A Spider Upon Catching a Fly
JESUS, THE MESSIAH: IN BIRTH, WORK, AND DEATH
Because he was not a king or a military leader or a descendent of King David and because he allegedly failed to achieve immediate world peace , it is a common belief among those of the Jewish faith that Jesus was not the Messiah . However, through his birth, his works and miracles, and his death, as described by Luke, Jesus exemplified Christian ideals of the Messiah and fulfilled over 330 prophesies specifically contained in the Jewish Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, that were written hundreds, and is some cases, thousands of years before Jesus was even born, which undoubtedly proves that Jesus, was the Messiah—the “envoy of God,” the Son of God, Savior, Christ—of both the Christian and the Jewish faiths.
What was prophesized in the Old Testament concerning the birth of the Messiah, was fulfilled by Jesus. For example, according to prophesies, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,” the Messiah would be born of the seed of a virgin woman. Fulfilling this prophesy, Jesus was born to the virgin, Mary, whom “the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee… and came in unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly favoured… behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. 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.” It was also prophesied in the book of Genesis that the Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac and Jacob. Jesus fulfilled this prophesy because he (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor…” Furthermore, it was prophesied, by the great prophet Micah, that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, “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.” Fulfilling this prophesy as well, Jesus’ birth took place “unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Thus, in his birth, Jesus had already fulfilled the prophecies, and is therefore undeniably the Messiah.