“And She will have a son, and you shall name Him Jesus (Meaning Savior), for he will save his people from their sins. This will fulfill God’s message through his prophets-Listen! The Virgin shall conceive a child! She shall give birth to a son, and he shall be called ‘Emmanuel’ (‘meaning God is with us’). Matthew 1:21-23 (TLB)
The birth of Jesus Christ was the most predicted events in the Bible. From Genesis to Malachi, each book is filled with a promise. It is a promise of a better way, for they knew all the law could do was show them how far short of the mark they had fallen. The Law could never save anyone, god never meant for it to. It was simply to be a bridge from Moses to Jesus.
God needed just the right man to be Jesus’ earthly father. Jesus would need to learn to respect his parents, how to get along with his brothers, need to learn a trade, learn how to be a man, and have an earthly father to model himself after, a godly, Pious man that would teach Jesus spiritual truth and not just teach it in the home, but model it in the life he lived, the way he ran his carpentry business, and the way he treated Jesus’ Mother and Brothers.
Tomorrow we will read about the other qualifications Joseph had to meet to fulfill prophecy, and the narrow window one must climb through to make all of the prophecies line up just right.
Copyright 2007 Timothy E. Davis