Monday, August 20, 2012

Jesus' First and Second Coming

Over the last number of Sunday school classes, I have been tracing Jesus' family from Adam and Eve through Abraham and David's family.  We've finally arrived at Jesus' first coming.

Yesterday, I went through the prophecies in the Old Testament that are so familiar even to people who only show up for church on Christmas.

Jesus would:

crush the serpent's head  Gen 3:15
be a blessing to the whole world    Gen 18:18
be born of a virgin  Is 7:14
be born in Bethlehem   Micah 5:2
go to Egypt for a time  Hosea 11:1
be raised in the Galilee  Is 9:1-2
be betrayed by a friend Ps 41:9
be sold for thirty pieces of silver Zec 11:12
      which would be returned and used to purchase the potter's field   Zec 11:13
suffer for us   Ps 22   Is 53
die for us      Ps 22    Is 53
die among evil people   Is 53:12
be buried in a rich man's tomb    Is 53:9
be raised from the dead.       Ps 16:10

I've heard it used as an argument that Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies about the Messiah on purpose so that He would look like a messiah to anyone who was paying attention.

Please note how many of these prophecies would have been completely beyond His control if he were an ordinary human.  No one picks their parents.  No one chooses their place of birth or where they live before they reach a viable age to live on their own.  No one willingly arranges to be crucified.  While we can pick a cemetery plot today, and it was even done back in Jesus' day what with family tombs and all, Jesus was nowhere near His family's usual place of interment if they had one.  He did not have a say in where He was buried.  No ordinary human decides to raise from the dead three days after they are put in a tomb.

There is a vivid description of crucifixion in Psalm 22 which was written hundreds of years before that particular form of torture was invented.  The same psalm says that Jesus' clothes would be divided by gambling. 

Therefore, since Jesus fulfilled every prophecy about His first coming, He will certainly fulfill every one of the prophecies about His second coming. 

The last few lines in the Bible say:

"I am coming soon."

To which the heartfelt response is:

"Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."

God bless us all,

Kathi

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