Turn the page from the end of the Old Testament to the beginning of the New Testament, and you cross a span of 400 years. Four hundred years—from the last words of the prophet Malachi to the first proclamation of the angel Gabriel. Known as the intertestamental period, this is also referred to as the “400 years of silence.” No word from God is heard through his prophets or his angels.
But that doesn’t mean God was not working to fulfill his purposes (e.g., 2 Pet. 3:8–9). When the fullness of time comes, God speaks again (Gal. 4:4–6). This time, it’s to announce to the world that his Son will be coming into the world. The promise of a Savior, hinted at just after the fall in the very first book of the Bible (Gen. 3:15), would soon be fulfilled.
It begins with the angel Gabriel foretelling the birth of John the Baptist. He says to a Jewish priest named Zacharias,
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord…and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah…so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:13–17)
John would be a prophet preparing the people for the coming of the Lord, fulfilling the words spoken 400 years earlier by the last Old Testament prophet: “Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you” (Matt. 11:9–15; cf. Mal. 3:1).
Soon after, the angel Gabriel appears to a Jewish girl named Mary who is engaged to be married. He tells her,
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end…. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:31–35)
God, who spoke long ago by the prophets, would now speak through his very own Son. The world would witness the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his nature (Heb. 1:1–3).
Just think about that for a moment. God himself would be made flesh (John 1:14). God himself would dwell with us. God, the Creator of all things, would take on human form, becoming like us and entering into our world (John 1:17).
This truly is good news. And yet, how can we be sure this is true? How can we know that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah, that he is God in human flesh?
To begin with, Jesus’ historical existence is virtually uncontested. Even extrabiblical sources like Cornelius Tacitus’ Annals and Flavius Josephus’ The Antiquities of the Jews confirm the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus’ impact far surpasses the impact of any other individual on the world throughout all of history. We’re reminded of this every time we simply look at a calendar.
Jesus was no ordinary man. And he was not merely a man, though he was that too. As scholars Robert Bowman and J. Ed Komoszewski explain, Jesus shares some of the unique qualities that belong to God alone.
For example, Jesus accepted the honors due to God. He willingly received worship (John 20:28; Matt. 28:17; Matt. 2:11; 14:33; 28:9, 17) while affirming that only God is worthy to receive worship (Matt. 4:10). He said people should “honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (John 5:23).
Jesus also shares God’s attributes. He is eternal and uncreated (John 1:3; John 8:58; Col. 1:16; Rev. 22:13), immutable (Heb. 1:10–12; 13:8), all-powerful (Matt. 28:18; Mark 4:35–41; John 11:38–44), and all-knowing (Mark 2:6–8; John 4:16–18).
Jesus shares the names of God as well. He has the name which is above every name (Phil. 2:9–11), and he is called Lord (Acts 1:24), God (John 1:1; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Titus 2:13), Savior (Luke 2:11; John 4:42; 2 Pet. 1:11), I Am (John 4:26; 8:58), the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13), and the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 17:14; 19:16).
Even further, Jesus does things only God is able to do. He created the world (John 1:3; Col. 1:16–7), forgives sin (Matt. 9:1–8; Luke 7:47–49), provides salvation (Matt. 1:21; Luke 19:9–10; John 3:17), and judges all humanity (John 5:22–23), to name a few. When Jesus forgives a man’s sin, the religious leaders rightly ask, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7).
Jesus even shares the seat of God’s throne (Rev. 22:1; Matt. 25:31; Mark 14:62). He rules over all things (Matt. 28:18; Luke 10:21–22; John 3:35), and his reign will never end (Luke 1:33; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 11:15).
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day sought to kill him because they understood the implications of his words and actions (John 8:56–59). They knew he was claiming equality with God, that he was claiming divinity for himself.
Jesus truly is Immanuel—God with us (Heb. 1:3; Matt. 1:23). And Jesus came so that we could have abundant life (John 10:10). “In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men” (John 1:4).
The greatest gift the world has ever seen—the gift that gives us life—came on the other side of 400 years of silence.