Behold Advent Curriculum

Behold Christmas

“Behold.” It might sound fancy, old-fashioned, or grandiose, but it is simply an invitation to come and see. Scripture is full of stories about people who tell the good news of what God is doing in the world. When those who were listening doubted, the speaker didn’t argue or provide further proof but instead invited the person to come and see for themselves. This Christmas, we are going to be doing just that. We will be looking at some of the stories of Christmas and seeing for ourselves what was accomplished in Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago. We will behold the gift that was given. We will behold the child that was born. We will behold the miracle of his birth. But we will start by beholding the promise. Everything that happened that first Christmas had been promised beforehand.

Behold the Gift

A central message of Scripture is to encourage us to put our hope and trust in God and not in the things of this world, like wealth, health, or power. One of the ways that God shows us that He is where we should be placing our trust is through fulfilling prophecies. Throughout Scripture, God tells His people to expect certain things to happen. He does this so that when it happens, we can have a renewed awareness that God is in control. But prophecies are more than just improbable occurrences that God predicts. They are windows into the very heart of God. They show us that God is in control and working things out towards His intended end. They show us important truths we tend to forget. Chief among them is that God keeps His promises.

This is the case with Christmas. The Gospel of Matthew mentions five prophecies fulfilled by the birth of Jesus. By looking closely at each of them, we will see how Jesus fulfills the promises God made to Israel about when, where, and how the Messiah would be born. We will also see how each prophecy gives people unique reasons to hope in a God.