Messiah/Christ

December 6, 2009

Last Sunday we started our discussion of names and titles given to the one God promised to send and then did send to this earth. We began with His name, JESUS. Today, we move on to the most common titles that are given to Him. The Sunday School has made another banner for us with today’s title. (INTRODUCE CLASS THAT MADE IT).

In modern usage, people apply the term “Messiah” to someone they hope will deliver them from their problems. You no doubt heard that term applied to our current president by the media during last year’s campaign because many people were hoping he would deliver our nation from everything that ails it (as if any politician could ever do that!). So the term Messiah is still being used, but that is not what the term originally meant.

The title Messiah is actually a Hebrew word. MASHIACH – the anointed one. It was understood in Jewish thought to be the one God would send to rescue His people. This promise was repeated by God throughout the Old Testament. The Jewish people today are still waiting for MESSIAH because they don’t believe that Jesus was that promised one.

As I said, that Hebrew word “Messiah” means “the anointed one.” We’ll talk more about that in a moment, but I wonder how many of you know the Greek Word that means the same thing? You know it. You just may not know that you know it. It is Christ. CHRISTOS.  Both Messiah and Christ mean “the anointed one.” Two words from different languages that describe the awaited redeemer and savior that would come to the Jewish people and yet be for all people. He would be the one to fulfill all the prophecies and promises. Messiah, Christ, Anointed One.

In Jewish tradition, people and things were anointed to signify holiness, that they were set apart for service to God. You would anoint something by ceremonially pouring oil over it, a consecration, a setting aside. The Old Testament speaks of anointing the Tabernacle and altars and other things to mark them as holy, to be used in the worship of God. But more often, when we think of anointing, we think of people being set aside for a special purpose. There were three categories of people that were anointed in the Old Testament: Prophets, Priests, and Kings.

PROPHET

A prophet was someone who spoke God’s Word to the people. God told His prophet Elijah:

1 Kings 19:16  … anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.

PRIEST

The Priests in the Old Testament were the ones who offered sacrifices for the people. When God established the priesthood, He gave precise instructions to Moses. Part of those instructions:

Exodus 28:41 After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.

KING

The kings that would rule over God’s chosen people were also anointed. God told Samuel to anoint David as the future king.

1 Samuel 16:12-13 ¹²So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” ¹³So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.

Those who were anointed were equipped by God to do what they needed to do. And anointing was sometimes associated with an outpouring of Spirit, as mentioned in that last passage about David. So they anointed people and things to mark them for a use by God. However, throughout the Old Testament God kept promising that one special “anointed one” was still coming. He would be THE Messiah, He would be prophet, priest and king all rolled into one, and He would be given all the gifts of the Spirit.

Isaiah 11:1-2 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ²The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

THE MESSIAH would be the one to restore peace between God and man, the one who would right the problems our sins brought into this world, the one who would resolve the conflict between sinners and a righteous God. That was the hope and expectation of God’s chosen people because that is what God promised. However, as time went on, their expectations grew to be something other than what God had promised. The Book of Enoch, which was never accepted as part of Scripture, was written in the Intertestamental period, somewhere between 300 and 100 B.C. It proclaimed that the Messiah would be militant, a this world conqueror, who would destroy the earthly enemies of God’s chosen people. By the time Jesus came, that is what many of the Jewish people were expecting, especially since they were living under the oppresion of the Roman Empire. However, that is not who Jesus was, nor what He was supposed to be. Jesus referred back to what was prophesied by Isaiah, the idea of a Suffering Servant, one who would redeem people from sin. He clearly called Himself the Messiah on multiple occasions.

Nazareth

For example when He was in Nazareth and went to the synagogue, He was handed a scroll from Isaiah. He turned to the passage I read a moment ago from Isaiah 61.  

Luke 4:18-21 ¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁰Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” The people there that day understood exactly what Jesus was saying: “I am the anointed one. I am the Messiah.”

Disciples

There was also the time he asked His disciples who people thought He was.

Matthew 16:14-17 ¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Messiah.” Jesus acknowledged that this was true and said this truth was revealed to Peter by the Father.

Sanhedrin

When Jesus was on trial before the Jewish Council,

Matthew 26:63-64  The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” ⁶⁴“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.

Jesus told the people He was the Anointed One. And He would do what the Messiah, the Christ, came to do: He would Preach Good News, Proclaim Freedom and Liberty, and He would accomplish the salvation of the world by offering Himself as payment for the sins of everyone. The Jewish Council handed Him over to be crucified, but it was all part of God’s plan, all according to the promise He had made.

Angels at Bethlehem

The angels had proclaimed it to those shepherds on a hillside.

Luke 2:10-11 ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Jesus was and is the Promised Messiah, our Present, the Savior, Christ the Lord.