Advent: December 24, 2024

Micah 5:2 (ESV) 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.

Micah 5:4-5 (ESV) 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. 5 And he shall be their peace.

Matthew 2:6 (ESV) 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.’”

Without question, the writers of the gospels intend to show from the Old Testament that they believed Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures that promised God’s Messiah.

The prophets, poets, kings, and wise men prophesied about the one who would crush the serpent numerous times throughout the Old Testament. From literary allusions to geography to politics and even to history, they cover almost every genre of foretelling imaginable. An entire book could be dedicated to covering all of these.

What we can never do is dismiss that there was something that happened that caused the gospel writers to look back at their Bible and say, “Jesus is the promised one!”.

What event was that?

Jesus’ resurrection confirmed his own preaching from the Old Testament and the preaching of the gospel writers that he is the promised ONE. The gospel writers believed what they wrote.

These writers are not just manipulating the texts to validate their beliefs either. Jesus, after his resurrection in Luke 24, taught them how to read and understand his inspired word:

Luke 24:44-47 (ESV) 4 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Peter Stoner, in his work “Science Speaks”, has “calculated the chance of any man fulfilling these prophecies, even down to the present time, to be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the 17th power). How can anyone think that Jesus just “happened” to be in the right place at the right time? Clearly, we can’t consider coincidence.” – Peter Stoner

There is simply no way coincidence plays a role here. What we have is a bonafide Christmas miracle, and the gospel writers are shouting it from their writing for us to hear.

God intricately wove history, time, and circumstances together to ensure Bethlehem is where the promised serpent crusher would be born. Unlike being jettisoned from heaven, Jesus would be born of a woman without advantage as the ruler of God’s people. As the second person of the eternal Triune Creator God, Jesus would shepherd his flock in God’s strength, display God’s majesty, ensure his people’s security, and make God’s name great to the ends of the earth.

No coincidences here. That is divine control over time and space to carry out a divine mission to crush the enemy and restore all things.

Advent. Jesus has come, and he has given us his word that testifies to who he is and invites us to examine that word and continue to believe. Praise be to God!