Theology 11 – Jesus the Messiah

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What is the defining title for Jesus of Nazareth?  Although he kept it mostly a secret during his ministry, Jesus’ role as messiah was and is the organizing center of his identity.  Join me as we work through the Gospels to understand Jesus by his own words and deeds.

—— Notes ——

Vocab:

• מָשַׁח meshach: anoint, spread a liquid.
• מָשִׁיחַ meshyach: anointed one. (for quiz, what does messiah mean?
• Χριστός = anointed one, messiah, christ
• Mashiack = Christos
• Messiah  =  Christ
• meaning anointed

 

Examples of anointing (prophet, priest, king)

• Moses anointing Aaron as high priest (ordination)
  • Ex 30.22-33; Lev 8.1-12, so all the high priests were “messiahs”
• Samuel anointing Saul; David
  • 1 Sam 9.27-10.1; 1 Sam 16.6-7, 11-13
• David would not take revenge on Saul b/c he was the LORD’s anointed
  • 1 Sam 24.8-10, so all the kings were “messiahs”
• Elijah anointing Elisha
  • 1 Ki 19.14-17

 

THE messiah

• “The Hebrew word means literally ‘anointed one,’ hence in theory either a prophet, priest or king. In Greek this translates as Christos; ‘Christ’ in early Christianity was a title, and only gradually became an alternative proper name for Jesus.  In practice ‘Messiah’ is mostly restricted to the notion, which took various forms in ancient Judaism, of the coming king who would be David’s true heir, through whom YHWH would rescue Israel from pagan enemies.”[1]

 

messianic prophecies

• Gen 49.10 scepter will not depart from Judah
• 1 Chronicles 17.11-14: David’s son, God’s son
• Psalm 2: God’s son and world ruler
• Isaiah 11: supremely insightful and just ruler[2]
• Jer 23.5-6 God will raise up for David a righteous branch to reign as king[3]
• Zech 9.9-10 king comes on a donkey and cuts off weapons of war and rules from sea to sea

 

Jesus’ birth

• Luke 1.31-33 promised to set on throne of David and rule over Jacob
• Mat 2.2 where is he born king of the Jews?

 

Interchangeable terms

• son of God
  • Luke 4.41 demons rebuked for saying “You are the son of God” b/c they knew he was the Christ
  • John 11.27 Martha believes Jesus is “the Christ, the son of God, who is coming into the world”
  • John 20.31 purpose of Gosp. Jn to believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of God
  • Mat 26.63-64 Messiah, son of God, and Son of Man
• son of David
  • Mat 12.22-23 this can’t be the son of David, can it?
  • Mat 22.42 whose son is the Christ? they said, ‘the son of David’
• king of Israel
  • John 1.49 Nathanael says “you are the son of God! you are the king of Israel!”
  • Mat 27.42-43 if he is king of Israel let him come down from cross; he said, I am the son of God

 

Messianic secret and the son of man

• Mark 3.11 demons told to keep quiet about him being the son of God
• Mat 16.13-20 Jesus strictly charge disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah
• “We know of several other Jewish movements, messianic movements, prophetic movements, during the one or two centuries either side of Jesus’ public career. Routinely they ended with the violent death of the central figure.” – NT Wright[4]
• some suggest Jesus didn’t like the title “messiah” because his contemporaries understood it in a crass political sense
  • I have a major problem with this
  • where did Jesus’ contemporaries get this “political messiah” idea from?
    • the OT messianic prophecies
  • we are not free to just throw out Isaiah 11 or Jer 23 or Zech 9 or a dozen other political statements about the messiah
  • Jesus’ fellow Jews both friendly and hostile understood the messiah to be a political figure
  • the Romans understood it to be a political threat
  • maybe it’s the modern scholars who are wrong!?
• what other reason might Jesus have for not publicizing his messianic identity?
• what was Jesus’ favorite title that he liked to call himself?
• son of man has two meanings
  • a mortal human being as opposed to God
  • the figure from Daniel 7.13-14 ruler over all nations forever
• Jesus prefers to call himself by this title, though later Christians don’t use it much
• why do you think Jesus called himself “son of man”?
• does anyone know when Jesus unambiguously identified himself as messiah and what happened?
  • the triumphal entry…and w/in a week he was dead

 

Triumphal entry

• the moment Jesus “came out” publicly as messiah
  • rode a donkey into Jerusalem during Passover Feast as an enactment of Zechariah’s prophecy about the messiah
• all four gospels record this event
  • Mark 11.9-10 blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David
  • Mat 21.9 hosanna to son of David
  • Luke 19.38 king who comes in the name of the lord
  • John 12.13 king of Israel
• from this moment on, Jesus’ fate is sealed
• then he went into the temple and disrupted the money changers and animal sellers

 

Lord

1. polite form of address like “sir”
   • 1 Sam 25.24-26 Abigail calling David lord repeatedly (before he was king)
   • Luke 19.15-20 in parable servants call master “Lord”
2. do what he says (my Lord)
   • Luke 6.46 why call Lord if you don’t do what I say
   • Mat 7.21-23 many will say Lord Lord…
3. rightful cosmic ruler (the Lord)
   • Mat 28.18 God conferred all authority in heaven and earth upon Jesus (cf. Eph 1.20-22)
   • Acts 2.36 God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified
   • Phil 2.9-11 every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God
     1. some people get confused because God is frequently called “Lord” in the OT and many times in the NT, though Paul usually reserves Lord for Christ
     2. LORD is God’s unique name; Lord is a title meaning ruler/authority
   • political title
     1. Caesar was Lord in their culture

 

Ministry saturated w/ kingdom symbolism

• called 12 apostles and promises them they’ll lead the 12 tribes in the kingdom
• he interprets his healings in light of kingdom prophecies
• his exorcisms demonstrate that the kingdom of God has come upon you
• his gospel message centers on repentance because the kingdom of God is at hand
• his parables all explain aspects of the kingdom
• his dinner parties foreshadow the messianic banquet w/ patriarchs
• can’t understand Jesus without understanding the Jewish concept of Messiah

 

Cross

• why was Jesus crucified? what was the accusation hung above Jesus’ head?
  • Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews
• king of the Jews is a Roman way of saying Messiah
• in killing Jesus, the Romans make the point: “Don’t mess with Caesar or the power of Rome to say who’s in charge” and “Try and start a revolution and this is what will happen to you!”

 

Resurrection proves he’s the Christ

• Rom 1.1-4 declared son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead
• Acts 17.30-31 God has given assurance to all that Jesus is the judge of the world by the resurrection
• from then on, people use Christ so much as a title for Jesus that it practically becomes a name

 

[1] N.T. Wright For Everyone commentary series, quoted from Matthew for Everyone p. 219, SPCK, 2004

[2] also see Micah 5.2-5: shepherd who brings peace, born in Bethlehem

[3] also see Jer 33.15-22 davidic ruler coming as sure as sun rises each day

[4] http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Faraday.htm

 

—— Links ——

• See other episodes in this Theology Class
• Find more Restitutio classes here
• Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.