This Sunday when we light the prophet's candle, we are reminded how full the Old Testament is with promises of the coming Messiah, Jesus. His birthplace, Bethlehem is mentioned in Micah 5:2. His virgin birth is in Isaiah 7:14, in fact more than 100 predictions in the Old Testament regarding Jesus and His ministry were fulfilled. The Tabernacle and the whole sacrificial system where pictures of the Messiah. After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." (Luke 24:44) One of the prophesies that stand out in my mind is when Jesus, in the beginning of His ministry, stood up in the synagogue and quoted Isaiah 61:1ff. "17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:17-21 (NIV) He sat down in the empty chair that was reserved for the coming Messiah and said, ""Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." This sounds like an exciting piece of news, the Messiah they had all waited for was here. One would think that they would be eager to hear what He had to say. Sadly, that wasn't their response. Verses 28 and 29 tell us that all of them were furious, they drove Him out of town and were going to throw Him over a cliff, but He escaped through the crowd. Unfortunately, most people today respond to Him in much the same way. He doesn't fit the program as they see it.
They would rather have a "years' worth of free gas", than eternal life and all that goes with it. My prayer would be that we might see that babe of Bethlehem for who He really is, the Promised One of God, that we might give up "our program" and let Him work out His in our lives.

The Promised One