior

My pastor was giving an introductory course to new members of the church and he was giving a basic overview of what you could find in the Bible. He broke it up, there's history, prophecy, psalms, proverbs, law and gospel. But he said the Bible is about Jesus. He said, you should be able to open your Bible to any book and what you would find is that the overall narrative is going to be about Jesus. The Bible covers the span of about 4000 years not including Judgement Day prophecy and it serves to show that Jesus is the true Son of God and that our Heavenly Father's promise was fulfilled that he gave to us that day the world fell into sin for the rest of its existence.

The Old Testament authors and the Holy Spirit who gave them their words were very specific about who our Savior would be. Over the next few weeks we'll be taking a look at just how our Savior's prophecy was completely fulfilled. There may be no better place to start than with the Christmas story, perhaps one of the most known moments of Jesus' life. Every Christmas we place mangers under our trees in remembrance of that night Mary gave birth and shepherds rushed to the scene while wise men followed a star to come meet the Messiah. But let's take a look at how this story had already long since be told.

First, it's no surprise that Mary was to be the mother of Jesus. Take a look at the genealogy of Jesus listed in Matthew chapter 1, below are some selected verses from chapter 1 that will give some proof that Jesus is the promised savior. "₁A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: ₂Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ₆and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, ₁₆and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. ₁₇Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ."

While the Earth was still young, God promised to Abraham that He would send his promised Son through him and his own son Isaac in Genesis 17, "₇I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ₁₉Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him." Isaac gave birth to a son, Jacob, and once again God promised to send His Son through Jacob's line. In Genesis chapter 28, God speaks to Joseph, Jacob's son, through a dream in which He tells him, "₁₄Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring." Much later, God revealed through Isaiah in his book in chapter 9 that Jesus would be of the line of Jesse, through his son David. "₆ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ₇Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." And later in chapter 11, "₁A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ₂The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--"

All these verses are given to us so we can see that this line would lead to the Savior being born to Mary who was married to Joseph. A small note is that the genealogy follows through to Joseph, who has no blood relationship to Christ, the reason for this is that they're both from the tribe of Judah and actually would have the same genealogy, only branching in more recent times. Which brings us to our next point, that in Genesis, chapter 49, it is again revealed the promised savior would be from Judah. "₈"Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you. ₉You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness--who dares to rouse him? ₁₀The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. ₁₁He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. ₁₂His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk." In the letters to the Hebrews, it's again confirmed that the prophecy was fulfilled. Hebrews 7, "₁₄For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests." John also writes in his Revelation, chapter 5, "₅Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." "

That all said, we can start the Christmas story. The first notable thing that happens is that a young virgin by the name of Mary finds herself pregnant, it is revealed to her and to her husband Joseph that she is to give birth to our Savior and that her conception is completely miraculous. Portions of this can be found in all four Gospels and here is an account from Matthew 1, "₁₈This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ₁₉Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. ₂₀But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ₂₁She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." ₂₂All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ₂₃"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." " One can imagine Mary's surprise of her favor with God, however, it could be argued that the circumstances surrounding the situation were far from unexpected. Isaiah gave the Hebrews the very specific requirement for who would need to be the mother of Jesus in his book, chapter 7. "₁₄Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

The virgin Mary and her now husband Joseph now were required to answer a census and were required to travel back home. However while staying in Bethlehem Mary went into labor and she was required to give birth to Jesus in a manger due to there being no room in the inn. Luke gives his account in chapter 2, "₄So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ₅He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ₆While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ₇and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." One has to wonder if Mary started to get nervous not only due to the fact that they had no place to stay and that her body was nearing delivery but also the fact that it was revealed that her child was to be born in Bethlehem. In Micah chapter 5, the Hebrews were told that their Savior would be born there. "₁ Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel's ruler on the cheek with a rod. ₂"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. " ₃Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. ₄He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth."

Usually the story jumps forward in time to being visited by the Magi or sometimes referred to as the three wisemen. A part of history that often doesn't get included is what became of these wisemen's visit. They were sent by Herod who became jealous and fearful of the promised Savior who he believed was here to take his earthly throne away. Herod then orders the death of all male children and Joseph takes his family and flees to Egypt. Below Matthew gives an account.

Matthew 2, "₁After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ₂and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." ₃When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ₄When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ₅"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: ₆" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "₇Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ₈He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." ₉After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ₁₀When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ₁₁On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. ₁₂And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. ₁₃When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." ₁₄So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ₁₅where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." ₁₆When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ₁₇Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ₁₈"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." "

The first prophecy comes in the message of the Savior being visited by distant kings who would bow down and garnish him with gifts. In Psalm 72, the psalmist declares, "₁₀The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts. ₁₁All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him." Jeremiah warns of the chilling future due to King Herod in chapter 31, "₁₅This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more." " And it's no coincidence that Jesus wound up in Egypt. Matthew even references both Jeremiah and Hosea 11:1, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."

That is the Christmas story, given by both Old and New Testament authors. John writes in his Gospel in chapter 20, "₃₁ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." You can open the Bible to any location and see that by and large, it is about the Savior, whether He is coming, has come, or is to come. Join us next time as we see how Jesus' life was a further fulfillment of prophecy.