The Baby in the Manger #3: Messiah

Messiah (Grk: Christós, Heb: māšîaḥ)

Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’

They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.’

‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’

Peter answered, ‘God’s Messiah.’

(Luke 9:18-20)

Fun fact: in the New Testament Messiah and Christ are two translations of the same word.  And whilst many grow up thinking that 'Christ' is Jesus' surname, it's actually his title: Jesus, the Christ, or Jesus, the Messiah.  Whilst other names for Jesus describe who is is or what he is like, this is the one that could most accurately be described as his 'job description'.  Why did Jesus come to earth?  Why will he come again?  What's his 'purpose'?  

Christós, the Greek word translated as 'Messiah' or 'Christ', and it's Hebrew counterpart māšîaḥ both mean 'anointed'.  In the Old Testament, prophets, priests and kings were anointed with oil as a symbolic act of declaring their role and service to God and his people.  This is an act of 'setting apart' and being 'made holy' to do God's work.

There were many described as māšîaḥ in the Old Testament, but when God spoke through the prophets he spoke of an ultimate 'Messiah' - someone who would come to deliver people from their oppressors and fulfil all three roles of Prophet, Priest and King.  Those familiar with the promises God had made were looking forward to the coming of this Messiah for centuries.   Prophecies about the Messiah were fulfilled in Jesus - the place of his birth, circumstances of his life, and his death of suffering.  But in many ways Jesus was not the Messiah they expected.  The people expected a political saviour.  Even in Acts 1:9, the disciples ask: ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?'   But, as Jesus has already told Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).  No - it runs deeper and wider than that.  Jesus the Messiah came to fight a battle and deliver people from their enemies, but it was not for land or political power, and not for a particular national group.  The battle was for our hearts.

The first 'Messianic passage' in the Old Testament is often said to be this one, when God addresses Satan, in the form of the snake in the Garden of Eden:

And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.’

(Genesis 3:15)

Sin had come into the world - and with it guilt and spiritual oppression, rebellion against God, and death.  Adam and Eve believed the lie of the serpent (that they would be better off without God) and thus found themselves yoked to that lie, burdened by guilt and shame.  And yet, even in that moment, God promised a 'serpent crusher' - one who would defeat Satan's power, not just in the world, but in our hearts as well.

The Messiah came with a purpose - anointed for a task - but he carried out that task on the cross:

He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13:15)

Revelation 19:11-21 gives us a peek of that final battle the Messiah will fight for us.  He's fought it already on the cross, he's still fighting it for us, and he will come again to vanquish evil for good.  That's why the Messiah came - promised from the very beginning.