From Prophecy To History

 From Prophecy To History Many might think that what we celebrate at Christmas is the beginning of God’s redemptive work, but that’s not true. Before creation ever took place God decreed that He would redeem from fallen humanity a people for His own possession. The Bible says that Jesus was the Savior before creation (First Peter 1:20), His people’s names were written in His book of life before creation (Revelation 13:8). The first promise of redemption is found in Genesis 3:15, where God says to Satan, who had taken the form of a serpent, Genesis 3:15 ESV I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” It doesn’t look like much, I know. Neither does the first link of a chain when it is by itself. But the golden chain of redemption is built in the Old Testament, link by link, and its shape becomes clear over time. Each sacrifice and the description of the tabernacle and the temple is a link. Each work of God in men like Noah, Joseph, Moses, and Jonah, is a link. Each time the patience and mercy of God is displayed is a link. And the prophecies are amazingly specific links: • The Savior would be God with us, a man born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). • He would be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace, ruling an eternal kingdom marked by perfect peace (Isaiah 9:6-7). • The Savior would suffer the wrath of God that would have otherwise been poured out on sinners (Isaiah 53:4-6). • He would be the son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 22:18, 21:12; Numbers 24:17), of the tribe of Judah, the family of Jesse, and the house of David (Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5). • He would be Yahweh, the prophet of God, the priest of God, the Judge and the King of all the earth (Psalm 110:1; Deuteronomy 18:18; Psalm 110:4; Isaiah 33:22; Psalm 2:6). • He would be anointed by the Holy Spirit, begin His work in Galilee, perform miracles, teach in parables, and be an offense to the Jews but a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 11:2, 9:1, 35:5-6; Psalm 78:2, 118:22; Isaiah 60:3). • He would be crucified and rise from the dead (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Psalm 16:10). • He would ascend to heaven, and take sinners with Him (Psalm 68:18), and take His seat at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1). The golden chain of redemption runs throughout the Old Testament, from Genesis 3 to Malachi 4, with thousands of links formed by the prophecies, promises, pictures, types, shadows, illustrations, and events revealed by God. But here’s the thing: without fulfillment all those prophecies are nothing more than words. Unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given. Prophecy had to become history. The prophetic had to become the historic. The abstract had to become concrete. Promises had to be kept. The Word of God had to take on flesh and be the Son of God. And the very first step in that historic, concrete, fulfilled reality took place with a young woman whose life would be utterly changed as a result. MARY Let’s turn to Luke 1 and see the moment when prophecy became history. Dr. Luke (Paul calls him the beloved doctor in Colossians 4) absolutely saturates his Gospel with historical context. The rough time frame is set. These events take place during the reign of Herod the Great. Luke 2:1-2 (which describes the quattrodecennial, every fourteen years, registration of the Roman empire), and Matthew 2:19 (which records the death of Herod the Great in 4 B.C. when Jesus was about 2 years old) narrow the date far more specifically to around 6 B.C. We are given names. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Gabriel, Joseph, and Mary. We are given specific places. Judah, Jerusalem, the temple, the holy place, Nazareth. We are given specific relationships. Two couples, one of which had been married a long, long time, the second of which are still betrothed. We are given specific circumstances. Zechariah and Elizabeth are elderly, and Elizabeth is barren. Zechariah was a priest, and it was his time to serve in the temple, and he had been chosen to offer incense in the holy place. Mary is still a virgin, and betrothed to Joseph. By the grace of God, Zechariah and Elizabeth conceived a son; Luke 1:25 tells us that she concealed herself; she confined herself to their home, keeping the news to herself; even her close neighbors were surprised when she gave birth (Luke 1:58). And then … Luke 1:26–38 — 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. This angelic visit was as historic as the rest of the context Luke gives us. Mary truly was disturbed and frightened by Gabriel’s greeting; he in turn reassured her that she had found favor with God, and that the Lord was with her. She was going to conceive a child, and give birth to a son. The church has long called this event the annunciation, or the announcement. Just reading the text tells us that it’s really not about Mary at all; it’s about Jesus. God determined that it was the right time for His Son to take on human flesh, and Mary was chosen to be His mother. Don’t miss the powerful, deliberate statements of God’s intention. • Mary WILL conceive and give birth to a son. • She WILL call His name Jesus. • Jesus WILL be great. • Jesus WILL be called the Son of the Most High. • Jesus WILL be given the throne of His father, David. • Jesus WILL reign over the house of Jacob forever. • Jesus’ kingdom WILL NEVER end. • The Holy Spirit WILL come upon Mary. • The power of the Most High WILL overshadow her. • And therefore, Jesus WILL be called holy, and WILL be called the Son of God. This was an announcement, not an invitation. An invitation would have sounded something like, “Hail Mary, God has an idea and wants to know if you’re interested in helping.” That’s not what Gabriel says. He says, “God wants you to know what He is about to do, and you, Mary, are His chosen starting point.” This is NOT the story of how a young, faithful, godly girl found favor with God and had all her dreams come true. This IS the story of how the Triune God fulfilled His promises, turned prophecy into history, and secured salvation for His people. Now, Mary asks a good question in verse 34: How will this be, since I am a virgin? What Gabriel has described is going to happen very quickly; perhaps in just moments. That confuses Mary, since she is still a virgin; she and Joseph are still betrothed, and have not yet begun to live together as husband and wife. Gabriel explains that Joseph will not be the father; God will be Jesus’ Father. The Holy Spirit will do this within her; the power of the Most High will overshadow her. That’s why Jesus will be holy, the Son of God, and not a sinner, the son of Joseph. As a sign of God’s intention and power, Gabriel tells Mary that Elizabeth is sixth months pregnant, and reminds her, For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary humbly submits to the will of God. The next verses tell us that she quickly left to go see Elizabeth, and indicate that when she arrived in the hill country of Judah a few days later, she had conceived. She stayed with Elizabeth three months, probably staying until John was born. When she returned she had more to talk about than John’s birth, though. Joseph Let’s turn to Matthew 1. In Matthew 1:18-25 we read, Matthew 1:18–25 — 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. All of the events of Luke 1 have taken place. Mary returned to Nazareth, and was discovered to be pregnant. We aren’t told how, but this was very troubling to Joseph. What was worse was that she told an unbelievable story about God causing her to be pregnant. Now, they are betrothed. Our culture, of course, has engagement. A couple gets engaged, and then on their wedding day the license is signed, the vows are taken, and they begin married life together. In Joseph and Mary’s culture, the legal part – the license and the vows – started the betrothal period, and that typically lasted around a year. Only when the husband had actually prepared a place for his wife, and had made adequate preparations for the wedding feast, would the wedding feast be held and the marriage consummated. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. Joseph He knew that he was not the father of Mary’s child. He knew that she had spent several months in Judea, and returned pregnant. He very reasonably believed that she was not the woman he had thought she was. She had committed adultery, violating their betrothal. Taking her as his wife was out of the question; divorce was the only option. But how? The culture fully supported Joseph dragging her before the elders of the city of Nazareth, shouting her sin to the entire town, and handing her the certificate of divorce. She would become “that woman” as far as Nazareth was concerned, perhaps even being forced to move away. Her future, and her child’s future, would be permanently stained by her sin. But Joseph was a righteous man, a just man. They had not consummated their marriage; they were not living under the same roof. True, she had violated the marriage contract, which was technically adultery, but he didn’t seem to believe that it deserved the same intensity of response as if they had been living together as husband and wife for years, and she turned out to be unfaithful. So Joseph decided that he would take the minimum steps in divorcing her; he would not add to her shame. Why does Matthew go into all of this? Why is this so important? Because it’s history. Mary was actually pregnant; it was not an illusion. She really did have a baby growing inside of her, and there was no spiritualizing it away. Joseph responded in a very real and predictable way. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. As it turns out, Mary’s story about the angel and the baby was true. God didn’t rebuke Joseph for failing to believe her; instead, the angel verified the details of her story. Matthew tells us exactly why: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means God With Us). The prophetic became the historic. There is a sweet reminder of God’s gift to us in the angel’s message to Joseph. Joseph’s answer to Mary’s sin was to divorce her; God’s answer to the sin of His people was to send a Savior. So when Joseph awoke his heart and mind had been changed. Instead of quietly and privately divorcing Mary and personally avoiding her shame, he took her as his bride. Bringing It Home We don’t serve a theoretical God or trust a theoretical Savior. Our faith is not somewhere ‘out there’ in the mist and fog, mired in myths and traditions. It is rooted in history, in flesh and blood, in the dirt and rocks and fields of Galilee and Judah. We believe in Jesus Christ because prophecy became history, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Jesus performed real miracles, not the sort of silly things people claim today. • The lepers He healed were covered with open sores, banished to the garbage heap south of Jerusalem. He instantly healed them. • The blind and crippled and deaf were utterly dependent upon others, and suffered terribly. He instantly healed them, so that they saw, walked, and heard. • Lazarus was dead and decaying when Jesus arrived at the tomb outside of Bethany. Jesus raised him from the dead, and he came walking out of the tomb. • That storm that He calmed blinded the disciples with spray and filled them with terror. Jesus spoke and the storm simply melted away. • The 5,000 men that He fed, plus women and children, took bites of the bread and fish, chewed, swallowed, and took another bite. That food satisfied their hunger and nourished their bodies. And Jesus’ sacrifice was equally historical. • The night of His arrest His disciples passed around the cup of wine, and wiped the drops from their lips. • His cross was made from real wood; the soldiers got their hands drenched in His blood as they put Him to death. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, all of the physical stuff around us. Man truly rebelled against Him and became an enemy. God truly loved His creation, and even when mankind bitterly resented Him then, and continues to hate and curse His name now, He provided a way of salvation. He entered into humanity. The prophetic became historic about 2,020 years ago. The Lord didn’t simply say, “I’ll take care of sin some day, don’t worry about it.” He gave very specific prophecies about the Savior’s conception, birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ongoing reign in heaven. And then He fulfilled His Word, so that the prophecies became ‘histories.’ The prophecies of God ceased to be “SOME day” and instead became “TODAY.” “TODAY this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus said (Luke 4:21). “TODAY, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts,” Hebrews 3:7 says. The prophetic became the historic, so that • TODAY is the day of salvation, • TODAY is the day we believe in Jesus Christ, • TODAY is the day we obey, • TODAY is the day the Holy Spirit is working to transform us, • TODAY the Father is working to finishing the good work He began in us, • TODAY we are to give an answer for the hope that lies within us, • TODAY is the day that the light of Christ shines in our hearts. And because our salvation is rooted in history, we can trust that the remaining prophecies of Scripture – Jesus will return to judge the wicked, raise His people to eternal life, and establish His eternal kingdom – will be fulfilled just as the Lord has said, just as every other prophecy has become history. Gospel for Christians … Gospel for the wicked.