We’ll read this scripture below in Mathew about the birth of the Lord Jesus and then look at all of the prophesy in the Old Testament about His birth and life so that we can have a strong confidence that God fulfills His promises so that we believe on Him.
In John 14:29, Jesus tells us the purpose of prophecy: “I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.” As we see prophecy from the Bible coming to life before our eyes as in the foretelling of the birth of Christ, we possess this same powerful witnessing tool if we would only take hold and use it.
You may recall that after Jesus was resurrected, He met two disciples on the road to Emmaus and proved to them who He was “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,” essentially showing them how the prophecies about the Messiah were fulfilled through his life and death. We can do the same to convince others that Jesus is the Messiah and what that means for all of us.
Beginning with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the four Gospels prepares us for the rest of the New Testament where we learn about the birth of the Christian church which the Lord Jesus spiritually heads and as we read on into the various Epistles, we are then given a deeper understanding of Jesus’ purpose in coming and his teachings so that we can apply them in our lives. We’ll see that the various churches started by the Apostle Paul and others had their own problems and challenges and how they were shown to overcome them as examples and lessons for us today.
Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
When did news of this great advent first appear in Scripture? Consider the following:
God had a plan for our salvation even from the Garden of Eden when He told the serpent (Satan) that there would be a hostility/feud between him and the “seed” of the woman and that seed would destroy his works (a mortal wound -crush his head) while he would only strike his heel (not a mortal wound – Jesus came back to life):
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Then, after the flood, the promise to Abraham of his “seed” blessing all the people on earth:
Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Then we find in God’s Word through Isaiah, Micah and Hosea very specific details about this Seed who was to bless the entire world and we find them fulfilled in the Gospels and throughout the New Testament.
The virgin birth of Jesus referred to as “God with us” was foretold:
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
This child, a son, would have wonderful names:
Isaiah 9:6 ” For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
That Christ would be born in Bethlehem:
Micah 5:2 “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.”
That the child Christ would be called out of Egypt:
Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”
That the Christ would be anointed with the Spirit of God, that He would bring judgment to the Earth, that He would be a “light” or bring salvation to the Gentiles
Isaiah 42: 1-7:
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
That the Christ would raise up and restore Israel, a light to the Gentiles to bring salvation to the entire earth. Note: This is the fulfillment of the promise God gave to Abraham when He said that in Abrahams seed the entire world would be blessed.
Isaiah 49:6
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
That the Christ in His suffering would be despised and rejected by His people, He was flogged by the Romans (thus the whip stripes upon His back), He did not respond to His accusers, He was judged by the religious authorities and put in a holding cell (prison), His grave was among the wicked (hung on a cross between two criminals), a rich man gave him his own tomb after He died, He was bruised (remember Genesis 3:15 prophesy) and was made an offering for our sins, His act of sacrifice brings us justification before God (just as if we never sinned) as He took our sins upon himself:
Isaiah 53:1-12
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
We see the fulfillment of these prophesies in all four of the Gospels but we find most of the focus is in Jesus’ 3 years of ministry.
The end of Jesus’ earthly ministry is followed in Acts with the birth of the Church of which Christ is the spiritual head and how God us the persecution of believers to spread His Saving Grace to the Jews abroad and to the Gentiles.
God used the persecution of the early church to spread the Good News to the rest of the world and it reminds me of how God took what was meant as evil for Joseph and turned it into good.
Genesis 5:20 ” But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
After persecuting the early Christians, the Apostle Paul was ordained by Christ Himself to bring the Word of God and His Salvation to us Gentiles. In Paul’s letters to certain churches and to specific persons, we learn of the deeper concepts of Jesus’ teachings and how to live our lives in a way that pleases God.
As an example of a very important prophesy that’s explained by Paul, Jesus told this to Martha in John 11:25-26 when she said to Him that her brother would not have died if Jesus had come sooner:
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
It seems that this would be a contradiction for if I believe and live for Christ, I would never die so why would I then become dead and need to be brought back to life again?
We find out how this is not a contradiction at all from the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. The occasion for this revelation from the Lord was that some of the Thessalonians had died and they were beginning to doubt what Paul had preached to them about the second coming of Jesus Christ as they believed that Jesus would return before any of them passed away.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
And in 1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
There are many such things found in Paul Epistles and those of James, Jude, Peter and John that expound on and reveal the deeper meaning of who Jesus was, His teachings and of God’s work in the Old Testament that were symbols, types, examples and lessons for us.
This is why it’s important to not only know the teachings of the Old Testament to understand the revelation of Jesus in prophesy but also of Jesus’ teachings and the Epistles of His Apostles to learn how we ought to live our lives for God and how to live and interact with everyone else on this earth. It was the Holy Spirit in these men that are speaking Jesus’ words to us. In fact, the entire bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit as He is the One that knows the thoughts of God. Jesus’ birth is to be remembered and celebrated as it should to help us to grow our faith in God but it is in His death that He saved us from the penalty of sin, He saves us today from the power of sin by the Holy Spirit, and He’s going to save us someday from the presence of sin when He takes us to a place where there is no sin. AMEN