The night Jesus was born was a very special night. Not many people look at this beautiful silent night outside of the traditional nativity scene narrative. There were actually many biblical prophecies fulfilled on the night Jesus was born.
While many people are aware Jesus fulfilled prophecies during His earthly life, not many people are familiar with the biblical prophecies He fulfilled on the night He was born.
The prophecies Jesus fulfilled on the night of His birth as well as throughout His life attests to how He is the Messiah.
Through these biblical prophecies being fulfilled, we see Jesus as being the coming King who was bringing salvation to His people. If Jesus had not fulfilled these prophecies, He would not have been who He said He was.
As it is, Jesus did fulfill these prophecies on the night Jesus was born and throughout His adult life. Here are four biblical prophecies fulfilled on the night Jesus was born.
1. Immanuel Prophecy (Isaiah 7:14)
One biblical prophecy fulfilled on the night Jesus was born is the Immanuel prophecy. This prophecy is recorded in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Immanuel means “God with us.” What this tells us is that Jesus is God in the flesh. The Lord fulfilled this prophecy on the night He was born. Isaiah 7:14 talks about how the virgin will conceive, and give birth to a son, and He will be called Immanuel.
As we know, Mary was the virgin chosen by God to carry Jesus. Jesus’ birth was a virgin birth as Mary was a virgin. Jesus was born into the world, and He is the Savior of the world.
Even at the time of being a baby, people were aware of Jesus being the Messiah. The Wise Men who came to visit Jesus when he was a few years old even attested to Jesus being the coming King. They were Persians, yet they even were aware of the long-awaited Jewish King.
2. The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)
A second biblical prophecy fulfilled on the night Jesus was born is found in Isaiah 9:6. In this prophecy, we are told that Jesus is our Prince of Peace, amongst other things.
Isaiah 9:6 says, “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.”
From this passage, we see that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy when He was born into the world. This same child is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 is often overlooked at Christmastime; however, it was fulfilled on the night Jesus was born. The Lord was born into the world to be our counselor, our God, our Father, and our Prince of Peace. He didn’t come into the world to bring vengeance, but rather to bring salvation.
The Lord was gentle, kind, and loving at the time of His first advent; however, at His Second Coming, He will come with a sword.
Just as Jesus fulfilled the Isaiah 9:6 prophecy at the time of His first advent, He will fulfill the future prophecies about Him at the time of His Second Coming.
These future prophecies will be fulfilled when God plans them to be fulfilled. In the present day, it is very easy to try to attach certain things happening to biblical prophecy, but this is not helpful.
Instead, we need to eagerly look forward to the future biblical prophecies being fulfilled, but we also have to be aware of when they will happen. By being aware of eschatology, we can be aware of when these future prophecies will take place.
Many of Jesus’ future prophecies will take place during the tribulation, the thousand-year reign of Christ, and the Eternal Kingdom.
3. Ruler of Israel (Micah 5:2)
A third biblical prophecy fulfilled on the night Jesus was born was the prophecy of Micah 5:2. Within this passage, we are told that Jesus would be the ruler of Israel.
Micah 5:2 says, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clan of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
As Micah 5:2 tells us, there would be one who comes out of Bethlehem, one among the clan of Judah, who would rule over Israel and His origins from ancient times.
Jesus fulfilled this prophecy on the night He was born as He was born in Bethlehem, He is part of the tribe of Judah, and His origins are from ancient times because He is God.
The Lord also will be one who will rule over Israel even though the Jews rejected Him at His first coming. Jesus was born in Bethlehem just as Micah predicted as well as He was from the tribe of Israel.
These are important facts to remember when we are looking at the biblical prophecies that Jesus fulfilled on the night He was born. While Jesus is not yet the ruler over Israel, He fulfilled all other aspects of this prophecy at the time of His birth.
With these facts being presented, it is impossible not to see Jesus as being the long-awaited Messiah.
Herod was also aware of the Messiah being born, which is why he ordered the slaughter of the children (Matthew 2:16-18). Even Herod was intimidated and believed in the power of the Messiah.
He was afraid the Messiah was going to remove him from his throne, and this is why he ordered the death of all the boys below the age of two.
Despite Herod’s attempts at Jesus' life, his evil desires did not prevail. Instead, Jesus was kept safely through Joseph obeying the angel to move him, Mary, and Jesus to another town.
4. Messiah, the Lord (Luke 2:11)
A fourth biblical prophecy fulfilled on the night Jesus was born is the prophecy of Luke 2:11. Even though this is not an Old Testament prophecy, it is still a prophecy that was fulfilled on the night of Jesus’ birth.
In this prophecy, an angel of the Lord says, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
The angel tells the shepherds, and then many heavenly hosts appear and praise God. After they say this, the shepherds rush to Bethlehem to see the Messiah.
This prophecy is fulfilled by Jesus even though it was rather quick. The angel told the shepherds the good news with the information that they would find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12).
The shepherds go to Bethlehem and find the baby just as the angel had told them. This baby was Jesus, who is the Savior of the world.
From this passage of Luke 2:11, we see the angel describing Jesus as the Messiah and the Lord. Jesus fulfills both of these titles, and He is the Jewish Messiah and the Savior of all people.
Jesus fulfilled many prophecies in addition to these; however, there would not be enough room to include them all here. As mentioned earlier, there will also be more prophecies that Jesus will fulfill in the future.
When we see the truth that Jesus fulfilled prophecies on the night He was born, during His earthly adulthood, and that He will fulfill them at the time of His second advent to the world, we can trust that everything the Bible says about Him is true. He is God in the flesh, and He will return one day to bring us to be with Him.
For further reading:
What Are the Prophecies about Jesus?
How Can I Identify Messianic Prophecies in the Old Testament?
Why Did God Choose Mary as the Mother of Jesus?
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