Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part Three.
Things don’t always go as planned – not in my life at least. And these days, the principle reason for this is a certain black Labrador. Because whether it’s the result of him stealing my footwear, destroying our garden, or urgently requiring veterinary attention having gleefully gobbled up an undisclosed amount of rat poison, Hector will not infrequently cause things to happen that had not anticipated.
But what is true for me, isn’t true for the one who sovereignly controls all that daily takes place.
Which brings me to consider further how Jesus fulfilled both the Law and the Prophets. Because having seen how he kept the Law, and realised what had previously been hinted at in so many Old Testament stories, it’s now only appropriate that we see how Jesus fulfilled the many specific prophecies that were made about him in the Hebrew Scriptures, all of which we know were carefully written down hundreds of years before his birth.
But with some suggesting that there are as many as 570 such prophecies, it is not going to be possible to mention them all. Even so, we’ll begin with one of the most important, the one by which God promised that a Messiah would eventually come and reverse the effects of the fall. It’s the first prophecy that was made, and can be found way back in the third chapter of the very first book in the Bible.
There in Genesis 3:15, we read of one who, born of a woman, would one day crush Satan’s head, even as he himself has his heal bruised. Which is what Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, did as he suffered and died on the cross.
Elsewhere in the Old Testament it is further predicted that the Messiah would be born of a virgin [Isaiah 7:14] in the town of Bethlehem [Micah 5:2], and that he’d be rejected by the people [Isaiah 53:3] and betrayed by a friend [Psalm 41:9] for thirty pieces of silver [Zechariah 11:12].
All of these things took place, as did the many prophecies detailing how he would die. The Old Testament predicts that Jesus would be silent when accused [Isaiah 53:7], that he would be struck and spat upon [Isaiah 50:6], have his hands and feet pierced [Zechariah 22:16] and ultimately be crucified with sinners. [Isaiah 53:12]
Furthermore, not only was it foretold that he would pray for those who accused him [Isaiah 53:12] and that lots would be cast for his clothes [Psalm 22:8], having died without a bone being broken [Psalm 34:20], it was predicted that he would be buried in a rich man’s tomb [Isaiah 53:9] and then be raised back to life [Psalm 16:10].
It’s quite a list – one that strongly suggests that Jesus’ life, not to mention his death and subsequent resurrection, far from being the result of mere earthly happenstance, occurred in accordance with God’s sovereign will and the plan of redemption that he had put in place before the creation of the world. [Acts 2:23, Ephesians 1:4]
All of which means that it really was to fulfil the Law and the Prophets that Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 18 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.
Some musings 