CHRISTMAS BIBLE STUDY: “The Prophecy of the Messiah” Week # 3

Prayer:

Father God, we have celebrated our Savior's birth. We are so grateful for His coming to save us from our sin. Help us to never forget His coming to this earth. Thank You, Father, for the wonderful benefits You have provided through the completed work of Jesus at Calvary; forgiveness, healing, and redemption. Thank You for crowning us with loving-kindness and tender mercies. We are strong and we can overcome because You give us divine strength and ability. By Your grace we will soar through our responsibilities as an eagle. Thank You, Lord, for this study during this season. We will always remember, "Jesus is the reason for the season." Each day will be a blessing because we will remember this through-out the year. This we pray in Jesus' name, AMEN.

God is 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."

 Printed Text:   (Isaiah 9:6) "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Subject:           The Son of Man:                               

Jesus is referred to as the "Son of Man" 88 times in the New Testament. A first meaning of the phrase "Son of Man" is as a reference to the prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14, "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. 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." The description "Son of Man" was a Messianic title. Jesus is the One who was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. When Jesus used this phrase, He was assigning the Son of Man prophecy to Himself. The Jews of that era would have been intimately familiar with the phrase and to whom it referred. Jesus was proclaiming Himself as the Messiah.
A second meaning of the phrase "Son of Man" is that Jesus was truly a human being. God called the prophet Ezekiel "son of man" 93 times. God was simply calling Ezekiel a human being. A son of a man is a man. Jesus was fully God (John 1:1), but He was also a human being (John 1:14). First John 4:2 tells us, "This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." Yes, Jesus was the Son of God—He was in His essence God. Yes, Jesus was also the Son of Man—He was in His essence a human being. In summary, the phrase "Son of Man" indicates that Jesus is the Messiah and that He is truly a human being.

Son of David:

Seventeen verses in the New Testament describe Jesus as the "son of David." But the question arises, how could Jesus be the son of David if David lived approximately 1,000 years before Jesus? The answer is that Christ (the Messiah) was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the seed of David (2 Samuel 7:14–16). Jesus is the promised Messiah, which means He had to be of the lineage of David. (Matthew 1) gives the genealogical proof that Jesus, in His humanity, was a direct descendant of Abraham and David through Joseph, Jesus' legal father. The genealogy in (Luke 3) traces Jesus' lineage through His mother, Mary. Jesus is a descendant of David by adoption through Joseph and by blood through Mary. "As to his earthly life [Christ Jesus] was a descendant of David" (Romans 1:3).
Primarily, the title "Son of David" is more than a statement of physical genealogy. It is a Messianic title. When people referred to Jesus as the Son of David, they meant that He was the long-awaited Deliverer, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.
Jesus was addressed as "Lord, thou son of David" several times by people who, by faith, were seeking mercy or healing. The woman whose daughter was being tormented by a demon (Matthew 15:22) and the two blind men by the wayside (Matthew 20:30) all cried out to the Son of David for help. The titles of honor they gave Him declared their faith in Him. Calling Him "Lord" expressed their sense of His deity, dominion, and power, and calling Him "Son of David," expressed their faith that He was the Messiah.
The Pharisees understood exactly what the people meant when they called Jesus "Son of David." But, unlike those who cried out in faith, the Pharisees were so blinded by their own pride that they couldn't see what the blind beggars could see—that here was the Messiah they had supposedly been waiting for all their lives. They hated Jesus because He wouldn't give them the honor they thought they deserved, so when they heard the people hailing Jesus as the Savior, they became enraged (Matthew 21:15) and plotted to destroy Him (Luke 19:47).
Jesus further confounded the scribes and Pharisees by asking them to explain the meaning of this very title: how could it be that the Messiah is the son of David when David himself refers to Him as "my Lord" (Mark 12:35–37; cf. Psalm 110:1)? The teachers of the Law couldn't answer the question. Jesus thereby exposed the Jewish leaders' ineptitude as teachers and their ignorance of what the Old Testament taught as to the true nature of the Messiah, further alienating them from Him.  Jesus' point in asking the question of Mark 12:35 was that the Messiah is more than the physical son of David. If He is David's Lord, He must be greater than David. As Jesus says in, Revelation 22:16, "I am the Root and the Offspring of David." That is, He is both the Creator of David and the Descendant of David. Only the Son of God made flesh could say that.

 Why is Jesus called "Son of Man"?

Let me give a common understanding and then a more sophisticated historical understanding.

The common understanding is that "Son of God" implies his deity—which it does—and that "Son of Man" implies his humanity, which it does too. He was a son of man, that is, a human being. And he is the Son of God, in that he has always existed as the Eternally Begotten One who comes forth from the Father forever. He always has, and he always will. He is the Second Person of the Trinity with all of the divine nature fully in him. He is born of a virgin. He had a human father but he didn't have sex with this virgin until Jesus was conceived. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary. Thus he is human—fully human. The Bible wants to emphasize that he is fully human. So that's the common understanding: he is both divine and he is human—two natures, one person. The more sophisticated and important historical insight is that the term "Son of Man" doesn't merely align him with humanity. It is probably taken from (Daniel 7). And if you read that chapter you'll see that the Son of Man is a very exalted figure: not just a human figure but an exalted figure. It was Jesus' favorite self-designation.

If you do a study of the term "Son of Man" in the Gospels you'll see that he didn't refer to himself most often as Son of God but as Son of Man. He said things like, in Mark 10:45, "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." So he calls himself Son of Man very often. I think the reason he did so is because, on the face of it, Son of Man is an ordinary phrase for "human being." He was born of a man. And there's no offense there: who isn't a son of man? But those with ears to hear could hear (Daniel 7), in which he was claiming a very exalted role in the history of redemption. And he meant to do it.

Jesus was very subtle in that he was always opening his identity to those with eyes to see, but he wasn't opening it so blatantly that everybody would come and make him king. He had to steer a very narrow course in disclosing his identity, not just openly saying, "I'm the Messiah, I'm the King of the World. Come and acknowledge me as King." He didn't talk like that.

He was quiet. He was subtle. And he would make claims that were explicit in certain settings and implicit in others. And only when the time was right—mainly when he was on trial for his life, and they said, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the living God?"—did he say, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man coming with great power and glory." So he confessed his open deity right at the point where he knew he would be crucified for it. "Son of Man" has the double meaning of human being and, according to Daniel 7, exalted heavenly one. And Jesus means to communicate both of those.

Background Scripture:          Matthew 9:6   

"But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house."

Scriptures References:           Mark 10:45; Daniel 7; John 1:1, 14; 1 John 4:2; 2 Samuel 7:14-16; Matthew 15:22

Questions:

1).       How many time Jesus was referred to as the "Son of Man" in the Old Testament?

2).       What does Daniel 7:13-14 say?        

3).       What title do the Son of Man have?

4).       Give a second meaning of the phrase "Son of Man.

5).       How was Jesus the "Son of David"?          

6).       When people referred to Jesus as the "Son of David," what did they mean?

7).       What do the title "Son of David" declares?

8).      Describe what the sect of the Pharisees believed.

9).       What was Jesus' point in asking the question in Mark 12:35?

10).    Why is Jesus called the "Son of Man"?    

11).     What is the common understanding of "Son of Man"?

12).     How did Jesus refer to Himself most often in the Gospel?

13).     How did Jesus answer them when they asked, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the living God?"

14).     Read Daniel chapter seven (7).

15).   Explain this week’s background scripture.

Application Question:  Do you consider yourself as a child of God? Explain.

Who Prophesied This? Week # 3    

"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." (Hosea 11:1)

Please share a short Review:

Reading Assignment:                                Week # 3            Isaiah 18-25 Monday through Sunday

Sharing:      Christmas Songs Week # 3     Joy to the World

Joy to the world! The Lord is come Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing And heaven, and heaven and nature sing Joy to the world! the Savior reigns Let men their songs employ While fields and floods Rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy Repeat, repeat the sounding joy No more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found Far as the curse is found Far as, far as the curse is found.

CHRISTMAS BIBLE STUDY: "The Prophecy of the Messiah" Week # 2

Answers to Questions:

1).       To you, who is the Son of God?

Since I've heard about Jesus (Son of God), I've known Him as my Savior. I truly believe that He is the Messiah. I believe He was with God in the beginning, and God sent Him to die for our sin.                             

2).       What did the High Priest demand of Jesus?

They wanted Jesus to say in plain words that He was the Son of God, and He did, but they didn't believe when they heard it; He told them, but they just couldn't receive it. They wanted Him to say He was a prophet, but not the Son of God.

3).       What was the reason the Jews wanted to kill Jesus?

They couldn't understand Him claiming to be the Son of God as being a man like them, but He was!

4).       What was blasphemy according to the Jewish leaders?

The claim to be of the same nature as God—to in fact be God—was blasphemy to the Jewish leaders.

5).       Just as Judas was a manifestation of perdition, Jesus was a manifestation of Who?           

Jesus was a manifestation of God

6).       To you, who is Jesus Christ?

To me, Jesus Christ is my Savior, my Lord, my Provider, my Protector, my everything; He is the Son of God.

7).       We must confess that Jesus is who?

We must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and the Son of God.

8).      Explain John 10:30.

"I and my Father are one." This is the Trinity of God; Jesus claiming to be one with the Father as part of a larger argument to note that He had existed from eternity past, lived in perfect oneness with the Father, held the same power as God, and was sent by God the Father's authority. Unfortunately, He was rejected as divine by the Jewish leaders. Jesus' claim to have equal power as the Father was not blasphemy. It was the plain truth.

9).       What did the Jews call Jesus?

They called Him a blasphemer.

10).    Why did the Jews tried to stone Jesus?

They wanted to stone Him because He claimed to be God.

11).     What did John 1:1 and John 1:14 say?

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;" and "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. This clearly indicates that Jesus is God in the flesh.

12).     What did the Old Testament prophets announced?

Old Testament prophecies of Christ announce His deity, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
13).     What do modern scholars claim about  Jesus?

In attempts to explain away the words of Jesus, modern "scholars" claim the "true historical Jesus" did not say many of the things the Bible attributes to Him. Who are we to argue with God's Word concerning what Jesus did or did not say?

14).     Why is the question over Jesus' identity so important?

The most important reason that Jesus has to be God is that if He is not God, His death would not have been sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

15).     Explain this week's background scripture.

1 John 5:20 "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." And we know that the Son of God is come, .... That the second Person in the Godhead, who is equal to the Father, and of the same nature with him, is come from the Father, from heaven into this world, not by local motion, but by assumption of nature; that he is come in the flesh, or is become incarnate, in order to work out salvation for his people, by his obedience, sufferings, and death; and this John and others knew, for they had personal knowledge of :him, and converse with him; they saw him with their eyes, heard him, and handled him: he dwelt among them, preached to them, wrought miracles before them, which proved him to be what he was; and it may be known that the Messiah must become, since Daniel's weeks, which fixes the time of his coming, are long ago up; the sceptre is departed from Judah, and the second temple is destroyed, neither of which were to be till the Messiah came; and that Jesus of Nazareth is he who is come may be known by the characters of him, and the works done by him: John said, "we know this!"

 Application Question: 

Share how you can say "God is with me" personally.  Oh, what a privilege!  God is with me because I personally asked Jesus to come into my heart, and Jesus told me through the Word that He would never leave me nor forsake me; also, I believe God is with me, because the Word tells me. I sense God in my life personally, and I believe the Word to be true.  My life has changed since I've come to know Him. (Genesis 28:15, Exodus 33:14, Leviticus 26:12, Deuteronomy 20:1, Isaiah 43:2, Hebrews 13:5)

 

Who Prophesied This? Week # 2    

"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)

 

The prophet Isaiah prophesied this, which was one of the major prophets before the captivity of Judah.

 

Please share a short Review:

 

In the prophecy of the virgin birth, Isaiah 7:14, the prophet Isaiah declared, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel." This prophecy refers to the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:22-23, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' which means, 'God with us.'" This does not mean, however, that the Messiah's name would actually be Immanuel.  There are many names given to Jesus using the phrase "He shall be called," both in the Old and New Testaments. This was a common way of saying that people would refer to Him in these various ways. Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah, "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). None of these titles was Jesus' actual name, but these were descriptions people would use to refer to Him forever. Luke tells us Jesus "shall be called the Son of the Highest" (Luke 1:32) and "son of God" (1:35), but neither of these was His name. In two different places, the prophet Jeremiah says in referring to the coming Messiah, "And this is His name by which He shall be called, YHWH, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16). Now we know that God, the Father, is named Yahweh. Jesus was never actually called Yahweh as though it was His name, but His role was that of bringing the righteousness of Yahweh to those who would believe in Him, exchanging that righteousness for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, this is one of the many titles or "names" which belong to Him. In the same way, to say that Jesus would be called "Immanuel" means Jesus is God and that He dwelt among us in His incarnation and that He is always with us. Jesus was God in the flesh. Jesus was God making His dwelling among us (John 1:1,14). No, Jesus' name was not Immanuel, but Jesus was the meaning of Immanuel, "God with us." Immanuel is one of the many titles for Jesus, a description of who He is. Jesus was and is the Son of God. As we study about Jesus, we must remember His identity is very important, because Jesus' deity is why He is the only way of salvation. That why He could claim "I am the way and the truth and the life!"

 

Reading Assignment:                  Week # 2      Isaiah 9-17 Monday through Sunday

I have finished reading this week's reading assignment!

CHRISTMAS BIBLE STUDY: "The Prophecy of the Messiah" Week # 2

Scriptures References:

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Luke 2:11

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Matthew 14:33

"Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

Matthew 26:63

"But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

Matthew 27:43, 54

"He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God."

(v54)

"Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God."

Mark 15:39

"And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God."

1 John 5:10

"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son."

Revelation 2:18.

"And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;"