We sometimes fail to appreciate the Jewishness of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem around 2000 years ago

It’s Going to Get Even Better

We sometimes fail to appreciate the Jewishness of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem around 2000 years ago. But if you look at the circumstances surrounding the announcement of his birth, and the prophecies regarding his birth, and their fulfillment, and the people that had an interest in those things, this is clearly a monumental, Jewish event whether the modern Jew realizes it or not. (Those wise men didn’t show up in Jerusalem looking for the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, they were hunting the “King of the Jews.”)

Consider the prophecy given to Mary by the angel Gabriel

Luke 1:32-33

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Now look at the revelation of Christ’s birth to Joseph by the angel of the Lord:

Matthew 1:21

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

What people is he talking about? He’s talking about the Jewish people. Now we take that verse and we give it application to you and I, and most certainly Christ came to shed his blood at Calvary so that he might redeem unto himself a people of which we may be a part by grace through faith, but that’s not actually what the angel is talking about in Matthew 1:21. He’s talking about the salvation of a nation as revealed to Daniel back in Daniel 9.

Daniel 9:24

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Contrast Israel’s national salvation with our individual salvation.

You say well then where do we come into the picture of this blessing of the birth of the Christ child? Well the good news is that we are in on it.

Check out Luke 2 and the message that was given to the Shepherds:

Luke 2:10-14

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

But that oft quoted Advent promise of peace on earth and good will toward men is contingent upon Jesus Christ reigning over the house of Jacob and that can’t happen until God gives unto him the throne of his father David!

(God is going to get glory in the highest until his Son is ruling over the Earth as the King of kings from Jerusalem. You can pick up a paper anywhere and tell that there isn’t peace on earth, and anybody that was brave enough to go shopping the morning after Thanksgiving could tell you there ain’t much good will toward men!)

See God’s intentions as revealed in the Old Testament is to bless the Gentile nations of the world through the nation of Israel in their proper place as the head of nations (Deut 28:13) with the promised Messiah upon a literal throne

Genesis 12:3

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 18:18

18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Genesis 28:14

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Psalms 22:27-28

27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

28 For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.

Psalms 73:17-18

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

Isaiah 2:2-3

2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 11:10

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Isaiah 49:6

6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Isaiah 60:2-3

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

But instead of receiving their King, what did Israel do with the Jesus Christ when he came down to earth, to save his people from their sins and reign over the house of Jacob? They crucified him!
It’s a travesty. A crushing reality for God’s chosen people and the nations to boot, but praise be to God, that “through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles!” (Rom 11:11)
Here we are and the ideal supernatural economy that has been prophesied for thousands of years is completely out of whack. Israel is dead in her sins, the Lord Jesus has been rejected by God’s chosen people, there is no temple, there is no kingdom… But hey!... What a blessing man!
(ex. Grandma’s blessing)

They might have crucified their King, but praise be to God his death gave me life!
Their may not be glory to God in the highest, but the glory of God can meet with his saints in a place such as this on a day like today.
Their may not be peace on earth, but there is a peace that passes understanding in the depths of my soul!
Their may not be good will toward men, but the redeemed of God can rejoice in the unity of the Spirit that we share as the children of God.

Hosea prophesied of this situation back in Hosea 3:

4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

Right now they’re on the shelf. Right now they’re the mockery of the nations. Right now they’re the byword of history. But watch out…

5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

When the church checks out of here and the Seventy weeks picks back up in the Great Tribulation, that Jew is gonna turn back to God and repent, and they will look upon him whom they have pierced, and all Israel shall be saved!

Hath God cast away his people? God Forbid.

Look at Romans 11:11-15

11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

You think it’s good now? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

(righteousness, peace, safety, satisfaction, glory, comfort, joy, perfect knowledge, no more curse, no more pain, no more fussing, no more failure, just King Jesus making all things new!)