Litany of prophecies fulfilled by Jesus' birth

Some folks are skeptical that Jesus is the Son of God. Some folks refuse to believe the Messiah was Jesus Christ. I was reminded of this again last week as I listened to a debate on a newscast about the celebration of Christ at Christmas.

Many prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus made hundreds of years before Jesus came are fulfilled in the New Testament. What follows are just a few examples.

• Prophecy: the Messiah will come. “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 Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. ” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

• Prophecy fulfilled: John 1:1-3 reads: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

John 1:14 reads: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

• Prophecy: Born of a virgin. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

• Prophecy fulfilled: “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. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ — which means, "God with us.’” (Matthew 1:20-23)

• Prophecy: The Messiah will come from Jesse’s lineage. Isaiah 11:1-5 reads: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord — and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.”

• Prophecy fulfilled: Matthew 1:1-2, 5-6, 6: “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, ... (5-6) ... Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. “

• Prophecy: The child will be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah: “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).

• Prophecy verified: Matthew 2:1 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod ….” After some research on this I found that Bible scholars note that over the years, there have been many references to several “Bethlehems” in Israel. For Jesus’ birth, Bethlehem Ephrathah referred to in Matthew as “Bethlehem in Judea.”

• Prophecy: The method of Jesus’ execution. Zechariah described the Messiah’s death in words that make clear that manner of execution. Further, they said that the body would be pierced and that none of the bones would be broken. (Zechariah 12:10). Read about Jesus’ death in John 19: 33-36 to see the fulfillment of this prophecy.

There were hundreds of more prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Jesus and his time here on earth.

But the question remains: Is Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God?

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, foretold in the Old Testament. But each of us must decide for ourselves.

Judy Brandon writes about faith for The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact her at: [email protected]