His first coming - Discovery Website

Prepare a way for the LORD

YAHWEH:
A voice of one calling:
    ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God . . .’ (Isa. 40.3)



John the Baptist heralds his arrival

JESUS:
. . . the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him . . .”’ (Luke 3.4–5)

‘ “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me . . .” says the LORD Almighty’ (Mal. 3.1)

He comes as God in person

Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ (Acts 19.4)

YAHWEH:
The day God visits you has come,
     the day your watchmen sound the alarm . . .
For a son dishonours his father,
     a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –
     a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
(Mic. 7.4-6)         

JESUS:
For I have come to turn
‘"a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –
    a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household." ’
(Matt. 10.35-36)

He comes working miracles

YAHWEH:
   ‘Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
   he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
   he will come to save you.’
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
   and the mute tongue shout for joy. (Isa. 35.4–6)

JESUS:
‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.’ (Luke 7.22–23)

YAHWEH:
 But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done. (Deut. 11.7)

He forgives sins and heals diseases  

JESUS:
Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.’ (Luke 10.23)   

YAHWEH:
  Praise the LORD, my soul,
      and forget not all his benefits -
 who forgives all your sins
     and heals all your diseases . . . (Ps. 103.2-3)   

JESUS:
‘I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralysed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ (Luke 5.24)

He restores and mends

YAHWEH:
The LORD restores sight to the blind and straightens backs which are bent. (Ps. 146.8 NEB)  






He raises the dead     

JESUS:
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. (Mark 8.25)

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who . . . was bent over and could not straighten up at all . . . Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. (Luke 13.10-13)         

YAHWEH:
  ‘The LORD brings death and makes alive;
      he brings down to the grave and raises up.’ (1 Sam. 2.6)

He walks on water

JESUS:
When he had said this, Jesus called out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and his feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’ (John 11.43-44)    

YAHWEH:
‘He alone stretches out the heavens
    and treads on the waves of the sea.’ (Job 9.8)

JESUS:
Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. (Mark 6:48).

He treads the mountain tops

YAHWEH:
Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling-place;
    he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
(Mic. 1.3)

JESUS:
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. (Mark 9.2)

He gathers outcasts

YAHWEH:
‘In that day,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will gather the lame;
    I will assemble the exiles
    and those I have brought to grief.
I will make the lame my remnant,
   those driven away a strong nation.
The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion
   from that day and for ever.
(Mic. 4.6-7)

JESUS:
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’ (Luke 15.1-2)

He meets with unbelief

YAHWEH:
The LORD said to Moses, ‘How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? (Num. 14.11)   

JESUS:
Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. (John 12.37)  

He is a stumbling-block for many

YAHWEH:
He will be a holy place;
     for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
     and a rock that makes them fall.
(Isa. 8. 14)   

JESUS:
Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious . . .
“A stone that will make men stumble,
a rock that will make them fall” . . .
(1 Pet. 2.4,8 RSV)      

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed. (Luke 20.18)

He has nowhere to lay his head

YAHWEH:
I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. (2 Sam 7.6)

JESUS:
Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ (Matt. 8.20)

YAHWEH:
‘Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the LORD. (Zech. 2.10)    

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you . . .
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
(Zech. 9.9)  

He comes as King of Israel

JESUS:
. . . Jesus sent two disciples,  saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’
This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet:

‘Say to Daughter Zion,
     “See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ’
(Matt. 21.1-5)         

YAHWEH:
Sing, Daughter Zion;
    shout aloud, Israel! . . .
The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you . . .
‘Do not fear, Zion;
    do not let your hands hang limp.
The LORD your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.’ (Zeph. 3.14–17)

The fig tree withers in his presence

JESUS:
They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!’
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’
‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’
Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written:
‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt. (John 12.13-15)

YAHWEH:
I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD  . . .
There will be no figs on the tree,
    and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them
    will be taken from them. (Jer. 8.13)

‘I, Yahweh, am the one . . . who withers green trees and makes the withered green’ (Ezek. 17.24  JB).

I am like one who gathers summer fruit
    at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
    none of the early figs that I crave. (Micah 7.1)

JESUS:
Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
(Matt. 21.18–19)

A remembrance meal

YAHWEH:
  ‘Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. . . . Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover . . . The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you . . . This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD – a lasting ordinance.’ (Exod. 12.3,11,13-14)

JESUS:
So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers . . . For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you . . . after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Cor. 11.20-21,23,25-26)

He is revealed to his disciples

YAHWEH:
‘When there is a prophet among you,
   I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions,
   I speak to them in dreams.
But this is not true of my servant Moses;
   he is faithful in all my house.
With him I speak face to face,
   clearly and not in riddles;
   he sees the form of the LORD.’
(Num. 12.6)

JESUS:
Jesus answered, ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’ (John 14.9)   

Then Jesus’ disciples said, ‘Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.’ (John 16.29)   

He declares the truth openly

YAHWEH:
I have not spoken in secret . . .
I, the LORD, speak the truth;
   I declare what is right. (Is 45.19)

JESUS:
I said nothing in secret . . . the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.
(John 18.20,37)

YAHWEH:
‘They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.’ (Zech 12.10)


He paid for us with his own blood

JESUS:
Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: . . . “They will look on the one they have pierced.” (John 19.34-37)

YAHWEH:
Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. (Acts 20.28)  



Through his death he destroys death

JESUS:
‘You are worthy to take the scroll
     and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
     and with your blood you purchased for God
     persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.’
(Rev. 5.9)   

YAHWEH:
On this mountain he will destroy
    the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
    he will swallow up death for ever. (Isa. 25.7-8)   

JESUS:
. . . it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Tim. 1.10)    

He appears on the third day

YAHWEH:
And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them . . . and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.’ (Exod. 19.10–11)

After two days he will revive us;
    on the third day he will restore us . . .
As surely as the sun rises,
   he will appear . . . (Hos. 6.2-3)

JESUS:
. . .  he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures . . . (1 Cor 15.4)

He breathes on his disciples

YAHWEH:
The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath [literally spirit] of life, and the man became a living being. (Gen. 2.7)   

His disciples eat and drink with him

JESUS:
Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ (John 20.21-22)   

YAHWEH:
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel . . . But God did not raise a hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. (Exod. 24.9–11)

JESUS:
‘They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.’ (Acts 10.39–41)

YAHWEH:
Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Exod. 24.18)

He ascends into heaven

JESUS:
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. (Acts 1.3)

YAHWEH:
God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
    the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
(Ps. 47.5)

When you ascended on high,
    you took many captives;
    you received gifts from people,
even from the rebellious -
    that you, LORD God, might dwell there.
(Ps. 68.18)  

JESUS:
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:

     ‘When he ascended on high,
           he took many captives
          and gave gifts to his people.’      

. . . He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens . . .
(Eph. 4.7-8,10)

He sends the Holy Spirit

YAHWEH:
Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ (Gal. 4.6)      

JESUS:
‘Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.’ (John 16.7)      

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