U. What does the Old Testament say about Jesus?
B. It says a lot, but remember that the plan of Jesus coming to earth, living, dying and being resurrected was a mystery until after he had done so. Since it was a mystery, clues are given which when put together forms a rather complete picture of the plan.
U. Why a mystery?
B. Because that was God’s plan. He said he would reveal it when the time was right. And I guess it wasn’t right until about 2000 years ago.
U. Tell me about some of these clues. Does it say where he was to be born and who his father was to be?
B. When Jesus was born, some men saw a star in the western sky and believing it heralded the birth of the Jewish king; they went to King Herod who was the current king. They asked where the child was.
U. He was in the palace wasn’t he?
B. No, and the king didn’t know. So he called the Jewish priests and scribes and asked them. Apparently they knew the Old Testament said where he would be born.
U. So, where?
B. They said the prophet Micah predicted he would be born in Bethlehem, and Micah lived about 700 years before Jesus was born.
U. Many people must have wanted their son to be born in Bethlehem then. Was it a big city?
B. It was a tiny village, best known as the hometown of King David. Perhaps most people didn’t understand the prophecy because there wasn’t any rush to be born there.
U. Why was Jesus born there? Is that where his parents lived?
B. They lived in a town called Nazareth and only went to Bethlehem because the Roman governments made every citizen of Israel go to his home city to enroll in the census. So Joseph took his very pregnant wife on a grueling 80 mile trip to Bethlehem, something he would never have done if he could have avoided it.
U. 80 miles. That’s not far.
B. It would seem longer if you had to walk over rough roads and your wife was at least 8 months pregnant.
U. You said wife. I thought Mary was a virgin. Isn’t that what’s she is called, the Virgin Mary? How could she be a virgin if she was married?
B. She was a virgin and the gospels tell us how. Luke 1:26-38 says the angel Gabriel visited Mary while she was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married.
U. “Mary, don’t be afraid for you have found favor with God. You shall conceive a child and bear a son, and shall name him Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of his father David. He shall reign over Israel forever, and his kingdom shall never end.”
Then Mary asked the angel, “How can this happen, since I am a virgin?”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you, therefore your holy son shall be called the Son of God. Also your cousin Elizabeth, who has no children, has conceived a son in her old age, and is now in her sixth month. Nothing is impossible for God.”
Mary replied, “I am the Lord’s servant; let it happen according to your words.” And the angel left her.
That talks about her pregnancy, but not her marriage. Are you saying she was pregnant before she got married? If Joseph wasn’t the father, then why did he marry her? They knew what caused pregnancy didn’t they?
B. Absolutely, and she almost didn’t get married. Joseph certainly knew how women got pregnant and he wasn’t at all happy when he found out Mary was. It took a visit from an angel to convince him. Read Matthew 1:18:25.
U. Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. His mother Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph, however before they came together, she was pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, was a just man and did not want to make her a public example. He wanted to divorce her privately.
This says he wanted to divorce her, doesn’t that mean they were married already?
B. In those days, when one got engaged, they could only get unengaged if they had a public divorce. It was much more strict then than now. Read on.
U. While he thought about these things, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, since the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.”
All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s words spoken by the prophet who said, “Look, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,” which means God is with us. When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord instructed and remained engaged to Mary, however, he had no sexual union with her until after she bore her firstborn son whom he named Jesus.
So she was still a virgin when he was born. That’s strange.
B. But completely in tune with what Eve was told after she had sinned and was being tossed out of the Garden of Eden.
U. What was that?
B. Read what God told Satan in Genesis 3:15.
U. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Aren’t we all offspring of women?
B. We are all offspring of a man and a woman. Jesus is the offspring of only a woman. This also matches what Isaiah said about 700 years before Jesus was born. Look at Isaiah 7:14.
U. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” That’s what we just read in Matthew.
B. Matthew just quoted Isaiah, thus verifying that the prophecy was about Jesus.
U. But he wasn’t named Immanuel, he was named Jesus.
B. Immanuel means God with us, and evidently God wasn’t ready to reveal that Jesus was Immanuel. That was still part of the mystery.
U. That’s a neat package. Did the prophets say who his parents would be?
To Be Continued.
All of these blogs are on http://thinkersdiscuss.weebly.com/blog
B. It says a lot, but remember that the plan of Jesus coming to earth, living, dying and being resurrected was a mystery until after he had done so. Since it was a mystery, clues are given which when put together forms a rather complete picture of the plan.
U. Why a mystery?
B. Because that was God’s plan. He said he would reveal it when the time was right. And I guess it wasn’t right until about 2000 years ago.
U. Tell me about some of these clues. Does it say where he was to be born and who his father was to be?
B. When Jesus was born, some men saw a star in the western sky and believing it heralded the birth of the Jewish king; they went to King Herod who was the current king. They asked where the child was.
U. He was in the palace wasn’t he?
B. No, and the king didn’t know. So he called the Jewish priests and scribes and asked them. Apparently they knew the Old Testament said where he would be born.
U. So, where?
B. They said the prophet Micah predicted he would be born in Bethlehem, and Micah lived about 700 years before Jesus was born.
U. Many people must have wanted their son to be born in Bethlehem then. Was it a big city?
B. It was a tiny village, best known as the hometown of King David. Perhaps most people didn’t understand the prophecy because there wasn’t any rush to be born there.
U. Why was Jesus born there? Is that where his parents lived?
B. They lived in a town called Nazareth and only went to Bethlehem because the Roman governments made every citizen of Israel go to his home city to enroll in the census. So Joseph took his very pregnant wife on a grueling 80 mile trip to Bethlehem, something he would never have done if he could have avoided it.
U. 80 miles. That’s not far.
B. It would seem longer if you had to walk over rough roads and your wife was at least 8 months pregnant.
U. You said wife. I thought Mary was a virgin. Isn’t that what’s she is called, the Virgin Mary? How could she be a virgin if she was married?
B. She was a virgin and the gospels tell us how. Luke 1:26-38 says the angel Gabriel visited Mary while she was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married.
U. “Mary, don’t be afraid for you have found favor with God. You shall conceive a child and bear a son, and shall name him Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of his father David. He shall reign over Israel forever, and his kingdom shall never end.”
Then Mary asked the angel, “How can this happen, since I am a virgin?”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you, therefore your holy son shall be called the Son of God. Also your cousin Elizabeth, who has no children, has conceived a son in her old age, and is now in her sixth month. Nothing is impossible for God.”
Mary replied, “I am the Lord’s servant; let it happen according to your words.” And the angel left her.
That talks about her pregnancy, but not her marriage. Are you saying she was pregnant before she got married? If Joseph wasn’t the father, then why did he marry her? They knew what caused pregnancy didn’t they?
B. Absolutely, and she almost didn’t get married. Joseph certainly knew how women got pregnant and he wasn’t at all happy when he found out Mary was. It took a visit from an angel to convince him. Read Matthew 1:18:25.
U. Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. His mother Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph, however before they came together, she was pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, was a just man and did not want to make her a public example. He wanted to divorce her privately.
This says he wanted to divorce her, doesn’t that mean they were married already?
B. In those days, when one got engaged, they could only get unengaged if they had a public divorce. It was much more strict then than now. Read on.
U. While he thought about these things, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, since the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.”
All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s words spoken by the prophet who said, “Look, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,” which means God is with us. When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord instructed and remained engaged to Mary, however, he had no sexual union with her until after she bore her firstborn son whom he named Jesus.
So she was still a virgin when he was born. That’s strange.
B. But completely in tune with what Eve was told after she had sinned and was being tossed out of the Garden of Eden.
U. What was that?
B. Read what God told Satan in Genesis 3:15.
U. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Aren’t we all offspring of women?
B. We are all offspring of a man and a woman. Jesus is the offspring of only a woman. This also matches what Isaiah said about 700 years before Jesus was born. Look at Isaiah 7:14.
U. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” That’s what we just read in Matthew.
B. Matthew just quoted Isaiah, thus verifying that the prophecy was about Jesus.
U. But he wasn’t named Immanuel, he was named Jesus.
B. Immanuel means God with us, and evidently God wasn’t ready to reveal that Jesus was Immanuel. That was still part of the mystery.
U. That’s a neat package. Did the prophets say who his parents would be?
To Be Continued.
All of these blogs are on http://thinkersdiscuss.weebly.com/blog