Birth of Jesus

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The birth of Jesus – Prophecy Fulfilled

There were a number of Old Testament predictions (called prophecies) made about the birth of Jesus. As we’ll see, they all came true perfectly. There are some people out there who make it their life’s aim to discredit what the Bible says, but with even basic study of the Bible we see that the Bible is always true and all man’s theories against it are untrue! It’s really vital to get hold of the fact the Bible is true. It is not a set of stories, it is God’s truth and all of it is fact – just as God says it is! 

The fact that these events happened as spoken by people hundreds of years before shows just how accurate the Bible really is! Isaiah spoke his prophecies around 700 years before Jesus; Jeremiah spoke his prophecies around 600 years before Jesus; Micah spoke his prophecies over 700 years before Jesus; the prophecy from Genesis was 1400 years before Jesus!!

‘Seed’ of a woman

Old Testament Prophecy:

Genesis 3.15 – And 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.”

New Testament Fulfillment:

Matthew 1.18-21 – This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But 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. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Meaning – In Genesis (after man and woman disobeyed God), God pronounced a curse on the serpent (Satan). One of the things he said was that there would be a battle between Eve’s descendants and evil forces. Satan would ‘strike the heel’ of Jesus (the crucifixion itself) but Jesus would crush Satan’s head (the result of the crucifixion where Jesus defeated Satan) and also in the future when Satan will be thrown into a lake of fire. The New Testament then records the birth of Jesus.

Virgin Birth

Old Testament Prophecy:

Isaiah 7.14 – Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

New Testament Fulfillment:

Matthew 1.22-25 – All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Meaning – Isaiah spoke that a virgin would conceive and give birth to a son. He would be called Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’. We know from the New Testament that Mary did conceive when she was still a virgin and that she gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God (see John 1 for example). The virgin birth was both a supernatural sign to a watching world that Jesus is the Son of God and is the promised Messiah, the one who came to save us.

Redeem from sin – paying the price for sin

Old Testament Prophecy:

Psalm 130.8 – He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

New Testament Fulfillment:

Matthew 1.21 – She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Meaning – this is pretty clear. The Psalmist says that someone will come to redeem (pay the price) for Israel’s sins. We know that Jesus came to save people from their sins. On the cross he paid the legal price that had to be paid in order to make a way for people to be free from sin and made right with God if they choose to believe in Jesus.

A Child is born

Old Testament Prophecy:

Isaiah 9.6 – 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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

New Testament Fulfillment:

Luke 2.14 – “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”

John 14.9 – Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…”

Meaning – Isaiah spoke of a child to be born and gave him names that he would be called. All of these were fulfilled in the birth and life of Jesus. God is our counsellor, he is Mighty God, he is our Everlasting Father, he is the Prince of Peace and one day all government will be under him (it is already, it’s just that people don’t realise or accept it – but they will as one day everyone will bow to Jesus – even those who don’t believe in him now!) 

Jesus to be visited by kings / magi

Old Testament Prophecy:

Psalm 72.10-11 – May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.

New Testament Fulfillment:

Matthew 2.1-2 – After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Bethlehem as the place of Jesus’ birth 

Old Testament Prophecy:

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.”

New Testament Fulfillment:

Matthew 2.1-5 – After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘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 shepherd my people Israel.

Luke 2.4-7 – So 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. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Meaning – there have been some who doubt that when Micah spoke about a ruler coming from ‘Bethlehem’, that it wasn’t really the place. Those who do this choose to ignore the Bible (and evidence from the Jewish Talmud) that Bethlehem meant Bethlehem which it really does.

From the tribe of Judah

Old Testament Prophecy:

Genesis 49.10 – The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

New Testament Fulfillment:

This genealogy to Jesus is traced in Luke 3:23-34 (genealogy of Mary, key to the Biblical ancestry of Jesus and to his legal right to the throne of David) and in Matthew 1:1-16 (genealogy of Joseph).

Meaning – a sceptre was something like a rod and was used as a sign of a king of queen’s rule. So the prophet was saying that there would always be a ruler from the tribe of Judah. We know from the genealogies found in Matthew and Luke that this happened.

Sit on the throne of King David

Old Testament Prophecy:

Jeremiah 23.5 – “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”

New Testament Fulfillment:

This Davidic line genealogy to Jesus is traced in Luke 3:23-34 (genealogy of Mary, key to the Biblical ancestry of Jesus and to his legal right to the throne of David) and in Matthew 1:1-16 (genealogy of Joseph).

Meaning – Matthew 1.6 speaks of the family history of Joseph and Jesus which lists, “Jesse the father of King David.” We also read in Luke 3.31-32 about “…Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse”. Jesus throws a curve ball into the Pharisees and their false religious claims in Matthew 22, showing to them that he really is the Son of God and the Son of David, proving that he was both God and human at the same time.

It’s all a bit mind boggling but Jesus is beyond our understanding. He is God, his birth fulfilled many prophecies, his life fulfilled hundreds of prophecies and one day we will see him as he truly is (see Revelation 19 for more!!)