Christmas Morning: Son Rise on a New Dayნიმუში

Have you ever been to a shopping mall or theme park and needed assistance finding your way from one point to the next? You just left one store or stepped off one ride, and now you need to navigate to your next location … but you don’t know where it is. You might wander over to a large map showing all the points of interest. Surely this map will help you find your way! The problem is, you need a point of reference. If you don’t know where you are, you can’t possibly navigate to where you are going next.

Thankfully, these maps help you find a point of reference. They often have a large sticker declaring “you are here!” By knowing where you are on the board, you can find your way to your next destination.

The Old Testament is full of prophecies about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In the Old Testament (written between 1,500 - 400 years before Jesus was born), there are 400 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled! That is a lot of data points on the map! So, how would the people of Israel find where they were on God’s calendar to know when the Messiah would arrive? Malachi 4:5 says that God would send Elijah before the day of the Lord arrived. Isaiah 40:3-5 tells us that Elijah came to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Elijah’s arrival would serve as a giant “you are here!” sticker inside the map of biblical prophecy to let everyone know that the Messiah would soon arrive.

In today’s verses, an angel appears to Zechariah, letting him know that he and his aging wife, Elizabeth, would conceive and have a child named John who would come in the “spirit and power of Elijah.” This meant that the arrival of the Messiah would soon follow! What tremendous news Zechariah heard that day! The sorrowful days were about to be invaded by the Glory of the Lord … the people needed to get ready. After all those years of waiting, they were here.

What ride did you just get off? What are you looking for in life? Do you even know where you are or where you are going? 2,000 years ago, the earthly arrival of John was like an opening act, letting everyone know that the Headliner, Jesus, would soon be taking the stage. Let these prophetic clues orient you to finding your way to true life in Him.