Is The Messiah Announced?

Isaianic prophecy aside it is also clear that Matthew above the other three evangelists presents Jesus as the fulfilment of the law, a new Moses. The structure of the book into five sections is intended to help the Jewish readers identify Jesus as an antecedent of Moses. Jesus is according to some scholars a type of Moses bringing about a new exodus and a new Israel. More explicitly however, Matthew portrays Jesus as the only man to have fulfilled the law in its entirety as well as the messianic fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy through the many formula quotations (3:15; 5:17-48;12:17-21; 13:35; 21:5, 16, 42; 22:44; 23:39; 26:31; 27:9, 35, 46).

Jewish tradition passed down the oral and written story of Messianic prophecies for generations. To provide the correlation between the anticipated Messiah and the fulfillment through Jesus, Matthew affirmed prophecies throughout the birth story with two significant fulfillments—Abraham’s promised seed [offspring] and the virgin birth.

The Messianic expectation is when one is chosen by God and acts as an active agent, warrior, and liberator. Before the writing of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Maccabean revolt took place against the Greeks, which led to the establishment of the Jewish kingdom by the Hasmoneans. The Hasmoneans then claimed king and priestly roles, which became problematic. Kings were to be from the line of David and the priestly roles were from the lineage back to Zadok, the high priest of David. However, this was problematic because the Hasmoneans were breaking covenant rules by not following the appropriate lineages. The Qumran community did not abide by the new ruler and viewed everyone outside the Qumran community as the “Sons of Darkness” and their ruler as the “Wicked Priest” (The Other Bible, 223). Those in the Qumran community were referred to as the “Sons of Light.” The Dead Sea Scrolls describe the strict rules of the Qumran community over the “Sons of Darkness.” Those who abided by the rules triumphed. In their triumph, there would be two Messiahs that would rise to rule the new kingdom. There would be a priestly leader and a warrior king, those whom adequately abided by the chosen linages. The Teacher of Righteousness was the official mediator of revelation and could also be viewed as a Messiah. The Teacher taught that what the Hasmoneans were doing was wrong and would lead to the end.

“In fact, one of the primary purpose of this Gospel may have been attempt to link the story of Jesus with the history of Israel. Any reader of Matthew who wants to go deeply into this Gospel must be alert to its Jewish background.”

* He says the Bible is special in its prophecies because it is the only one to have prophecies about the coming Messiah

Belcher presents an overview of several possible approaches to interpreting the Psalms, particularly in regards to determining a psalms potential relation to Jesus as Messiah. Belcher finds strengths and weaknesses in each of the approaches but ultimately finds them all lacking to some extent and proposes his own approach, the Christological Approach. The foundation of Belcher’s Christological Approach is based on Jesus’ teaching in Luke 24:26-27, 44-47. According to Belcher, these verses explain that “the comprehensive nature of Jesus’ reference to the Old Testament is meant to demonstrate that all the Old Testament speaks of Jesus in some way, not merely those texts commonly accepted as ‘Messianic’. Thus Jesus himself gives the divine authorization for reading all the Old Testament in reference to him.” Belcher further explains that because of Jesus’ statement “in Luke 24:44 that the things written about him in the Old

This is very important. This is a revelation from Jesus himself, the anointed one. God gave this revelation to show us “what must soon take place.” And we have to take it to heart because “the

Through the ages, there has always been a remnant of such Messianic Jews, and today the numbers are once again growing." In this quote, I understand now that Jesus is recognized by Messianic Jews. They see him as the Messiah, they do not dismiss

7:14). He will be a Nazarene(general OT prophecy) , the Son of God(Matt. 3:17), and also be a prophet like Moses(Deut. 18:15-19). He will be all knowing, a king, (anointed by perfume Matt. 26: 6-7)as well as Lord of the Sabbath(Matt. 12:14-15, 9:4). He will be called the ultimate sacrifice, the light of the world, the New Covenant, greater than the prophets, law, and angels, yet few will recognize Him when He comes. He will be the sinless, perfect sacrificial lamb, who dies for our sake, even though we don 't deserve it. He will be a servant, teacher, and mentor for many to follow. He will be the chosen seed through the line of David, the anointed one, Christ, and the Messiah. Even after all of this the Jewish people back in that time period still have no clue who this man is. He even tells them that He is the Messiah, the Son of Man, yet everyone seems to believe that He is just some prophet who showed up to do good things, or a blasphemer that should be put to death. Even the demons know who the Son of Man is(Matt.8:28-29). Although the people see and hear all of these things that He has done, and know in the back of their minds that this man 's coming and character has been prophesied in the Old Testament and now fulfilled right before their eyes, they still do not see who He really is, or their hearts are just too hard to take in the truth. Just like the people in this time period are numb to who the Messiah is, they also don 't understand the way He was

Sarah Alflen REL Essay Matthew's and Mark's passages share their views on the same account, but they are distinctly different for the audiences that they are writing to. Matthew's audience is Jews. He writes to them to remind them that Jesus is the Messiah because he has healed the sick, fulfills things from the Old Testament, and values faith. On the other hand, Mark's audience is mostly for Gentiles or a mixed audience.

the Father, full of grace and truth.” There are many versions of how people interpret the coming

Present day researchers propose that the messianic idea was presented later ever, amid the prophets' age. They take note of that the messianic idea is not expressly specified anyplace in the Torah (the initial five books of the Bible).

The idea of the Messiah has appeared in the earliest traditions of both the Jews and Christians. This theme of the Messiah has always been a main point in Christianity. Thus, in the course of history, the term “Messiah” has used by both Jewish and Catholic people, but it was not always in the same sense. Both believe in the Messiah to come, but Jews have a different belief to Catholics. The Old Testament helps to understand what Christianity is. The New Testament clearly shows us who Christ is. This term is found in the Old and New Testaments. It referred to the kings who were seen, known as the Messiah, and brought the hope of salvation to their nation. For Christians, the term “Messiah” refers to Jesus who is truly the Messiah or the Anointed One, Who came down from heaven and brought the eternal salvation to the whole world (Jn 20:31; Is 52:13). Christians believe that “Jesus has already come and that He has fulfilled the messianic expectations that were a part of the belief of the Jewish people in His day.” However, Catholics and the Jews differ in how they understand the term Messiah. In order to show how Catholics and Jews have different understands of the term Messiah, I would like to demonstrate first, how the Jewish people of the Old Testament times understand the term Messiah, and secondly, how the Catholic understanding of the term Messiah applies to Christ.

Essentially, Malachi 3:1 is of inordinate magnitude in understanding the spirit of the Son of God. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:1, KJV). Yet, Malachi is foreseeing an impending character, and is predicting a future individual “The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi (Malachi 1:1). Unambiguously, God further identifies this special messenger as “John the Baptist.” He is Christ’s forewarning, and a Messenger of the covenant; he shall prepare the way before the Lord by beckoning men to repentance. Christ will come to separate the meek from the contemptible, and to purify the church.

Verse 4 looks forward to the time The Antichrist will present himself in the rebuilt Jewish Temple in Jerusalem 3 ½ years (halfway) into The Tribulation. There will be some who read this marvelous verse and conclude, “The similarities between The Antichrist and Donald Trump are a curiosity, but wild statements that appear as if swiped from a script of a “Lord of the Rings” film are too sensational for me to accept.” If you feel that way, it is probably because you are either a materialist convinced that the physical world is all that exists, or a Christian whose theological conclusions cannot allow the possibility of such interpretations. My answer is that you still must wrestle with the statistical impossibility that between 2000-3500 years ago, prophets penned such accurate, complete and detailed accounts of our contemporary life.