P8/11 Discovering the Identity of Jesus - Summarizing Jesus' Identity in the Four Gospels

Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Note to the reader: These next several posts are designed to present a cultural, historical and theological study of Jesus Christ and the facts behind the crucifixion.  In yesterday's post we considered John's Gospel identity of Jesus as - "The Son of God who came to be Savior". I have chosen to present this material partly in response to the History Channel's recent series: "Bible Secrets Revealed" and partly to give the readers of this blog a chance to see what the Four Gospels truly say about Jesus Christ.  

This particular series of blogs are more concerned with explaining the contents and validity of the four Gospel accounts.  

In today's post we will finish up part two of this blog series by summarizing the identity of Jesus Christ that we have gleaned from our consideration of the four Gospels.  My prayer is that through this series you are getting to know Jesus better.

PART TWO: CONCERNING THE RECORDS OF JESUS’ LIFE AS A MEANS OF TYING TOGETHER THE OLD TESTAMENT RECORD

Lesson Five: Summarizing the Picture of Jesus in the Gospels

1. Four particular pictures of Jesus emerge: King (Matthew); Source of life or The Servant (Mark); Judge of all time or Son of Man (Luke); and having the nature of God or Son of God (John)

2. These four pictures are combined with five others that run throughout the gospels (reconciler, sacrifice for sin, deliverer mediator and LORD (Jehovah) or Source of life.

3. The Gospels trace out the rich patterns of God’s plan of salvation in the Old Testament

With the idea of the death of Jesus fitting both theologically and thematically into the Old Testament framework, we will be able to turn to the Third and final part of this study entitled: Historical implications, reasons and evidences for Christ's accomplished work of salvation.

More tomorrow...

P7/11 Discovering the Identity of Jesus - John's Gospel Identity of Jesus - The Son of God Who came to be Savior

Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Note to the reader: These next several posts are designed to present a cultural, historical and theological study of Jesus Christ and the facts behind the crucifixion.  In yesterday's post we considered Luke's Gospel identity of Jesus as - "The Son of Man". I have chosen to present this material partly in response to the History Channel's recent series: "Bible Secrets Revealed" and partly to give the readers of this blog a chance to see what the Four Gospels truly say about Jesus Christ.  

This particular series of blogs are more concerned with explaining the contents and validity of the four Gospel accounts.  

In today's post we consider once again Part two of this series, and the fourth lesson of Part two entitled: John's Gospel presents Jesus as the Son of God who came to be the Savior.

PART TWO: CONCERNING THE RECORDS OF JESUS’ LIFE AS A MEANS OF TYING TOGETHER THE OLD TESTAMENT RECORD

Lesson Four: John’s Gospel’s identity of Jesus – The Son of God, The ultimate sacrifice for sin

1. John’s gospel enables there to be a theological set of glasses by which to properly view the first three gospels[1].

2. While the first three gospels give historical and thematic guidelines for viewing Jesus’ life, John’s focus is theological[2]

3. The primary Old Testament event that John uses in helping us identify Jesus is that of the Exodus and Passover.

a). In similitude to Moses, Jesus performed miracles and signs to confirm both His teaching and life.  For Jesus though, He did these to show that He could do what God can do (John 5:21); prove His existence from eternity before Abraham (John 8:58) as well as, like God said in Isaiah 48:16, being the only true Savior (John 10).

b). Jesus played out His role of the Passover lamb that was used to protect Israel from the destruction of God’s wrath (John 2).

4. John’s gospel aid the reader in seeing where the O.T patterns, revealed in Matthew, Mark and Luke, theologically and logically conclude. John’s conclusion about Jesus is that He took onto Himself a human nature, while still being divine, so as to enable the possibility of a relationship between God and people.

Questions:

1. How does God’s nature as Savior and Rescuer agree or disagree with how you view God?

2. Could anybody less than God be able to accomplish what only He could do (bring about forgiveness and be the source of life)?  If Jesus accomplished these very things (which the gospels indicate that He did), then what does this tell you about His identity? 

Endnotes:

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[1] Moises Silva in His lectures on John’s gospel alludes to this general idea when describing the relationship between John’s gospel and the first three Gospels.

[2]This is certainly not meant that Matthew, Mark and Luke did not have theological themes woven through their writings, for they most certainly had theological purposes as well!  The comment here means that John’s gospel is comparatively more theological than historical in tone the first three.

P6/11 Discovering the Identity of Jesus - Luke's Gospel Identity of Jesus - The Son of Man

Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Note to the reader: These next several posts are designed to present a cultural, historical and theological study of Jesus Christ and the facts behind the crucifixion.  In yesterday's post we considered Mark's Gospel Identity of Jesus as: "The King who came to serve and be a Ransom". I have chosen to present this material partly in response to the History Channel's recent series: "Bible Secrets Revealed" and partly to give the readers of this blog a chance to see what the Four Gospels truly say about Jesus Christ.  

This particular series of blogs are more concerned with explaining the contents and validity of the four Gospel accounts.  

In today's post we will consider once again Part two of this series, and the third lesson of Part two entitled: Luke's Gospel presents Jesus as the Son of Man.

PART TWO: CONCERNING THE RECORDS OF JESUS’ LIFE AS A MEANS OF TYING TOGETHER THE OLD TESTAMENT RECORD

Lesson Three: Luke’s Gospel’s identity of Jesus – The Son of Man 

1.      Luke’s gospel, much like Matthew, has a list of Jesus’ human descendants.  While Matthew’s list focuses upon Jesus legal rights to the kingship of Israel, Luke’s genealogy focuses more upon Jesus right by birth as a literal descendant of David – hence the reasons for the differences between the two.[1]

2.   If we read Daniel 7, we come to understand the central reason of Luke’s focus on Jesus as the Son of Man:[2]

    Daniel 7:3-9-14   ⁹ “As I looked:

   “thrones were set in place,

  and the Ancient of Days took his seat.

   His clothing was as white as snow;

  the hair of his head was white like wool.

   His throne was flaming with fire,

  and its wheels were all ablaze.

   ¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. ¹¹ “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.  ¹² (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) ¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

3. Luke’s focus is upon how Jesus would   fulfill this prophecy by being empowered with glory and Sovereign power in His humanity by the Holy Spirit. (Luke 4:18)

4. The Holy Spirit's empowerment of Jesus in His humanity is also proof of Jesus fulfilling another prophecy in Isaiah 61, wherein He would go about healing sickness, delivering those in spiritual slavery, and most importantly of all offering forgiveness and hope. Of course we must remember that all the while the Person of the Son was experiencing these prophecies in His human nature, He in His Divine nature never ceased being God.

Questions:

1. What obligation to Jesus’ should His position as Divine judge place upon people living in this world?

  

  2. Why does God need to judge this      

  world?

More tomorrow.....

Endnotes:

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[1] In first century Jewish culture, any Jew would had been able to recount their genealogy on demand.  The fact that we have two records of Jesus’ descendants is not unusual, since his disciples would had had access to each of the lists from both Mary’s genaeological list (The one recorded in Luke) and Joseph’s (The one recorded in Matthew).

[2] This theme is developed more fully in the book “Shadows of the Almighty” by Ben Witherington III and Laura M. Ice.   

P5/11 Discovering the Identity of Jesus - Mark's Gospel Identity of Jesus - The King who came to serve and be a Ransom

Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Note to the reader: These next several posts are designed to present a cultural, historical and theological study of Jesus Christ and the facts behind the crucifixion.  In yesterday's post we considered Matthew's Gospel Identity of Jesus as King and Lord. I have chosen to present this material partly in response to the History Channel's recent series: "Bible Secrets Revealed" and partly to give the readers of this blog a chance to see what the Four Gospels truly say about Jesus Christ.  

This particular series of blogs are more concerned with explaining the contents and validity of the four Gospel accounts, with today's post featuring Mark's Gospel Identity of Jesus as the King whom came to serve and be a ransom. 

CONCERNING THE RECORDS OF JESUS’ LIFE AS A MEANS OF TYING TOGETHER THE OLD TESTAMENT RECORD

Lesson Two: Mark’s Gospel’s identity of Jesus – The servant, King over the Kingdom 

1.  Mark’s gospel gives more of a fast paced and high powered look at the miracles and power of Jesus.  He casts out demons, raises the dead and heals sicknesses, demonstrating that by His arrival the very presence of God has ushered in the beginning of the closing of human history.

2. The picture of Isaiah’s servant in chapters 42-57 of his book discuss and progressively reveal as mysterious figure who would bring the light of hope to the very land Jesus was preaching and who would act as God and for God in bringing about healing, deliverance and forgiveness of sins.

3. Mark’s writing focuses more intently on what is called “The Kingdom of God”.  With Matthew, the Kingdom of God is spoken about in terms of its purpose and nature, while with Mark’s writing it is spoken of in terms of its presence and nearness.[1]

4.  So what exactly is meant by the idea of God’s kingdom?

a). Having a Kingdom implies that God has personal involvement in the affairs of this world.  He did not just make this world and leave it to run like a clock.

b). Kingdom implies that there is a specific domain, wherein we are the objects and God is the supreme Subject.

c). Jesus in both Matthew and Mark teaches that the Kingdom is not of this world, and that in order to be a true citizen or partaker of it, one must “repent and come to a knowledge of the truth (Mark 1:15) – i.e it is (for now) primarily spiritual in nature.  The day of course will come when Jesus returns and the Kingdom unseen now will become completely manifest and Christ Himself will reign on this planet for 1,000 years. (Mark 13 & Revelation 20)

d). Having a Kingdom means that God has a representative that shares both His nature in having the authority to rule and reign over everything as well as a human nature in being able to relate to the subjects of the kingdom.  Jesus Christ reveals that He has been given authority over all things (Matthew 28:16) and that He is the Servant having the humanity to relate to those who choose to partake of this kingdom (Mark 10:45).

5. In Mark 10:45 we see what many consider the key verse of Mark's Gospel: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

6. According to church history, Mark recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the collection of Peter’s sermons on the life of Jesus as Peter himself, under the revelation of God, dictated it to Mark.[2]

Questions:

1. Can God, being holy and infinite, come down to us as He is? Why or why not?

2. Does God’s setting up of a mediating structure such as His kingdom speak more to His desire to be with us, our inability to come to Him on basis of our good deeds, or both? Explain your answer.

Endnotes:

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[1] That there is a link between Matthew’s gospel, Mark’s Gospel and Luke’s Gospel is no accident.  Though each was an independent effort in recounting Jesus life under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew’s gospel is believed to have been the first one written.  Mark, taking dictation from the apostle Peter, would had most likely had a copy of Matthew to use as a guide to corroborate what Peter was saying.  Then Luke would had used these resources along with what God spoke through the mouth of the Apostle Paul in writing His gospel.  This process by which the first three gospels came about is what is referred to as the synoptic problem.  For further discussion on this issues, the reader can consult David Alan Black’s “Why the Four Gospels”, as well as Merrill Tenny’s “Survey of the New Testament”.

[2]  David Alan Black. Why Four Gospels – The Historical Origins of the gospels. Kregel. Grand Rapids. 2001. Page 77.  This is a common pattern in the Bible for God to speak His words or thought through the mouth of the prophet or apostle, and in turn have a scribe write them down (compare the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch; Apostle Peter and Silvanus)

P4/11 Discovering the Identity of Jesus - Matthew's Gospel Identity of Jesus - King and Lord

Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Note to the reader: These next several posts are designed to present a cultural, historical and theological study of Jesus Christ and the facts behind the crucifixion.  In yesterday's post we considered how the Old Testament's predictions of the Messiah are traced out in the four Gospels. I have chosen to present this material partly in response to the History Channel's recent series: "Bible Secrets Revealed" and partly to give the readers of this blog a chance to see what the Four Gospels truly say about Jesus Christ.  This particular series of blogs are more concerned with explaining the contents and validity of the four Gospel accounts.  The reader is invited today to visit my other blog site to read more indepth on the validity of the four Gospels and Luke's Gospel in particular at: http://biblicalexegete.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/p2-the-reliability-of-lukes-gospel-and-early-church-history-testify-about-the-four-gospels-why-it-matters/

In today's post here we consider Part two of this blog series, and the first lesson of Part two entitled: "Matthew’s Gospel identity of Jesus – King and Lord" 

Discovering the Identity of Jesus

A Cultural, Historical and Theological study of Jesus Christ and the facts behind the crucifixion & resurrection

PART TWO: CONCERNING THE RECORDS OF JESUS’ LIFE AS A MEANS OF TYING TOGETHER THE OLD TESTAMENT RECORD

Lesson One: Matthew’s Gospel identity of Jesus – King and Lord

In the first three lessons of this study, it could be said that the Old Testament functions as an “extended” introduction to the plan that God had in reconciling both people and His creation to Himself.  Today we aim to consider Matthew’s account of Jesus life.

Matthew presents all of Israel’s life and purpose being fulfilled and accomplished in the life of Jesus[1]

a). Israel was originally brought about to bless the nations.  Jesus came into the world to be a blessing to all who believe in him

b). Much like Israel, Jesus was called out of Egypt during a time of the death of the first born in the land (Matthew 2). 

c).  Israel went into a desert because of failure, Jesus went into a desert and did not fall once into sin or failure (Matthew 3 and 

d). Much like Moses, Jesus gave instruction from God on what the agenda would be for His followers as they would be going throughout the world.  Unlike the Mosaic law, Jesus Sermon would have internal power to change those who follow Him (Matthew 5-7)

e). Much like Joshua, Jesus went throughout the very same land that he did, only Jesus conquered spiritual enemies, healing the sick and delivering those held captive to sin (Matthew 8-9)

f). Just as Moses sent out spies to look at the promised land that was promised by God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jesus would send out the twelve to proclaim throughout the very same land some 1400 years later the source of God’s promises, Jesus Himself.  Unlike Moses’ spies, of who ten of his twelve spies came back denying God’s promise and thus finding themselves forty years in the desert, Jesus’ twelve followers found healing and the source of hope by going about proclaiming the message of Jesus (Matthew 10-11)

g).  From chapters 12-26, Jesus appears to be almost living out the very life of David, a very prominent figure in the Old Testament. 

-Jesus experiences people wanting to reject His leadership, deny His authority and threaten His life (like David did in most of 1 Samuel). 

-Much like David providing spiritual nourishment to Israel through the writings of the Psalms, Jesus fed over five thousand people (Matthew 14) and four thousand people (Matthew 15).

     h). Much like David, Jesus was teaching about His own Kingdom, speaking parables (or spiritual stories) of how the kingdom would reflect the King (Jesus Himself) (Psalm 78)

     i). In Matthew 27, the crucifixion account   illustrates the darkest time in Israel’s history, stretching from 1 Kings all the way up to Zechariah.  Jesus became the soul object of God’s judgment, becoming captive and suffering like Israel did, except to an infinite degree. 

j).  In Matthew 28, Jesus becomes alive again, showing that the future of God conquering evil and bringing healing (The end of the last book of the Old Testament) could be experienced in a real way by believing in the healing power of the resurrection.

2). Matthew shows how Jesus both physically and spiritually fulfilled all of the Old Testament promises regarding The Kingly representative (Matthew 28:16-20).

3). Jesus discussion about Himself being LORD of the Sabbath in Matthew 12 (The same LORD that Moses encountered in Exodus 3) is affirmed by His raising from the dead.[2]

Questions:

1. Consider for a moment how Israel’s pattern of birth as a nation (Ezekiel 14), Triumph (Book of Joshua), near destruction and death (Books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles) and new life (coming back from enslavement in Ezra and Nehemiah) compare to Jesus born in the manger, popularity with the crowds, death and resurrection. What does this indicate to us about the appropriate nature of Jesus’ crucifixion as fitting within His overall purpose and mission?

2. How does Jesus experiencing all of our temptations connect with you personally?

Endnotes:

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[1] This idea, called a theo-drama, includes the notion of Jesus’ life being like a theater by which God’s purposes and man’s destiny through the life of Israel are played out on the stage of His life, death and resurrection.  I gleaned this idea from listening to speakers one year (I cannot recall the year) who were presenting papers at the Evangelical Theological Society.

  In salvation terms, some theologians note that Jesus’ humanity interacting with His Divinity portrays our own lives being lived out by Jesus, a process called recapitulation.  In this notion the fact that Jesus lived out the very processes and encountered the same temptations that we do (yet without sin) makes Him a fit candidate for bearing the sins of the world.

[2] When Jesus is referred to as Lord, it is the same meaning behind the revelation Moses receives about God’s personal name and nature (Yahweh).  This term, translated as “I am who I am”, signifies that God is the source of all life and existence, and that He is the prime actor in both history and salvation.  Jesus attributes this title to Himself (John 8:58 where He says “Before Abraham was, I AM).  

Thus Jesus here is identifying Himself as sharing the same essence and ability to give life, take life and provide salvation as God (whom He refers to as His Father) in the Old Testament.

P3/11 Discovering the Identity of Jesus - how the Old Testament's predictions of the Messiah are traced in the four Gospels

Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Note to the reader: In yesterday's post we considered how God's plan led to a promise which leads to the Person of Christ. I have chosen to present this material partly in response to the History Channel's recent series: "Bible Secrets Revealed" and partly to give the readers of this blog a chance to see what the Four Gospels truly say about Jesus Christ.  This particular series of blogs are more concerned with explaining the contents and validity of the four Gospel accounts.  The reader is invited today to visit my other blog site to explore more indepth the validity of the four Gospels at: http://biblicalexegete.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/p1-the-reliability-of-lukes-gospel-and-early-church-history-testify-about-the-four-gospels/

In today's post here we consider lesson #3 on the particular point of how the Old Testament's predictions of the Messiah are traced out in the Four Gospels.  

Lesson Three: To what place does the Old Testament story lead us to?

If we are going to make sense as to what the Old Testament has to say to us about the identity and mission of Jesus, we need to first
bring out the patterns that provide the underlying structure of God’s plan of salvation in the Old Testament. This plan, so marvelous and precious to God’s own heart, anticipated what would be revealed about Jesus Himself in the Gospel accounts of the New Testament. For now, let us break down some key patterns that emerge from the story of the Old Testament. The below chart will illustrate these patterns, along with introducing to the reader the key themes of each of the gospel accounts.[1]

           MATT                           MARK                     LUKE                   JOHN

Bringing together of ------------------------------------------------------------------------->

God and man

The shedding of blood needed

To appease God’s anger and------------------------------------------------------------->

To prevent man’s destruction

Because of sin (giving of one

life in place of another)

Being the deliverer of humanity

From the slavery and darkness of sin------------------------------------------------->

Representing God’s desire to

Be with human beings and representing

Man’s need to be with God (a mediator)----------------------------------------------->

THE LORD (YAHWEH)

(Jesus proves this in His resurrection)------------------------------------------------->

Matthew notes Jesus       Mark notes Jesus       Luke Notes Jesus    John notes Jesus

As King                             as the suffering          the Son of Man         as Son of God

                                           servant

       As can be seen from the above chart, the Old Testament reveals to the reader, in a progressive fashion, both a plan and a person that God has in mind for bringing about his plan of bridging the gap created by man’s rebellion in the Garden of Eden.  Additionally, the Gospels and their major themes enable these patterns to be brought to a coherent end and fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.  The plan is bridged to the Person of Jesus Christ by the many prophecies and promises revealed throughout the Old Testament.  

In the next few lessons , we are going to take a closer look at the four gospel records of Jesus life, death and resurrection, detailing why there are four records and why what Jesus says in them about Himself fits in line with the Old Testament record.

More tomorrow..........

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[1] These Patterns are general themes of each gospel.  Since all four contain many accounts of Jesus paralleling one another, there will be an overlap of similar themes covering all four gospels (ex: Matthew’s discussion of Jesus as King can also be found in the other three gospels)

P2/11 Discovering the Identity of Jesus - how God's plan led to a promise which leads to the Person of Christ

Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Note to the reader: These next several posts are designed to present a cultural, historical and theological study of Jesus Christ and the facts behind the crucifixion.  In yesterday's post we began considering the Old Testament's anticipation and prediction of the coming Messiah revealed in the New Testament. I have chosen to present this material partly in response to the History Channel's recent series: "Bible Secrets Revealed" and partly to give the readers of this blog a chance to see what the Four Gospels truly say about Jesus Christ.  This particular series of blogs are more concerned with explaining the contents and validity of the four Gospel accounts.  The reader is invited to visit my other blog site to read a critique of the latest episode of "Bible Secrets Revealed" at: http://biblicalexegete.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/p2-critique-of-episode-4-of-bible-secrets-revealed-the-real-jesus/

In today's post we consider lesson #2 and four particular meetings whereby God made promises and predictions to His people in the Old Testament about the promised Messiah. These gradual identifications and predictions prepared the way for what would be Jesus Christ's first coming in the New Testament Gospels. 

Discovering the Identity of Jesus

OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUNDS LEADING TO A PROFILE THAT CAN AID IN IDENTIFYING JESUS

Lesson Two: Significant Meetings between God and key people

1. Meeting One: God’s promise to Eve – Genesis 3:15 From the entirety of humanity will come one to crush the serpent and bring about the reconciliation between God and man.

THUS GOD'S PLAN AT THIS POINT IS TO BRING ONE INDIVIDUAL FROM ALL HUMANITY TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF SATAN

2. Meeting Two: God’s Promise to Abraham – Genesis 12-17 From the people within Abraham’s descendants (Israel), will come about one whose life will bless the world

THUS THE PLAN BECOMES MORE SPECIFIED IN A PROMISE. WHAT IS THE PROMISE? TO HAVE A PARTICULAR SAVIOR COME FROM A PARTICULAR NATION, ISRAEL

3. Meeting Three: God’s Promise to David – 2 Samuel 7:13-16 From David’s Kingly line of descendants will come a King who will bring about peace

THUS THE PROMISE IS EVEN FURTHER NARROWED DOWN TO HAVING THIS AGENT OF SALVATION AND HOPE COME FROM THE BLOODLINE OF ONE INDIVIDUAL WITHIN THE NATION

4. Meeting Four: God’s revelation to David and Isaiah- Psalm 22 , 68 and Isaiah 53 – God reveals to both prophets that this agent of salvation will have to suffer, die and rise from the dead in order to complete God’s plan of salvation

THUS THE PROMISE IS RECEIVES SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION REGARDING BOTH ITS PURPOSE, MEANS OF FULFILLMENT AND THE NATURE OF THE ONE WHO WILL ACCOMPLISH IT 

So what exactly is involved in this plan of salvation?

1). A progression is made from a general plan to that of a specific person. Think of a "funnel effect", wherein beginning with Eve and all of humanity, to Noah, Shem and then Abraham. God then focuses upon taking the plan of salvation and specifying it in the form of a promise to Abraham annd his descendants, which would become a nation - Israel (through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Through the continuation of redemptive history, God narrows the funnel even further to a tribe with Israel (Judah) and then later on to an individual's bloodline with Judah (David's bloodline). According to Matthew's Gospel, 42 generations stretch from Abraham down to Jesus.  It will be in our next several posts that we will discover how exactly God took the promise and narrowed the funnel to its narrowest point in Jesus Christ.

2). Jesus Christ, in the realm of his humanity, can only be the right one by reason of His having the right blood (descendant of Abraham and David) as well as shedding His own blood on the cross (Isaiah 53) and rising from the dead (Psalm 16). Furthermore, this same Person must be Divine in order to come and bring about the completion of fulfilled prophecy. (Psalm 2; Psalm 110; Proverbs 30:4-5; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 61; Micah 5:1-3; Malachi 4)

3). Though the promise is specific, the implications and results are far reaching. 

More tomorrow.....