Something of a Surprise

 

Ill at ease in Herod's prison, John sent messengers to Jesus with a question: "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Matt. 11:3).

The question comes as something of a surprise. After all, John was one of the first to publicly identify Jesus as "the one who comes after me" (John 1:27). It was John who told Jesus, "I need to be baptized by you" (Matt. 3:14). John saw the Spirit of God descend on Jesus at his baptism and heard the voice from heaven say, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17).

If anyone had known the answer to this question, it would have been John.

So what are the criteria for being a Messiah? 

Model #1: Messiah as Designated Political Activist

A Messiah is a person anointed by the Lord to perform a task

Model #2: The Human Eschatological Catalyst

The Messiah is a Davidic king who assists God in bringing about world transformation in eschatological times.

Specifically this individual must:

• be the Davidic king of an independent Jewish state, having eliminated foreign domination

• judge humanity, rewarding the righteous and eliminating the unrighteous

• help usher in an era of universal peace reflecting the universal rule of God

During this time exiles will return from the Diaspora and the righteous dead will be restored to life..

Model #3A: Saviour of Humanity

A Christ is a dying-rising saviour God-human who saves those who participate in his suffering and death.

Model 3B: The Christ as Saviour Messiah

Phase One: Saviour
Christ, a dying-rising saviour God-human, saves those who participate in His suffering and death.
Phase Two: Messiah
Christ returns to destroy evil, conquer death, and reward the righteous with eternal life. The dead are resurrected.

Scripture indicates that Jesus was not denying His deity by referring to Himself as the Son of Man. In fact, it is highly revealing that the term “Son of Man” is used in Scripture in contexts of Christ's deity. For example, the Bible says that only God can forgive sins (Isaiah 43:25; Mark 2:7). But as the “Son of Man,” Jesus had the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). Likewise, Christ will return to Earth as the “Son of Man” in clouds of glory to reign on Earth (Matthew 26:63-64). In this passage, Jesus is citing Daniel 7:13 where the Messiah is described as the "Ancient of Days," a phrase used to indicate His deity (cf. Daniel 7:9).

 

There are many who would claim, then, that even if Jesus did fulfill the intended conditions, that He still failed to be the Messiah as He did not establish His rule and reign. Instead, He died the miserable death of a criminal upon a Roman cross. The Messiah is supposed to reign, to restore Israel, to rule the nations with a rod of iron. How could Jesus be the Messiah if He did not do this?  This objection comes from a partial understanding of what the Hebrew scriptures say about the Messiah. Over the centuries, it became the tendency in later Judaism to focus on the triumphal aspects of the Messiah, which is understandable given the suffering of the Jewish people during their dispersion among the nations. Of course, it is also the natural tendency on the part of anybody to want to focus on triumph and victory instead of suffering or sorrow, and later Judaism's concentration on the "this-worldly" understanding of the Messiah reflects this.

Yet, we need to understand that Hebrew scriptures themselves point out that the Messiah would fulfill BOTH roles - that of a suffering servant who bears the sins of His people, and a triumphant ruler who will exercise authority over the nations and who will rule His people Israel. The Messiah indeed does have a dual-role assigned to Him in the Hebrew scriptures, and this fact, in addition to playing a rather key role in Christian theology about Jesus, was ALSO well-understood by many of the Jewish theologians and Rabbis, both before and after the time of Christ.
To assume human nature, the sinless Saviour had to choose between the only two things available. He could of either chosen the Holy, unfallen nature of Adam, or the fallen nature of Adam and all of Adam's descendants. If He had taken any other kind, it would not have been human nature at all. 

Jesus rose again to sit with the Eternal Father, as one with the Father. It’s the greatest miracle God has ever performed. God’s Son who once was dead, has risen to new life forever. This great miracle is the joyous hope for humanity. Satan thought he was the winner. While Jesus hung on the cross outside of Jerusalem, Demons were roaring in triumph... only to realize to their horror that Jesus was the winner after all. Jesus descended into the demonic world and took the keys of death and life back from Satan's own claws. Jesus gave Himself to be killed, so that He could take away the authority of Satan over mankind.

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