THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH CELEBRATION 2024
ATHIS-MONS, FRAN, CE Dec. 22, 2024
I find it a great blessing each year before Dec. 25 to consider the Birth of The Messiah. May we not miss the reason for the season, The Birthday of Jesus Christ. Christ comes from the Greek word for Messiah ‘The anointed One.’ Messiah comes from the Hebrew word for the same-Maéshiach.
1. Isaiah 7:1-14
a. Ahaz was the King of Judah. God through Isaiah spoke to Ahaz. v.4 God said the alliance between Ephraim (the ten tribes of the north) and Syria (in Hebrew Aram) that was soon to come against Judah would not succeed. v. 7 In the end of v. 9 Ahaz was warned. If he does not believe he will not be established. May we be warned as well. God was helping Ahaz, but he was not responding to God’s goodness to him and Judah. God offered Ahaz a sign, but he refused to ask for a sign. This would be a miraculous sign that only god could create. Vs. 11-12 Ahaz did not want to get any closer to God than he already was. Just having Isaiah near was more than enough. Let us not stop short of what God wants to give us. Psalms 81:10-11 “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
God then speaks to the house of David. v. 13 The verbs and pronouns of v. 13 are in the plural. The sign is to the Jews, the House of David. In Luke 2:10 the angel of the Lord announced to the shepherds of Bethlehem “good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 This is an extraordinary sign!
Ex 12:13 The same Hebrew word ‘ot’ is used of the blood put on the doorposts to protect the homes from the smiting angel. That was on the night of Passover. The word in the KJV is token. That was when Israel left Egypt with Moses. God Himself will give the sign, and He Himself will be the sign. God the Messiah will come to the earth by way of the Jewish virgin. He will be God with us, Immanuel. Matthew 1:23 “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Greek for virgin is parthanos.
2. The conception of the Messiah.
a. He is to be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
When Herod asked the chief priests and scribes of the Jews where the Messiah would be born, they answered on the basis of this verse. They said to Herod in Bethlehem. Matt 2:1-18 The Magi had come from the east seeking Him that is born King of the Jews. Herod understood that the King of the Jews is the Messiah. v.4 The chief priests and the scribes said Bethlehem is the city where the Messiah will be born. Herod in his effort to kill the King of the Jews killed all the children in Bethlehem from two years and under. v.16. In Matt 2:17 & 18 Jeremiah 31:15 is quoted. Rachel weeps for the Jewish children slaughtered in Bethlehem.
b. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Matt 1:18 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”
B. Why the Messiah had to come.
1. His blood.
a. The fact that He was without sin is important for the work of redemption that He was to
accomplish in giving His blood as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. He was not born in sin as
all others are, and He never sinned one time while here on earth. The only righteous one gave
His life for the unrighteous. “for he hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 11 Corinthians 5:21
Galatians 1:4 “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our Father:.”
b. Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me.”
c. Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
d. His blood was pure from the stain of sin. Neither in birth nor in life was the Messiah stained by
sin.
e. Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of his grace;.”
f. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us.”
g. There were certain requirements that God had established for the sacrifice of the sins of
man. Jesus met these requirements.
2. He came to seek the lost.
a. Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The Messiah was willing to humble Himself and suffer all that He did while here on earth.
b. The Bible admonishes bus to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God and the only Saviour. And may He
be your personal Saviour!
The angel Gabriel said to Mary that her child “HE shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest:.” Luke 1:32 Jesus Christ is great, and worthy to be believed in, trusted in, and served.
I want to write a prayer letter in early January 2025. I have been handing out Bible calendars for the NEW YEAR. I have been working on renewing my resident visa for France for several months. Help may be coming in the next month. My church recently baptized 6 people. I have visited several doctors this last year and I sense they are helping me. In France there is still liberty to hand out Christian literature which gives great joy to my life. I recently talked to an unsaved man who asked me to pray for his sister’s son named Roman. It is a blood problem apparently lacking white blood cells.
A Blessed remembrance of the Messiah’s coming.
And Peace in the New Year,
Michael D Bentley