26 Question 3

The Old Testament Scriptures did speak of the birth of the Lord Jesus in Micah 5:2 – “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.”  From this verse, they knew which city the Lord Jesus would be born in.

The Old Testament foretold of the life of the Lord Jesus.  Isaiah 53:2-3 says “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”  This even told of how the Lord would be rejected by the very ones He came to save.

The Old Testament graphically described the death of the Lord Jesus.  Let’s read Psalms 22:1-18, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?   O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.  But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,  He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.   But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.  I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.  Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.  My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”

So, with all that information, why did the people not recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as the son of God and promised Messiah?  Let’s start by reading Mark 3:1-5, “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.  And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.”  These people were far from the Lord.  They had hardened their hearts against the truth.  In plain language, they just did not want to recognize the Lord Jesus as their Messiah.  Consider the words of the Lord Jesus as he entered the city of Jerusalem.  In Luke 13:34 He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”  The Lord came to save these people that he loved dearly, but they were not willing to come to Him.  As He said, “ye would not.”  The very people that the Lord came to save rejected Him.  John 1:11 tells us that, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”  What a glorious verse follows this sad verse of rejection.  John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”  My friend, I hope that you have accepted this rejected one, the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior.  The evidence is clear from the Word of God.  The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was sent into the world to give His life for our sins, so that if we believe on Him as the savior for our sins we will be saved and become the children of God.