Jesus, the Son of God, the Prophesied One

Christmas is next week and I wanted to remind myself of the prophecies concerning Jesus' birth. Jesus was prophesied to come from the beginning and prophets throughout the Jewish history proclaimed this with the latest being 450 years before Jesus was born. This is a look at some of these prophesies and how they reflect in one person only, and these all came true in the man of Jesus.  He was predicted to come to this Earth, to serve, to heal, to proclaim the kingdom of God, and ultimately to die on the cross for our sins and resurrect on the third day.

Born of a Virgin:
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel(God with us)." -Isaiah 7:14

Jesus will be the Son of God:
As the prophet Nathaniel spoke to David, he said: "When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as i took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever." -1 Corinthians 17:11-14

From the offspring of Abraham:
"And through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." Gen. 22:18

From the offspring of Isaac:
"..because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." -Gen. 21:12

From the offspring of Jacob:
"I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel." -Numbers 24:17

From the tribe of Judah:
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples." -Gen. 49:10

From the town of Bethlehem:
"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." -Micah 5:2

From the family line of Jesse:
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit." -Isaiah 11:1

From the offspring of David:
"'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.'" -Jeremiah 23:5

Will be presented with gifts upon birth:
"Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts." -Psalms 72:10

Herod will kill the children to get rid of Jesus:
"Thus says the Lord, 'A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.'" -Jeremiah 31:15

Jesus shall be called Lord:
"The Lord says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." -Psalm 110:1

He will have a messenger come before Him to declare his way:
"A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.'" -Isaiah 40:3

Lastly, we have to take into consideration the prophecy of Daniel in chapter 9 and Moses in Genesis 49:10. Jesus would come prior to the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. by Daniel and before the Jews would lose their power as a nation, which the Romans stripped away around 10 A.D.

In Genesis it states:
"The scepter 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." -Gen. 49:10

The ruler's staff and the tribal staff's(scepters) were taken from the Israelite's around 24 years before Jesus was crucified, thus the Jews had to ask permission from Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus. This had to be done prior to the full destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. which is when Daniel prophesied that Jesus would have to come by. So either Jesus, the Son of God, did come exactly at the prophesied time or it's too late now and the Bible was lying.

"the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord." -Romans 1:2-4

Part of the old temple that was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. If you look closely on the left of the corner piece, you'll see some Hebrew writing. With this destruction, there was no more power by the Jews and they were scattered far and wide.

To Touch the Edge of His Cloak

A reflection of Luke 8:43-48

I see, I hear, the rabbi who heals the sick, the lame, the deaf, the blind.

His face, stricken with weariness as the soldier in the heat of battle, does not show signs of anger though surrounded by a pressing crowd. Compassion and sadness is the only thing that can be seen through His eyes, mirroring the actions He took for others. His caring for those around him was like a father would for his children. His voice softens my soul and encourages my heart. The truth of His words sinks deep to the core of my being like a rock falling to the bottom of the sea.

I did not notice until the thud of the ocean floor broke me into tears.

I crumble, hurt and in pain. Nowhere to turn, no place to go. But would a rabbi such as He, ever care for me? Would He look at a lost soul with those same eyes of compassion? I am the worst of the worst and I do not deserve mercy. But just maybe, if I could only touch the edge of His cloak. If I could only taste a drop of the living water, to take the smallest portion I could, then maybe it would be enough for me. I don’t need much, I don’t ask for much. He would not know that I am in pain or alive. What could I give to a man such as Him? He came for others, but not possibly for me.

I had to reach and touch His cloak.

If I could just crawl on my hands and knees. To approach with my face scraping the ground that others walk on. I have nothing to be proud of, nothing to keep me from being judged. I push through the crowd, only my will driving me closer. I had to know if He was real, that His power could heal a broken soul such as me. I reached out, blinded by the crowd, my desperation for salvation the only thing that kept me focused. My fingers grazed the cloak, touching the edges of a thick cloth. I felt and sensed the power of life flow through my finger as the rushing force of a mighty river.

A voice, filled with compassion and love, said, “Your faith has healed you. Go in Peace”.