The Messiah was to be God’s divinely appointed deliverer and ruler of Israel. Christians saw Jesus as the Messiah, or Christ, as it is translated in the Greek. There is only one reference in the Old Testament to the word Messiah as such (Dan. 9:25-26). He was to be the prince who would come as Israel’s deliverer. The term in Hebrew meant “the anointed one”, and is a fulfilment of the concept of anointing the king as God’s representative (1 Sam. 24:4-6). One important passage is 2 Sam. 7:12-13 where the kingdom of David is promised as an eternal kingdom. This became the basis of the eternal messianic hope. The Old Testament generally regarded the kingdom in terms of land around Palestine and the Messiah as their national leader.
The word is twice found in the New Testament. Once Andrew told his brother Peter that he had found the Messiah, and he brought Peter to Jesus (John 1:41). The other occasion is when the woman of Samaria referred to the coming of the Messiah without any reference to its fulfilment in Jesus (John 4:26).
The New Testament Church took the messianic passages and applied them to Jesus. They saw Him fulfilling such expectations. He would be the righteous judge vindicating the meek and establishing peace (Isa. 9:2-7; 11:1-9). He would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2). After His coming the Jewish exiles would return to their home and a new age (Jer. 23:7-8). His kingdom would be unshakeable (Ps. 2). He would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110) and would judge among the nations (Matt. 22:42).
The Messiah was not identified with the Son of Man (Dan. 7) but Christians saw Jesus as both. After the resurrection Jesus explained His messiahship (Lk. 24:26-7). Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Messiah (Matt. 16:16) became the fundamental plank in the Christian platform.
FOR TODAY
Jesus stressed secrecy concerning His own messiahship (Matt. 16:20) because of the political implications of His day. Because of the political implications of our day we should keep the secret no longer! “Jesus is the Christ” must be proclaimed in placard and word, but more importantly, in life, in the political halls of Canberra and of every capital city throughout the world.
Among many Jewish people there is a renewed interest in the coming Messiah. For the best part of 3000 years the Passover has required an empty chair to be ready for Him. In recent months there has been a strong “Jews for Jesus” movement in many western countries. They have taken full-page advertisements in national newspapers containing their own photographs and openly witnessing that they believe Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. Among Jewish students in Universities there is a great deal of tension at this point between the evangelism of Hebrew Christians and the resistance of orthodox Jews who regards the messianic witness as an anti-Semitic attack. Christians must both love our Jewish friends and seek to reveal to them that the one crucified in Jerusalem is also their long-awaited Messiah.
It is no coincidence that Handel chose to call his Oratorio “The Messiah”. He wrote it while paralysed down one side from a stroke. To a stricken, paralysed man no greater thought could fill his mind than to stand and shout the news that Jesus was the Messiah.
REV THE HON DR GORDON MOYES AC MLC