There will come a Messiah. . .
Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel
Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people
2 Samuel 7 God established an everlasting dynasty from the line of David, saying one of David’s descendants would always rule…Jesus Christ, the eternal King from David’s line will always rule.
1 Kings 9:5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
Psalm 2:7 The LORD said to me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.
Psalm 22:16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.
Isaiah 7:14 The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. . . and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
Isaiah 42:1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.
Isaiah 53:3-5-6 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned–everyone– to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.
Jeremiah 33:15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Ezekiel 34:23-24 I will set over them one shepherd. My servant David, and he shall feed them. . .and My servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD have spoken
Daniel 7:13-14 I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! . . . To Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away.
Hosea 13:4 But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.
Micah 5:2 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 days.
Malachi 3:1 See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the One you are looking for will come to his temple.
Matthew 16:15-26 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Luke 2:1-5 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of Davide, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2;25-35 (paraphrased) Samuel was a devout man who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah, the Son of God before his death. He met the babe when Jesus’ parents brought his to the temple for dedication. Samuel recognized this was the Messiah and knew he could now die with the reassurance he had met, held and knew the chosen of God to save.
Luke 2:36-38 “There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped day and night, fasting and praying. Coming to that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
John 4:25-26 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things. ” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them
Have you ever imagined how Mary must have felt seeing the Angel Gabriel come and tell her she would become pregnant with the Messiah. They had been waiting about 4000 years for the Messiah to come. And now, this young girl was being told by an angel who stood before her and reassured her that SHE would be the mother of the Savior, and she would name Him Immanuel. She was betrothed–oh goodness, what would Joseph say? Would he leave her, divorce her? What would become of her? What would become of the Child when it was discovered? But this young girl responded in a willing manner, unsure of how this pregnancy could occur since she had lain with no man, but she was willing. The angel reassured her she would conceive by the Holy Spirit, not by lying with a man. The maiden accepted this, accepted the responsibility.
How old was this young girl? We are never told, but since the marriageable age was fairly young during this time frame–once a girl was menstruating she was able to bear children and that was one of the goals of marriage–to produce children. I wonder if she still had a mother available to answer any of her young questions. Such a lot for a young girl to have to deal with–a pregnancy, marriage to a man–and how well did she know him, how much older was he than her, how soon was the marriage to take place, and what was she to do and say about this pregnancy? So many questions. Sha had to be frightened or nervous. She could be stoned for not being a virgin–even though she was. But how could that be proven? What would Joseph say? How would he react to this news? She could be ousted from the community. She could be killed, stoned for her “actions.”
But she chose to go to “her cousin” Elizabeth. Was her mother deceased? I think so. I think, with a prompting from the angel Gabriel, that she needed to get an older woman’s input, and since her mother was not available, she fled to Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, who was high priest that year. It is my belief, that since Elizabeth was also from the tribe of Aaron, that perhaps Mary was also. And with genealogy, her babe was covered under the “house of David” and also under the priests, the house of Aaron. To me, the choice for Mary to flee to Elizabeth was because she did not have a mother available, or an elder sister she was comfortable confiding in–but she did have a favored cousin, and she hustled to her. Did Elizabeth reassure her, knowing because of her own pregnancy that May held the Messiah in her womb? Did she tell her all would be all right when she returned to her community, her father’s home, to the betrothal with Joseph?
We know that Joseph was also visited and told that the child Mary carried was from the Holy Spirit–she had not lain with a man; she was indeed a virgin, and it was safe for Joseph to marry the girl. I believe that Joseph was a wonderful, warm, stand up guy and he stood beside and with her, and did all that was honorable. Of course, God had chosen well! He is God! But I believe Joseph loved the babe, Jesus and his mother, and he did the best he could to train the child, and his subsequent sons and he loved his daughters, and raised them as good Jewish children, teaching them all whatever he knew of the Torah. God had chosen wisely–choosing Jesus’s earthly parents.
But the couple KNEW–they had been chosen to raise the Messiah, the child borne of a human mother, and the Holy Spirit, and raised by a man from the line and genealogy of David. Joseph took care of the Mary. He knew and believed that the child Mary carried was the Messiah. Did he feel honored to be the human parent to this babe? I believe he did. And I believe he gave his best for teaching this eldest child of his family. He taught him all he knew–Torah, carpentry, love, generosity, and praise. He was the best human father God could have chosen for Mary and Jesus. Thank You, God for all your omniscience.
I am so thankful for the parents you chose to raise your Son with the two humans you chose to bring Him into the world. God, I sincerely thank You for all the blessings–most especially Your Son, my Savior and how He has blessed me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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