As I’ve indicated when I started this series, there is very little that we know about Jesus as a child. We do know He was devoted to His family and worked alongside His stepfather, Joseph. We know that He was not like any other child, because of His divinity. We can read the story of Him as a child of twelve at the temple in Jerusalem, teaching the leaders of the church. He was well acquainted with the Old Testament, since He took part in writing it.

The Word of God has a lot to say about the Messiah. In the Old Testament. There are over 300 prophesies written about Him and what He would do – how He would live and die – those He’d associate with – His mission and more. Here are just a few:

• Isaiah 53:1, 3* – “Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal His saving power? He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way when He went by. He was despised, and we did not care.”
• Isaiah 53:7-8 – “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth. From prison and trial they led Him away to His death.”
• Psalm 22:14-16* – “My life is poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within Me. My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of My mouth. You have laid Me in the dust and left Me for dead. My enemies surround Me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on Me. They have pierced My hands and feet.”

There are many more prophesies that He fulfilled during His lifetime. The most important being that He gave His life for the redemption of all people. He was the unblemished lamb of Old Testament law – the final sacrifice that would take away the sins of the world. He rose from a horrific death to life in a restored body and sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven. Because of Him, we are guaranteed the same new life.

The man He became, says a lot about His upbringing and character. He was friendly and knew how to communicate to the common man. I imagine He had an amazing speaking voice; gentle and kind, yet loud enough to reach the ears of thousands. He honored His earthly parents as well as His heavenly Father. He had a servant attitude up to the point of laying down His life for the world and their sins. He knew about fishing, carpentry, agriculture, walking on water, calming a storm and being useful in His community. He was able to heal people and raise them from the dead. He was generous, spoke the truth, knew what was in people’s hearts and minds and enjoyed being with them. He was also determined in His mission for mankind, which required a great amount of focus.  He was angry with the corruption of God’s Word and wasted no words in stating His displeasure.  He prayed fervently for His people.  He loved and continues to love everyone.

Jesus was a man, but He was also God. This is a most amazing concept and difficult to understand, but because of man’s fall into sin, our connection to the mind of God had been broken. Someday it will all make perfect sense to us. What we need to know about Jesus, is that He loved us so much that He died for us. He rose again, on the third day. We can be sure that He conquered death. Because of that, we’ll also rise.