Daniel 9:24-27
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Know therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be will a flodd, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
And he shall determine the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
This doesn't really look at first glance to have anything to do with Christmas, but it is a prophecy from Daniel about the coming of Christ. I looked up several websites that explain the prophecy, and my head is kind of spinning now. Look up Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks if you want to read more about it. I don't have enough room here.
I think it is amazing though that God gave so many prophecies about Jesus' coming. He didn't have to do that. He could have just sent Jesus, and been like, "Here you go guys. This is my son. You don't need any heads up about him." But he didn't. He told the Israelites so many times that Jesus was coming, and he told them in such a way that they should have known who he was.
We're told so much about Jesus. We have the Bible that gives us so much information about Jesus, but sometimes we miss out. Sometimes we're so busy that we don't pay attention to what we know about Jesus. We just run right on by the things we are supposed to do without even seeing them.
It's like the people in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. I'm sure they all thought that when the Messiah came, they would welcome him and set him up as a King. But they didn't. He ended up being born in a stable, and eventually even nailed to a cross.
With us, we say that if we saw Jesus and he needed help, of course we would help him. We would invite him into our home, and give him anything he needed. But Jesus said that whatever we did to the least of these, we did for him. So when you see a homeless person, or someone who just really needs help, what do you do? Do you help them? Do you walk by? Because Jesus said that whatever you didn't do for those people, you didn't do for him.
This Christmas season, you know that Jesus has come. You know what he did for you, and you don't need prophecies to tell you when he'll arrive. But don't get so caught up that you still miss out on him. It's pretty cliché to say that Jesus is the reason for the season, but it's true. If you go through the season rushing around and focusing on the commercial side of it, you're going to miss Jesus just like everyone in Bethlehem did. So take some time and help someone who is struggling with unloading their groceries. Sit with someone who is grieving. Serve somebody. And remember the real reason for Christmas. Peace, not chaos.
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