Ancient teachings foretell the birth of the Christ

The star that represents a symbol of Christmas

The religions of the world have roots that come from ancient teachings.  Christmas, according to the Christian belief and practice, is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus, the Christ.  The belief in Jesus as the Messiah comes from prophecy, of which there are several,  found in the Old Testament, with the most well-known from the Book of Isaiah.

On Christmas Eve Christians gather in their churches to celebrate the birth of Christ.  And even as they honor the prophecies about Jesus in the Holy Bible, the book Christians turn to for the message of Christ and the references made in the Old Testament, others in the world of faith before the time of Christ are said to have known of His coming.

Some researchers have examined the prophesies as well as the account of Jesus birth and observed that the Magi were Zoroastrian priests whose own writings and observations allowed them to see the astrological signs in the planetary alignments and know that a child of great significance was to be born in Bethlehem.  It is the reason, some say, the wise men brought the gifts they did, to protect, or to embalm or keep safe the child from harm.

Zoroastrians are said to have originated in Persia, or as it is known now as Iran.  The magi were the priests, not kings, as the old Christmas carol recites.  Many religious scholars point to the Zoroastrians, followers of Zarathustra, as the world's first monotheistic religion, thereby preceding the Jews, whom the Western world has considered the first to believe in one God. The Magi were traveling missionaries - their faith called for them to seek "saviors" and to teach that each of us is a potential savior of our world. The word "savior" had a different meaning to the Magi as it does to today's Christians.

But it is in the Book of Isaiah that the reference to the coming of the Messiah and the signs of His coming are prophesied.  And it is this ancient teaching that most of the world's religions look to when examining the birth of Jesus as narrated in the New Testament.  The passage that follows is the one cited the most: