A Savior Is Born

KEY VERSE: “We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” —I John 4:14

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Luke 2:1-14

AT THE time of the birth of John the Baptist, John’s father Zacharias the priest, prophesied concerning the coming Messiah and the special work John would have in the outworking of God’s arrangements. The prophecy reads: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and bath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” And then speaking of John he said, “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.”—Luke 1:68-76

This wonderful prophecy was made about six months before the birth of Jesus and was, in effect, an announcement of his approaching birth. For centuries the Jews had been looking for the long-promised Messiah who would deliver them from their enemies and, in the promised kingdom, reestablish them as a people under God. “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. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”—Isa. 9:6,7

The prophecy states that Jesus belonged to the house of God’s servant, David. This refers back to an incident in the life of David recorded in II Samuel 7:11-16. David had desired to build the Lord a house but the Lord, speaking to David through the Prophet Nathan, said: “He will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. … My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee; thy throne shall be established forever.”

Zacharias identified Jesus as the heir of David who would establish an everlasting kingdom (Luke 1:69) which would stand forever because God had promised David he would not take it away from him as he had taken it away from Saul. This promise became known by the Jews as the “sure mercies of David.” (Isa. 55:3; Acts 13:34) Then the Prophet Zacharias indicated in Luke 1:72,73 the work that this great Messiah, the Deliverer, was to do, and he associated this work with the oath that God swore to Abraham. “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord … that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations be blessed.”—Gen. 22:16-18

In Old Testament times security was provided by building a wall around the cities. The most vulnerable part of the defense was the gate to the city. The seed of Abraham was promised possession of the gates of his enemies. This means that the seed of Abraham will be the instrument God will use to “put down all rule and all authority and power. For he [Jesus] must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”—I Cor. 15:24-26

In Galatians 3:16, the Apostle Paul states, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”—Isa. 9:7

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