One of the greatest validating proofs of Christianity is the harmonization of contradictory,

paradoxical prophecies in the Old Testament that find total resolution in Jesus Christ.

It could never be counterfeit.

And he is who he said he was, the Christ of God, the Savior of the world.

Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. You've probably known the Christmas story since you were little, maybe because of a school Christmas

pageant you were in or because you went to church each year at Christmas, hearing time and again

the account of Jesus' birth. Of course, it could be you come from a Christian background and you

learned in detail exactly what the Bible teaches about the birth of Christ. But even if you think

you know everything there is to know

about the Christmas story, you might be surprised by what you learned today. John MacArthur will turn

your attention to the mysterious Jesus. That's the title of today's lesson. It's part of John's

study titled The Jesus of Christmas. And now here's John with the lesson.

Let's meet the mysterious Jesus of the Old Testament. To give you the idea that we want to have as we flow through these thoughts, the reason there is mystery attached to Jesus

Christ in the Old Testament is because of the apparent conflict in regard to prophecies.

For example, in one place he is said to be the coming king, in another place he is seen as a man

of sorrows acquainted with grief. In one place he is seen with all of the saints, and another

place he is presented as lonely, in one place he is presented as lonely. In one place

he is presented as worshipped and adored and honored and revered in another place, he is lonely

and rejected. And how can it be? How can all of these confusing, contradictory things ever come

to pass? Little wonder that John was confused,

little wonder the disciples were mystified, little wonder the people couldn't make up their

mind about who this man really was. Mystery. But you and I have a privilege.

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