And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. (17) He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS TO THE CHILDREN,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:16-19 NKJV
Sometimes it seems that the world has become so evil and hard-hearted that even Christmas has lost its sparkle. Christmas carols without Christ, Christmas specials that look more like bacchanals, and battles over the appropriateness of a nativity scene make me wonder what has happened. It’s a safe bet that not everyone who celebrates has any idea of the significance of the event that spawned the holiday. Perhaps they forget that the root of the word “holiday” is “holy.
Can you imagine how Zechariah must have felt when he heard the above words? He was a priest serving one of his two annual shifts of burning incense in the temple. A devout older man, his prayers for a child had not been answered. Suddenly, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and announced that his wife would bear a son. His prayers would be fulfilled in a son who would fulfill Malachi’s prophecy of a forerunner who would turn the hearts of many to the Lord. Zechariah knew these verses well. His prayers were connected to the long-delayed fulfillment of the promises of a Messiah!
As the time of John’s birth approached, there was another angelic visitation to a relative of his wife named Mary. She was informed that she would also have a child, but this child would be implanted in her by the Spirit and would be called the Son of the Most High. He would sit on the throne of David, a clear reference to the Messiah. This remarkable story was also angelically delivered to Mary’s betrothed. Matthew tells us,
“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:22-23
This wonderful event was a part of the fulfillment of many things. Joseph was warned to take Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of young boys and the horror that it caused: “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, LAMENTATION, WEEPING, AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN, REFUSING TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY ARE NO MORE.” (Matthew 2:17-18 NKJV)
The family stayed in Egypt, “until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.” After hearing of Herod’s death, Joseph and crew headed back to Israel, but they were detoured from Bethlehem, “being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:22-23).
There was a whole lot of fulfilling goin’ on!
Here’s the Point: The coming of the Christ child and the events surrounding it were the fulfillment of prophecies spoken hundreds of years before. Christmas is a celebration of the Lord’s coming in human form. He became flesh so that He could suffer on our behalf to take away our sin, another promise fulfilled: “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.” (Acts 3:18). The Christmas vision of a babe in a manger is a beautiful promise to us that what God says, He will fulfill.
My prayer for you this Christmas is that every word He has spoken to and about you be fulfilled in your life. His Word is full of descriptions of what He has done and desires to do: salvation, deliverance, healing, guidance, peace, and joy. In addition to what is written, there are the things He has spoken to you about your personal life and ministry. The baby in the manger is a human reminder of His faithfulness. May the season awaken new hope and the faith that goes with it, so that for you and yours “it may be fulfilled that which was spoken…”.
Merry Christmas!
Virgil & Judy Stokes
3141 W. Ironwood Hill Dr.
Tucson, AZ 85741
pastorvirgil.com 