Part 1
For many years, everything seemed to be leading towards a moment that had not yet arrived.
A promise was given to Abraham.
From him would come a Seed.
And, through that Seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
Then came Moses.
God led the people out of Egypt, made a covenant with them, and gave them His Law.
Later came David.
And God promised him that He would establish his descendant on the throne and that his kingdom would endure.
Then the prophets spoke.
Isaiah spoke of a Child who would be born.
Of a Son who would be given.
And of a King who would sit on David's throne and rule over a Kingdom that would have no end.
But in the words of the prophet Isaiah there was also something else.
Something that, when we see it in the light of what happened next, takes on an extraordinary meaning:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
Emmanuel.
This name means:
God with us.
And this brings us back to the beginning.
To the Creator and man.
Man had strayed.
The world had entered darkness.
But God did not abandon the one He had created.
The promise continued from generation to generation.
The Seed was preserved.
The covenant was proclaimed.
The prophets spoke.
And now the Word was showing that God would be with us.
Not just a message from God.
Not just a prophet speaking about God.
But:
God with us.
Matthew, in recounting the birth of Jesus, connects it precisely with this prophecy of Isaiah:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means, ‘God with us.’
Matthew 1:23
And now, after all those years, the time had come.
One day, in a town in Galilee called Nazareth, God sent the angel Gabriel to a girl named Mary.
The angel said to her:
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
Luke 1:30–33
The name had been given.
Jesus.
The promise was taking shape.
He whom the prophets had proclaimed was entering human history.
The child was born.
But the story we are following does not stop at the birth.
Because He had not come only to be born.
He had come for a mission.
THE MESSENGER WHO PREPARED THE WAY
Before Jesus began His ministry, someone went before Him.
John the Baptist.
He had come to prepare the way.
He was the messenger.
The Word had said before:
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.’
Matthew 3:3; Isaiah 40:3
And the news John proclaimed was extraordinary:
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!
Matthew 3:2
The King was coming.
And His Kingdom was near.
THE BEGINNING OF JESUS' MINISTRY
When Jesus was about thirty years old, something happened that marked the beginning of His ministry.
Jesus went to John to be baptized in the Jordan.
When Jesus was baptized, the sky opened and the Spirit of God descended upon Him:
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’
Matthew 3:16–17
Everything was prepared.
The promise had been given to Abraham.
The Seed had passed from generation to generation.
God had formed a people.
David had received the promise of the throne.
The prophets had spoken of the King.
Isaiah had spoken of the Son.
He had spoken of Emmanuel — God with us.
Daniel had seen the eternal dominion of the Son of Man.
And John had gone before the King proclaiming:
Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near!
The King had come.
And then Jesus began to proclaim the news Himself:
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel!
Mark 1:15
The King had come.
Emmanuel was with us.
And His message was clear:
The Kingdom of God is near.
Here we must pause.
Because now the question is no longer:
Did the King come?
The Word has shown us that He came.
The question now is:
What is this Kingdom that Jesus came to proclaim?
And if this was the reason for which He came…
what does this Kingdom mean for me and for you?
Where you can continue
Next chapter: 06 · The Kingdom of God.