Now I have been teaching about the events that God constructed to bring forth His entry into this earth as a human, with the name of Jesus; an event that we choose to celebrate each year at this time.
The most thorough and accurate narrative of these events was researched, documented and reported by Doctor Luke in his letter to his Greek friend the excellent Theophilus. The greatest news report of all time begins in the first chapter of Luke’s epistle. But lets travel to the last chapter of his letter and learn more about what we call Christmas.
In the 24th chapter of Luke we find 2 of Jesus’ disciples traveling to a village called Emmaus. On the way they are bemoaning the events of the day. They are deeply disappointed that Jesus did not jump off the cross and become the warrior king they wanted, and rescue them from the Romans. And while they were mumbling and naysaying among themselves Jesus Himself catches up with them and begins to walk with them.
Jesus says “Whats up dudes?” “What are y’all chattin it up about?” One of them named Cleopas answered him and said, “Man don’t you know what happened in Jerusalem today? Where have you been?” Then he told Jesus his version of the events and how disappointed and sad they were.
And worse they said, the women of their group drove them crazy by claiming that they had seen Him alive after He was dead. And they went to check it out but they didn’t see him.
Then Jesus said, “listen you dummies, sluggish in mind and dull of perception. and slow of heart to believe everything that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary and essentially fitting that the Messiah should suffer all these things before entering into his glory?”
Now, Heres where they story gets really cool! Jesus goes on to tell them everything that was written and prophesied about Him in the old testament. Remember the new testament hadn’t been written. Doubtless He told them about the prophecies that were fulfilled by and in His life. Lets look at that:
There were more than 457 specific prophecy’s fulfilled by Jesus. Your human mind is incapable of comprehending the mathematical probabilities of that. But let’s take a shot.
The probability of just 48 prophecy’s being fulfilled in one man’s life are 10^157th power. For those of you who did not go to Georgia Tech, thats a 10 with 157 zero’s after it, to much to understand. So lets look at a smaller number. Lets look at 10^17th power. A christian PHD in mathematics explained it this way:
“The probability of (only 48) prophecy’s being fulfilled in one mans life is 10^17th power. Suppose you took silver dollars and laid them on the face of the entire surface of the state of Texas two feet deep. Then suppose you marked one of those silver dollars and stirred the whole mass thoroughly. Then suppose you blindfolded a person and told them that they could travel as far and wide as they wished, but that they must pick up one silver dollar, and the person actually picked up the marked silver dollar. That probability is 10^17th power.
Jesus’ life and works were specifically prophesied in every book of the Old Testament. So that the Christmas event that we celebrate was not a random act that God just caused to instantaneously erupt one starry night. It was the fulfillment of His plan for Mankind from the beginning of time. His plan was to come to the earth as a Human and ransom us from the price of our sins which is death by paying for our sins in His body. But to complete His plan, all of the prophesies had to be fulfilled and His blood line had to be pure and complete all the way from Adam to Mary.
Here are the names of Jesus as written in the Book of the Law:
Genesis- The seed of the Woman/The lion of Judah
Exodus- The passover lamb/The Manna from Heaven
Leviticus- The High Priest
Numbers- The water from the Rock
Deuteronomy-The Prophet like Moses
Joshua-The Captain of Our Salvation
Judges- The Judge and The Law Giver
Ruth- The Kinsman Redeemer
1&2 Samuel- The Prophet of The Lord
1&2 Kings- The Reigning King
1&2 Chronicles-Messiah From the tribe of Judah
Ezra-The Faithful Scribe
Nehemiah-The Rebuilder of the Walls
Esther-Mordecai (The man who saved the Jews from destruction
Job- The Dayspring from on high
Psalms- The Lord who is our Shepherd
Proverbs & Ecclesiastes-The Wisdom Of God
Solomon- The Lover and Bridegroom
Isaiah- The Suffering Servant
Jeremiah and Lamentations- The Weeping Prophet
Ezekiel-The Son Of Man
Daniel-The Son Of Man Coming in the clouds
Hosea- The Bridegroom
Joel- The Baptizer with The Holy Spirit
Amos- The Burden Bearer
Obadiah- The Mighty Savior
Jonah-The Forgiving God
Nahum-The Avenger Of God’s Elect
Habakuk-The Great Evangelist Crying For Revival
Zephaniah-The Restorer of the Remnant
Haggai- The Cleansing Fountain
Zechariah- The Pierced Son
Malachi- The Son Of Righteousness
Here are some other names by which Jesus was called in the Old Testament hundreds of years before He was born: The Rose of Sharron, The Lily Of The Valley, The Lion of Judah, The Bright and Morning Star, The Arm Of The Lord, Wonderful Counselor, The Elect of God, The Cornerstone, Everlasting Father, The Glory of The Lord, The Holy One of Israel, Immanuel (God With Us) Messenger of The Covenant, Messiah, Prince of Peace, Shiloh and Sun of Righteousness.
Jesus explained all of these things and more to the men on the road to Emmaus and then disappeared.
Think on this, God the Father went through all of this, because He loves you (fill in your name) so much that it was worth it to Him to wait patiently through all of the fulfillment of these 457 prophesies to be able to pay for your sins to buy you for Himself for His Christmas gift, because You are His glorious inheritance.
