“Not In a corner, but Foretold by the Prophets”  Christmas Eve 7:00 P.M.

Acts 26:25,27; Luke 24:19-27; Matthew 1:18-25

most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. ²⁶ The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” (Acts 26:25-27)

“Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹ “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” ²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Lk. 24:19-27)

¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 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. 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.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

(Matthew 1:18-25)

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The Christmas story did not begin when Jesus was born or even when Mary became pregnant.  You have to go back further than that.  It was in the mind of God at the beginning of time.  Since it was in God’s mind, He let little parts of it slip out- giving us sneak previews- trailers- so that we would have some idea of what it was all about.  These were prophecies.  This year in our Disciple Bible studies we have looked closely at the prophets.  I have preached some on the prophets as well.  I wrote an advent devotion on the prophesies of the Messiah- the things that pointed to the Messiah’s coming.   Tonight I want to summarize for you the prophecies of Christ’s first coming..  It is my hope that such things would encourage you. I have to say some of my favorite Christmas passages are the beautiful poetic poems of Isaiah- “Unto us a child is born” or “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”  In some ways- these prophecies and their fulfillment seem more beautiful than even the familiar words of Luke 2.

     The prophecies help us to understand the importance of what is being said.  When something important is about to happen, a lot is said leading up to it, a lot is said during the event and a lot is said summarizing the event.  Big events do not happen in a vacuum- but usually there is build up and follow up to the event.
A few weeks ago we withdrew the last troops from Iraq.  But before the war began there were many news forcasts saying the withdrawal would happen.  Then there were speeches given and celebrations had once the troops were home. So with the coming of Jesus- there were many prophecies of the event and then celebrations once the event happened- so that this ultimate news was not hidden from people.  As Paul told King Agrippa, these events were not done in a corner.  It was not like God was trying to hide this from everyone.  The coming of Christ did not happen in a vacuum.  In Genesis 12 it speaks of Abraham having descendants who will be a blessing to all humankind. 

     David Greenglass was a World War II traitor and brother to Ethel Rosenberg.  He worked on the Manhattan project and gave atomic secrets to the Russians and then was going to flee to Mexico.  His conspirators arranged to help him by planning a meeting with the secretary of the Russian ambassador in Mexico City. Proper identification for both parties became vital.  Greenglass was to identify himself with six prearranged signs.  These instructions had been given both to the Russian secretary and to Greenglass so there would be no possibility of being a mistake.  They were 1) Once in Mexico City, Greenglass was to write a note to the secretary signing his name as “I Jackson.”; 2) after three days, he was to go to the Plaza de Colon in Mexico City and 3) stand before the statue of Columbus, 4) with his middle finger placed in a guide book, In addition 5) when he was approached he was to say it is a magnificent statue and that he was from Oklahoma.  6) The secretary was to then given him a passport.  In the end, Greenglass didn’t go to Mexico City but was captured so we found out their long process of identification.  Spy spoofs like “Get Smart” made fun of such identification hoops that spies jumped through.  But identification is vital.  So the identification of the Messiah was vital.  There must be no doubt who was the Messiah and to whom we should put our trust. 

      There are over 300 specific prophecies relating to Christ’s first coming in the Old Testament- one scholar said about 1,400 prophecies relating to the Messiah altogether.  Christ’s coming at Christmas was a humble coming- but it was not a secret or hidden coming.  So the angels heralded it to the shepherds, and the shepherds spread the news to all they met.  So the wise men told king Herod of his birth, and all Jerusalem was disturbed so that Herod had his soldiers kill all Bethlehem babies he could find under two.  This year I wrote an advent devotion focusing on the prophecies of the Messiah.  Let me summarize them now starting from the basic ones.

There are three basic categories of prophesies: about his birth/pedigree; his ministry; and his death.

I His Birth: 1) The Messiah was to be human- Genesis 3:15 says, “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.”  That Christ was one who was bruised for our iniquities is well-known.

2) Then there are numerous prophesies that speak to the physical heritage and identification of the Messiah.  He would be of Abraham- of Jacob/Israel, of the tribe of Judah, of the line of Jesse, of descendant of David.  One passage that stands out is Isaiah 11- “a shoot shall come forth from the stump of Jesse… and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him.”

3) The Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 9): Therefore the Lord himself will give you^[c] a sign: The virgin^[d] will conceive and give birth to a son, and^[e] will call him Immanuel.

4) The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem- Micah 5- of course Jesus could not help where he was born.

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.”

II His Ministry

5) The Messiah would fulfill the threefold office uniquely of prophet (Dt. 18:18- Moses said “The Lord will raise up a prophet like me), priest (The Lord will raise up a priest of the order of Melchizedek), and king (2 Sam 7- David was promised to always have a descendant on the throne.  Ironically it was during Christ lifetime that the power to take away life was stripped from the Jewish throne.
6) The Messiah would reside in Galilee of the Gentiles- Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—  ² The people walking in darkness    have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness    a light has dawned. 
7) The Messiah would teach in parables-

8) The Messiah would perform miracles. Many times in scripture it speaks of the Messiah healing people. Isa. 35- “Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.” 

9) He would enter Jerusalem publicly on a colt the foal of a donkey.  We celebrate this prophecy of Zechariah and fulfillment each Palm Sunday. 
III His Death
10) He would be betrayed by a friend- and the amount of the betrayal would be 30 pieces of silver.  In his arrest he would not argue a defense- but would be led like a lamb to the slaughter. 

11) He would be rejected and die- and many of  the details of his crucifixion are found in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53.  He is the stone that the builders rejected that became the cornerstone. 

12) He would be raised from the dead.  You will not allow your holy one to see decay.

13) From him the good news about God would be spread to every nation- he would be a “light to the Gentiles” and that has been fulfilled within our generation.  I believe it was 1984 that the last country without any Christians (Tibet) had a baptized convert.

Jesus could not self-fulfill some of these- he could not humanly help where he was born, and his betrayal and death was in the hands of his enemies. 

Jesus himself many times appealed to prophecy as a means of identifying who he really was.  He says in John 5:39- Search the scriptures- for they testify of me.  After his resurrection he told the two on the road to Emmaus- “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Lk. 24:44).  Jesus, in the passage we read rebuked the disciples for not believing the prophesies about him: “How foolish you are and how slow to believe the Prophets… “and then he explained to them what the Prophets said about him.

Prophecies are given not because God is trying to show us He is the great magician.  Rather they are given to help us.

1) To show us that God knows and even oversees the future- This shows us His power and His care.  This is where Deism – the belief that God made us, but doesn’t care about us shows its weakness- in terms of the God it provides and how it is not true to reality.   All of these prophecies that point to a Messiah’s coming are real.  The Jews still are looking for them to be fulfilled as they did in Old Testament times.   God doesn’t want things to be done in a corner- but rather wants us to see His glory and power.  The One who created time and space is wanting us to see He also oversees it.

2) To show us who the Messiah is- All of these fingers of prophecy point to the One true Messiah.   It is not just so we will recognize Him intellectually, but that we would see Him as the hope of the ages, our light, our strength, and put our trust in Him as our God. 

3) To show us we have a reason to have faith- when we see that a prophecy has come true- and we open our heart to believe it, it encourages our faith, and makes us stronger in our belief. 

    Dr. George Sweeting has said that fully a fourth of the Bible is predictive prophecy.  He also said for every promise of the first coming there are eight regarding the second coming of Christ.
    I think it was the first Sunday of advent I asked the little children at children’s sermon time- whose birthday do we celebrate at Christmas?   One of the children yelled- “I know, I know!  Santa’s birthday!”   That reminds me of another children’s portrayal of Christmas events- that you may have heard.  The little girl came home from preschool and said, “Mommy, mommy!  My teacher says I drew the most unusual Christmas picture she has ever seen!”  The mother took the picture and looked at it and said- “That really does look unusual. Tell me what it means.  Why do you have all of these people riding on the back of an airplane? “  The girl said- a little disappointed that it wasn’t easily recognized, “It’s the flight into Egypt.”   “Oh” the mother said cautiously.  “Well who is the mean looking man on the front?”  “That’s Pontius the Pilot!” the girl said, now visible impatient.  The mother said, “I see- and I see Mary and Joseph and the baby- but who is that fat man sitting behind Mary?”  “Can’t you tell?”  The girl sighed.  “That’s Round John Virgin!”  Tonight, we are here to not celebrate the secondary characters of Christmas.  But we are here to worship the One that the prophets held their breath to see.  He was born in humble circumstances, but not in a vacuum- not in a corner.  He was born so that we might proclaim the truth with clarity- He is the hope of the ages- our hope too.  He is Immanuel- God with us! He is worth singing about- giving to- lifting up our little lights to His great light.  Amen.

most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable.