PROPHECY REGARDING THE MESSIAH
KEY SCHOLARS RAYMOND BROWN & MORNA HOOKER
|
When Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman, he revealed things about her past that he could have known only by divine revelation. She recognized him as a prophet even though he had made no predictions about the future (John 4:17-19). At Jesus’ trial, his enemies blindfolded him, hit him, and then said: “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” They were not asking Jesus to foretell the future but to use supernatural power to identify who had hit him (Luke 22:63-64).
Because of this, Biblical prophecies are difficult to interpret. A prophet might be saying things about his own time - about kings and empires and moral problems for the society he was living in. However, readers years later find that the words of the prophecy seem to apply to them too. This is certainly true for the Old Testament prophets. |
|
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace - Isaiah 9: 6
MESSIAH comes from the Hebrew word, Mashiach, meaning “the anointed one,” or “the chosen one.” In Old Testament times, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed when they were given their positions of responsibility. This ceremony involved pouring oil into the hair and beard to make it shine. The anointing was a sign that God had chosen them.
In Europe, crowns were placed on the heads of kings and popes. In the British coronation ceremony, the monarch is crowned AND anointed with oil, showing they have political and religious power.
Over time, "messiah" stopped meaning ANYONE who had been anointed to be God's chosen leader - it started to mean a PARTICULAR person who was chosen by God for a very special destiny.
|
|
The LORD will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen - Deuteronomy 18: 15
Most of the time, the word "messiah" is used in the Old Testament to refer to a king and many Jews expected the future messiah to be a great king. In the 1st century, the Jews were occupied by the Romans and their supposed-kings were the sons of the hated King Herod the Great. In contrast to these pagan emperors and tyrants, the Jews looked forward to a true king of the line of David who would rule fairly and wisely.
Some looked forward to more than that. They hoped for the occupying Romans to be driven out of the land and the publicans (collaborators) who had worked with them to be punished - in other words, a settling of scores. These Jews hoped for a Messiah who would be a warlord who would smash their enemies and set up a Jewish state based on Biblical laws. The Zealots who waged guerilla war against the Roman occupiers and murdered publican collaborators probably hoped for this sort of Messiah. Some went further still, hoping for a supernatural king or angelic ruler who would defeat not just the evil empires of the world but the demons that controlled those empires. This Kingly Messiah would rule the whole world and abolish war and suffering. |
He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed - Daniel 7: 14
In the 1st Century, Jewish priests worked in the Jerusalem Temple, a vast building that had been enlarged by Herod the Great. Ordinary Jews had to pay taxes and other fees to bring animals for the priests to sacrifice there. The priesthood was seen by many as corrupt and collaborating with the Roman occupiers.
Some Jews looked forward to a messiah who would reform the priesthood, perhaps abolishing the Jerusalem Temple and setting up a better, holier form of worship that was accessible to everyone. The Essenes, who lived in desert monasteries and rejected the whole Temple-cult, seem to have hoped for this sort of Messiah. |
The 'Age of the Prophets' seemed to be over by the 1st century, but many Jews hoped for a great prophet who would guide their nation back to God. They lived in confusing times, surrounded by a pagan Hellenic culture, ruled over by the Romans and distrusting their own religious and political elites. Moses had promised that God would send another prophet just as great; this prophet wouldn't lead an army or build a temple but he would teach people how to worship God and be good Jews in these troubled times.
This view was probably popular with many ordinary people and with the Pharisees, a religious sect that taught people how to live holy lives by following the Jewish Law closely in every detail of their private lives, rather than waging wars or sacrificing animals. |
This is a controversial idea. Christians claim that Jesus was (in a way) all of the above types of Messiah - a king, a priest and a prophet - but he was also a Suffering Messiah who died an ATONING DEATH (a death which makes up for other people's sins). There are passages in the Old Testament that seem to refer to a Suffering Messiah - most famously the Song of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53.
These passages, written 700 years before Jesus, certainly sound like a description of a Suffering Messiah. The big debate is, was there actually a belief in a Suffering Messiah in the 1st century? If there was, then Jesus seems to fulfill this prophecy in very precise ways. |
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore - Isaiah 2: 4
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them - Isaiah 11: 6