Waiting for Jesus

Our Advent journals this year are titled ‘Waiting for Jesus’.

There are lots of things in life that we have to wait for, and there are lots of different ways that we can wait.

We can wait impatiently and excitedly for good things like birthdays, big celebrations and Christmas. We can wait in discomfort and fear for other things, like exams, medical procedures and deadlines.

Advent is a time of waiting.

Over hundreds of years, Christians have used this season to reflect on God’s gift to the world in Jesus, and to look forward to a future when He will restore everything. Much like Mary, we find ourselves in a period of longing for the promises of God to come into reality (Luke 1:38).

The People of Israel knew a thing or two about waiting.

The story of the Old Testament tells us of the special covenant relationship between God and people: His promises, their (occasional) victories and their (repeated) failures. By the time of the New Testament, they were waiting for the Messiah: the One who would bring about a new covenant between God and His people and establish a new relationship between God and humanity.

You only have to glance at the events leading up to Jesus’ birth that we read in the gospels to see that they are FULL of references to Old Testament prophecies: God-inspired predictions from teachers like Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and Jeremiah who foretold the coming of this Messiah:

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23, from Isaiah 7:14

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Matthew 2:6, from Micah 5:2

“So [Joseph] got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:14-15, from Hosea 11:1

So, Jesus was the One being foretold in those Old Testament prophecies; the One the People of Israel were waiting for.

If you read just a bit further into the New Testament then you’ll soon discover that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection fulfilled every prophecy given in the Old Testament. Every single one!

From the very well-known:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…” Luke 4:16-21 from Isaiah 61:1

And

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Luke 19:35-38 from Zechariah 9:9

To the less well-known:

“My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old.” Matthew 13:34–35 from Psalm 78:1–2

The New Testament teems with fulfilled promise after fulfilled promise. And when you look at it in the detail that we did in making our Advent journals, it can’t fail to amaze you.

We used a wonderful book called The Infographic Bible which beautifully shows the cross referencing of scripture and how so much of the New Testament is a fulfilment of the Old Testament. I could have spent hours poring over these pages!

But here are just a few (!) Old Testament prophecies that show that Jesus would:

• Be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)

• To a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)

• Be preceded by someone who announced His coming (Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1)

• Ride into Jerusalem into a donkey (Zechariah 9:9)

• Perform miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6)

• Be a gentle shepherd for God’s people (Isaiah 40:11)

• Bring a message of salvation to the Gentiles (Isaiah 9:1-2)

• Be betrayed (Zechariah 11:12-13)

• Die between two criminals (Isaiah 53:9, 12)

• Be crucified (Psalm 22:16, Isaiah 53:12)

• Victoriously rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 26:19)

• Die as a sacrifice to atone (make amends for) our sins (Isaiah 53:5)

• Ascend into heaven (Genesis 5:24)

• Establish a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

I could go on (and on!).

Jesus’s birth, life, death and resurrection proved that He was God’s Chosen One, sent to restore the relationship between God and humanity, and to establish a new covenant between us. So the waiting was worth it!

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Advent is a time of waiting.

So while you wait for Christmas Day, come and see what the People of Israel were waiting (and longing) for, and discover with us how significant the birth of Jesus was in establishing a new covenant between God and humanity,
enabling us to be reconciled to Him.