Christmas Fulfilled

Introduction: Jesus in his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension undoubted fulfilled more Old Testament prophecies than we can comprehend. The book of Matthew especially points out the myriad of way that Jesus fulfilled prophecy and therefore must be the Messiah.

Matthew 1:22 “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:”

Matthew 2:15 “and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Matthew 2:17 “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:”

Matthew 2:23 “And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.”

Matthew 4:14 “so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:”

Matthew 8:17 “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah...

Matthew 12:17 “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:”

Matthew 13:35 “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet...

Matthew 21:4 “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,”

Matthew 26:56 “But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

Matthew 27:9 “Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying...

The Person

The Scriptures:

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Matthew 1:23 ““Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”

The Interpretation

The Sign

The sign is that a virgin would conceive and give birth.

This likely had a near fulfillment in Isaiah’s day that was nonliteral.

And we also know that it had a far, literal fulfillment in Christ.

How did the virgin birth function as a “sign”?

When we look at signs in Scripture whether prophecies, miracles or gifts what we are examining is an authentication of God’s plan.

The miracles that Jesus did were done primarily to authenticate His message that He was the Messiah.

In the immediate context of Isaiah 7 we know that this sign was given to King Ahaz that the conquest of Jerusalem by the Amarites and Israelites would not be successful.

For Jesus it served as a sign of His status as the Son of God and the savior of the world. It was one more thing that validated His message.

The Name

You may have wondered why Jesus was named Jesus and not Emmanuel.

In reality we know that Jesus has been “named” many things. Most of which are more titles and descriptions than given names.

Wonderful

Counselor

Prince of Peace

Emmanuel

This of course means “God with us”. Which couldn’t be any clearer as to the identity of Jesus.

The Purpose:

The Virgin Birth

The Description: Immanuel

The Place

The Scriptures:

Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

Matthew 2:6 ““ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ””

The Interpretation

Context: Micah 4:11–5:1 “Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.” But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth. Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.”

The book of Micah is a message of both doom and hope. It is a message of judgment for those who have turned away from Yahweh and a message of hope for those that are willing to repent and turn back to God and walk humbly with Him. Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Thus the context of the verse we are focusing on is one of judgment on Judah. The nations are gathered against them. Micah uses sexual assault as the illustration to describe what is about to happen to them.

Then there is a dramatic shift from a message of judgement to a message of hope. Micah 5:2–5 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men;”

The Purpose:

The Bible is a message of judgment and hope. For those in Christ it is a message of hope. And as for those who have rejected Him it is certainly a message of judgement.

This prophecy and its fulfillment in the Gospels is part of the culmination of Micah’s message of Hope. He declared a word from the Lord that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and that is exactly what happened. Because that came true we have a sure hope that the rest of what Micah said will also come true. That one day they will dwell secure and He will be their shepherd. Earlier in the book Micah told of a day when swords will be turned into plowshares. Yes, this prophecy gives us hope.

Like all prophecies we also see God’s divine sovereignty at play and it gives us a sure foundation upon which to stand.

Jesus is the only human being to ever choose the time and place of His birth.

The Pain

The Scripture:

Jeremiah 31:15 “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.””

Matthew 2:16–18 “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.””

The Interpretation

The nation’s future hope will contrast sharply with her present misery. The cry from Ramah was one of mourning and great weeping as Jeremiah pictured Rachel weeping for her children. To what was Jeremiah referring? Ramah was a town five miles north of Jerusalem, and Rachel was Joseph and Benjamin’s mother. Joseph was the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, who became the two major tribes in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Thus Jeremiah was picturing the weeping of the women of the Northern Kingdom as they watched their children being carried into exile in 722 B.C. However, Jeremiah could also have had the 586 B.C. deportation of Judah in view because Ramah was the staging point for Nebuchadnezzar’s deportation (cf. 40:1). In all likelihood these women were crying because they would never see their children again. But as the women of Israel and Judah wept for their exiled children, God offered a word of comfort. There was hope for their future because their children would return to their own land. God would bring about a restoration.

Matthew takes the picture painted by Jeremiah and applies it more fully to the events surrounding the slaughter of the innocents by Herod.

The Purpose:

Herod certainly had his own purpose, to thwart the purpose of God. Thus perhaps one purpose of God in the tragic event is that we cannot disrupt His plans even when we do our worst.

Secondly, it shows that the life of Christ would be one of suffering and pain. Death always surrounded Him from these innocents to Joseph, his adoptive father, Lazarus and John the Baptist to His own death on the cross, and yet He overcame it.

Main Points

The Sovereignty of God

It points to Christ’s divinity

It enhances our trust in Christ and His Word.

It renews our longing for His return

It creates opportunities to share Christ.