The
Messiah
The physical appearance of Jesus on earth
occurred at a time when the European and Middle
Eastern areas of the world were under the complete
control of the Roman Empire. This was a period of
history known in Latin as the Pax Romana or
the Roman Peace. Jesus was born during the only
historical time on earth, before or since, when no
known wars were occurring, due to the iron-fisted
control exhibited by Rome.
The then supreme ruler, Caesar Augustus decided
to register every person under his dominion so
that taxes could be levied to support Rome's
expensive task of policing the peace of the
then-known western world. This is discussed in
Luke 2:
"...A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that
all the world should be registered. This census
first took place while Quirinius was governing
Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to
his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee,
out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the
city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because
he was of the house and lineage of David, to be
registered with Mary, his betrothed wife who was
with child. So it was, that while they were
there, the days were completed for her to be
delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn
Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid
Him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn.
"Now there were in the same country shepherds
living out in the fields, keeping watch over their
flock by night. And behold, an angel of the LORD
stood before them, and the glory of the LORD shone
around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then
the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy
which will be to all people. For there is born to
you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who
is Christ the LORD. And this will be the sign to
you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling
cloths lying in a manger.'
"And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God and
saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, goodwill toward men!'
`"So it was when the angels had gone away from
them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one
another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this
thing that has come to pass, which the LORD has
made known to us.'
"And they came with haste and found Mary and
Joseph and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when
they had seen Him, they made widely known the
saying which was told them concerning this Child.
And all those who heard it marveled at those
things which were told them by the shepherds .
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them
in her heart. Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things
that they had heard and seen, as it was told
them."
This passage presents fulfillment of Old
Testament prophecies which point to the arrival of
the Messiah or Mashiach,. This is
translated to the Greek as The Christ, or The
Anointed. Mashiach was prophesied in Micah
5:2 to be born in Bethlehem, "But you, Bethlehem
Ephrathah, though you are little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come
forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose
goings forth are from of old, from
everlasting."
The fact that Jesus would be born of a virgin who
had not had any sexual relationship with a man was
prophesied hundreds of years earlier in Isaiah
7:13, 14: "Hear you now, O house of David; Is it
a small thing for you to weary men, but will you
weary my God also? Therefore the LORD himself
shall give you a sign; A virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel."
In this prophecy the miraculous conception and
birth of this child would be regarded as
remarkable and unusual and would be known as "a
sign" to the House of David. Immanuel means "God
with us."
For Jesus, as the Messiah, to be born in
Bethlehem it was necessary at that precise time
for such an order as that from Caesar Augustus to
force Joseph and Mary, as descendants of David, to
return to their family home of Bethlehem, David's
hometown, for registration and payment of taxes.
Jesus otherwise would have been born in Nazareth
in Galilee, and therefore could not have fulfilled
the prophetic requirements for Mashiach.
With God, however all things are possible, and
even Caesar obeyed the leading of God that would
bring about fulfillment of God's will.
The first chapter of Matthew and the third
chapter of Luke contain the genealogy of Jesus'
parents, one for Joseph, His foster father and one
for Mary, His mother. No other person since that
time can trace his lineage back to David, and we
have no historical record of any other person
living at the time of Jesus who traced his lineage
directly back to David. Of necessity the Messiah
had to be born of the lineage of David, of the
tribe of Judah, to qualify as Mashiach.
That the Messiah would come from the tribe of
Judah was prophesied by Jacob just before his
death, Genesis 49:8-10, Judah you are he whom your
brothers shall praise;...the scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet until Shiloh comes and unto him (Shiloh)
shall the gathering of the people (nations)
be...."
Shiloh is a name accepted by ancient Rabbis as a
description of Messiah, the "Prince of Peace" of
Isaiah's prophecy. The scepter here is included
in the Messianic description as King of kings.
The Redeemer is of the kingly line, and "To him
shall the gathering of the nations be" extends
beyond Israel to all the peoples of the earth.
Through the sacrificial shedding of Jesus' blood
and resurrection from the dead salvation has been
extended to all throughout the earth who will
receive for themselves forgiveness through faith
in Jesus' sacrifice for sins.
That the Kingly, Messianic line would proceed
through David's line was emphasized in Isaiah
11:1,2: "And there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse (the father of David), and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the spirit
of the LORD shall rest upon Him; ...the spirit of
knowledge, and of the fear of the LORD."
The
Star
In Numbers 24:17-19 The prophet Balaam was hired
by King Balak to extend a curse on the Israelites
as they passed through the area on their
forty-year wandering in the wilderness. Balaam
was compelled by God to prophesy of the coming
Deliverer, the Messiah, "I shall see Him, but not
now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall
come out of Jacob, a Scepter shall rise out of
Israel, and batter the brow of Moab and destroy
all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a
possession; Seir also, his enemies shall be a
possession, while Israel does valiantly. Out of
Jacob One shall have dominion...."
From Balaam's prophecy it is evident that an
individual and not the Israelite nation in
general, can be classified as the Messianic ideal.
The Messiah is presented in the person of the LORD
Jesus Christ Who alone fulfilled the prophecies
concerning His coming.
Balaam prophesied of a Star from the lineage of
Jacob. The star of David is the symbol of
Jewishness. A star played a large role in Jesus'
birth.
At the time of Jesus' birth wise men noted the
appearance of an unusual star which they knew
heralded the birth of a great king. They followed
the star as it moved westerly through the heavens
until it brought them to Judea. Matthew 2:1-12
recounts the story:
"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea
in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men
from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is
He who has been born King of the Jews? For we
have seen His star in the East and have come to
worship Him"
"When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had
gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the
people together, he inquired of them where the
Christ was to be born. So they said to him, "In
Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the
prophet: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are not the least among the rulers of
Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will
shepherd My people Israel.'
"Then Herod, when he had secretly called the
wise men, determined from them what time the star
appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said,
'Go and search carefully for the young Child, and
when you have found Him, bring back word to me,
that I may come and worship Him also.'
"When they heard the king, they departed; and
behold, the star which they had seen in the East
went before them, till it came and stood over
where the young Child was. When they saw the
star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
And when they had come into the house, they saw
the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell
down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened
their treasures, they presented gifts to Him;
gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being
divinely warned in a dream that they should not
return to Herod, they departed for their own
country another way."
Shortly thereafter an angel of the LORD appeared
to Joseph in a dream and warned him to take Mary
and the young Child by night to Egypt, for Herod
the king would try to destroy Jesus. This flight
to Egypt fulfilled yet another prophecy concerning
Jesus, Hosea 11:1: "Out of Egypt I called My
Son."
After Mary and Joseph took the child Jesus to
Egypt where He would be safe until Herod's death,
Herod realized that the wise men had escaped to
their homes in the East without telling him where
Jesus was. Matthew 2:16-18 relates the tragic
events that ensued due to King Herod's murderous
rage. Herod was determined to destroy the infant
whom he believed to be the ordained contender for
Herod's earthly throne:
"Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by
the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent
forth and put to death all the male children who
were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from
two years old and under, according to the time
which he had determined from the wise men.
"Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah
the prophet, saying:
"A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation,
weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for
her children, refusing to be comforted, because
they are no more." (Jeremiah 13:15)
The prophecy stating that Jesus would be called a
Nazarene was fulfilled after Herod's death as
related in Matthew 2:19-23:
"Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the
LORD appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
saying, 'Arise, take the young Child and His
mother, and go to the land of Israel for those who
sought the young Child's life are dead.'
"Then he arose, took the young Child and His
mother, and came into the land of Israel. But
when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over
Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid
to go there. And being warned by God in a dream,
he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And
he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophets, 'He shall be called a Nazarene'" (Judges
13:5).
Isaiah 9:6,7 discusses Jesus' titles, "For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and
the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The
mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of his government and
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of
David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of
hosts will perform this."
The
Prophecies
For many years unbelievers claimed that the more
than 200 prophecies in the Old Testament relating
to Jesus Christ's birth, life, death and
resurrection must have been written after Jesus
death. They claimed that believers had inserted
these prophecies into the Old Testament to support
their beliefs. The discovery of the Dead Sea
Scrolls by a Moslem goat herder, however, has
undeniably proven that these prophecies about
Jesus' advent, life and death were written
hundreds of years before Jesus was born.
The prophetic books discovered in the dead sea
caves are without changes from those that have
been included for centuries in the Bible that we
are using today. The prophecies are accurate,
true and unchanged over more than 2500 years from
when they were written. The largest scroll found
in the Dead Sea caves, the Book of Isaiah, is
absolutely unchanged, and it contains clear
prophecies that only Jesus fulfilled as the Lamb
of God, the Messiah, our Savior.
The birth of the Messiah who would bring mankind
back into fellowship with God after his fall from
grace with Adam's sin was prophesied immediately
after Adam's fall through rebellion from God's
command. As He was pronouncing the consequences
of their sin to the serpent , to Adam and to Eve,
He said, "I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He
shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His
heel..."Genesis 3:15.
Eve understood that from her seed, or
descendants, would come the redeemer who would
"bruise the head" of Satan and bring mankind back
into fellowship with God. When Eve bore her first
son, Cain, she evidently believed that he would be
the manchild who would :"bruise the head" of
Satan. She exclaimed, "I have acquired a man from
the LORD." Nevertheless, the birth of the Messiah
would not occur for another 4,000 years in which
the devastating consequences of mankind's fall
into sin clearly would be understood.
Mashiach's birth was eagerly awaited by those
who understood Biblical prophecy and who
understood that His role was to be that of
redeemer from sin.
The exact time of Jesus' birth was predicted by
the prophet Daniel in Daniel 9:24-26:
"Seventy weeks (sevens of years) are determined
for your people and for your holy city, to finish
the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make
reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in
everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know
therefore and understand, that from the going
forth of the command to restore and build
Jerusalem (refer to the book of Ezra in regard to
bringing an end to the Babylonian exile) until
Messiah the Prince there shall be seven weeks, and
sixty-two weeks; (a total of 483 years) the street
shall be built again, and the wall, even in
troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks
(or sevens of years) Messiah shall be cut off, but
not for Himself; and the people of the prince who
is to come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary....
True to this prophecy Jesus was cut off or
crucified 483 years to the day after the order to
restore and rebuild Jerusalem at the close of the
Babylonian exile. This was previous to the
destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in the
year 70 A.D. There was zero deviance in the
fulfillment of this prophecy 483 years to the
precise day it actually occurred.
King David prophesied in Psalm 22 that the
Messiah would suffer the mocking of the people
gathered around Him in His suffering. He
predicted His great thirst, the piercing of His
hands and feet , the gambling over His garments,
the nakedness of the body in His humiliations and
His cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?" This cry occurred when God hid His face from
Jesus as Jesus took on the sins of mankind on the
cross as the sacrificial Lamb of God:
Psalm 22: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken
Me.? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from
the words of My groaning? ...But I am a worm, and
no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the
people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; they
shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
'He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; let
Him deliver Him since He delights in Him!...For
dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the
wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and
My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and
stare at Me. They divide My garments among them,
and for My clothing they cast lots."
In no other individual in history has been the
fulfillment of so many precise and distinct Old
Testament prophecies. In the birth, life, death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ we see the
fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah.
Isaiah 52:13 and 14 describes two facets of
Mashiach's role, as not only exalted but
abased for our redemption: "Behold My Servant
shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and
extolled and be very high. Just as many were
astonished at you, so His visage was marred more
than any man, and His form more than the sons of
men...."
Isaiah 53 describes prophetically the role that
Mashiach was to perform at His first
coming, This first role as Sacrifice for sins was
not understood clearly by Biblical historians at
that time since Mashiach's ultimate role at His
second coming will be as triumphant conqueror and
Kind of kings. It was in this second role that
they were awaiting the Mashiach.
In recognition that Mashiach would be neither
recognized nor accepted by many in His first
coming Isaiah 53 begins, "Who has believed our
report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been
revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a
tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He
has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him,
there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He
is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were,
our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did
not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows: Yet we esteemed Him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He
was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised
for our iniquities. The chastisement for our
peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we
have turned, every one, to his own way; and the
LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
"He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He
opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison
and from judgment, and who will declare His
generation? For He was cut off from the land of
the living. For the transgressions of My people
He was stricken, and they made His grave with the
wicked - but with the rich at His death, because
He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His
mouth.
"Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has
put Him to grief. When You make His soul an
offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall
prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD
shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor
of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge
My righteous Servant shall justify many. For He
shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will
divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall
divide the spoil with the strong. Because He
poured out His soul unto death, and He was
numbered with the transgressor, and He bore the
sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors."
This Old Testament passage clearly identifies
Mashiach as the One who would bear our
griefs and sorrows, be wounded for our
transgressions and striped for our healing. The
baby born in Bethlehem's stable who was worshipped
by shepherds and wise men had as His purpose to be
the sacrificial Lamb of God. He would live as our
example and then be crucified for our sins. That
was His purpose and He never flinched from the
role that He was fully aware that He must
perform.
The
Lamb
When John the Baptist first saw Jesus, John 1:29
he declared, "Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes
away the sins of the world." Jesus' role as
Savior was recognized early in His ministry.
John described Jesus as the Lamb of God in
reference to the Passover lamb provided by God for
their deliverance from the angel of death who was
to pass over the land of Egypt. All houses
without the blood of the sacrificial lamb smeared
over the doorpost found the first born of that
household dead at sunrise.
Even so, Jesus Christ , our Savior, as the Lamb
of God provided His life's blood as sacrifice for
our sins. Any person who accepts by faith the
sacrifice of Jesus for sins finds that the angel
of death passes over him. We are spared eternal
death because of the blood of Jesus, the Passover
Lamb Who gave Himself for any who will believe and
accept this sacrifice for sins. Jesus is the Lamb
of God.
Even the unbelieving High Priest in Jesus' time
prophesied immediately before His arrest that
Jesus would die for that nation, John 11:49-53:
"And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest
that year, said to them, 'You know nothing at all,
nor do you consider that it is expedient for us
that one man should die for the people, and not
that the whole nation should perish.'
"Now this he did not say on his own authority;
but being high priest that year he prophesied that
Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that
nation only, but also that He would gather
together in one the children of God who were
scattered abroad. Then from that day on, they
plotted to put Him to death."
Jesus' birth and death as Lamb of God were
essential for our salvation, as expressed by all
of the New Testament writers who wrote under the
inspiration of God's Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul stated, I Corinthians 15:3,4
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I
also received; that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to the Scriptures...."
Jesus' resurrection was essential for our
salvation. As resurrected Savior Jesus was our
scapegoat for sins. Even as Jesus arose from the
dead as the first fruits of the general
resurrection those who die in the faith of Jesus
as Son of God, Lamb of sacrifice, shall also arise
from the dead at the sounding of the trumpet of
resurrection when Jesus returns in His second role
as King of kings and LORD of lords.
This is the messiah for which people have been
waiting for thousands of years. The time is near
when we shall see Jesus in His completed role as
Messiah, Redeemer and King of kings. We await the
glorious day of His second coming with eager
anticipation. Soon we shall see Him face to face,
ever to rule and reign with Him in His kingdom of
love, joy and eternal peace.
Paul stated in Ephesians 1:7-10, "In Him we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of His grace which
He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and
prudence, having made known to us the mystery of
His will, according to His good pleasure which He
purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of
the fullness of the times He might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven and which are on earth-in Him."
Jesus, as the Son of God was willing to leave the
glories of His Heavenly home to be born as a human
being, among the poorest of the poor to teach us
the ways of righteousness, but most of all to be
the only acceptable sacrifice for all of mankind's
sins if they would just believe on Him and on His
sacrificial death and resurrection.
The chances that Jesus could have fulfilled all
of the prophecies that relate to His coming as the
Messiah, as He did, are astronomical. The honest
and unbiased individual who investigates the
claims of Jesus and prophecies that relate to His
birth, life and death can only conclude that Jesus
Christ is, indeed, the anointed, the Messiah,
Mashiach, the Son of the Living God.
Through Him alone can we obtain forgiveness for
out sins.
St. John wrote in 1 John 1:7-10, "If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Because of Jesus Christ's willingness to suffer
and die as sacrificial Lamb of God we receive full
forgiveness for all of our sins simply by
believing in Jesus' mission on earth. We cannot
save ourselves, but Jesus' blood, shed for us, is
fully sufficient to cleanse us of all sin and to
bring us back eternally into fellowship with God.
We are reborn as His Children and heirs, now and
forever, to His Kingdom of love and peace.