Category:Messiah (subject)

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Messiah/Messianism is a field of study that deals with the history of Jewish (and Christian) expectations of a future (or eschatological) figure, "anointed by God," who will bring salvation and deliverance to the people.

Overview

The Origins of Messianism

Many people are anointed in the Hebrew Bible, and many are referred to as the messiah or anointed one.

In the Canaanite (pre-exilic) traditions (shared by ancient Israelites), the anointed King (the Messiah) was understood as the "adopted" son of God (see Psalms). The Messiah therefore is not simply a son of God, but the Beloved Son of God among the sons of God. The bene Elohim are gods, and the bene Adonai are the kings of the House of David.

The Davidic Messiah(s) - 2 Samuel 7:13-14 = 1 Chronicles 17:12-13: “Thus says the Lord… I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a Son to me” - Psalm 2:7: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.”

According to the Biblical tradition, David was anointed King by the prophet Samuel, who also promised David tht his House will last forever:

2 Samuel 7:4-17 -- "[4] The word of the Lord came to Nathan: [5] Go and tell my servant David: "Thus says the Lord: ... [11] The Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. [12] When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who shall come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness will not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed before you. And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever." [17] In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

[18] Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness, so that your servant may know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there another[e] nation on earth whose God went to redeem it as a people, and to make a name for himself, doing great and awesome things for them, by driving out[g] before his people nations and their gods?[h] 24 And you established your people Israel for yourself to be your people forever; and you, O Lord, became their God. 25 And now, O Lord God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever; do as you have promised. 26 Thus your name will be magnified forever in the saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant; 29 now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

God tells Elijah to anoint two different men as kings of their people: Hazael as king of Aram (1Kgs 19:15) and Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel. God also instructs Elijah to anoint his own successor, Elisha son of Shaphat, as prophet (1Kgs 19:16). At this point, the term messiah or anointed one did not refer to the apocalyptic savior of humankind.

The Persian emperor Cyrus (559–530 B.C.E.), whom Isaiah 45 calls Yahweh’s anointed, is the only foreigner in the Bible to be identified as the messiah or anointed one of Yahweh, the Israelite God. Isaiah tells us that Yahweh spoke “to his messiah, to Cyrus, whom I [Yahweh] took by his right hand to subdue nations before him” (Isa 45:1). The other people called messiah or anointed one in the Bible aren’t designated Yahweh’s messiah, as Cyrus is.

Why did the prophet Isaiah, the priests of Marduk, and the Egyptian priests bestow this honor on Cyrus? First, self-interest. These priests tied their own successes to the success of their conquerors. Second, the priests recognized that the restoration of their temples depended on the good will of the Persian leader. The famous Cyrus Cylinder, a 10-inch-long inscribed clay barrel bearing the story of Babylon’s “liberation” by Cyrus, tells how Cyrus, with the help of the Babylonian god Marduk, restored worship at temples where Nabonidus had removed the cult images and brought them to Babylon. But there was a third, more powerful reason that he and other priests collaborated with their conquerors: they believed the Persian invaders had the local gods of the conquered nations on their side. How could they have conquered these nations if the local gods had not allowed it? Isaiah too knew that Yahweh had brought Cyrus to conquer Babylon and return Judeans to their homeland.

After the return, in the Second Temple Period, the high priest takes the privileges of the king and is called the anointed priest (Lev 4:3). The ancient patriarch Levi (TestLevi 4:2): The Most High has given heed to your prayer that you be delivered from wrongdoing, that you should become a son to him, as minister and priest in His presence.” In a monotheistic context, the bene elohim are now angels, and the bene adonai are the priests of the House of Zadok.

The "Eschatological" Messiah

The eschatological Messiah in Judaism has superhuman "divine" features as the "son of God". This does not mean however that he was considered "God" or equal to God. Only God is the creator and father of the universe.

Son of David and Son of Man

In second Temple Judaism two competing views of the eschatological Messiah emerged: the Messiah Son of David and the Messiah Son of Man.

The Son of David followed the model offered by the Books ok Kings where David is appointed by God as a ruler over Israel. He is therefore a human chosen to become the Messiah

In the Son of Man tradition instead the Messiah is a celestial being who will come at the end of times from Heaven as the final Judge.

The Messiah in Rabbinic Judaism

Babylonian Talmud,Sanhedrin 93b:

Bar Koziva ruled for two and a half years, and then said to the rabbis, “I am the Messiah.” They answered, “It is written that the Messiah can judge by smell (based onIsaiah 11:3); let us see whether he [Bar Koziva] can do so.” When they saw that he could not judge by smell, they killed him.

Babylonian Talmud,Sanhedrin 98a

R. Alexandri said, R. Joshua contrasted two verses: It is written, “And behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13), and another verse says, “[behold, your king comes to you…] humble and riding on an ass” (Zechariah 9:7). If Israel merits it, [he will come] “with the clouds of heaven”; if not, [he will be] “humble and riding on an ass.”

Babylonian Talmud,Sanhedrin 98a:

R. Joshua ben Levi [asked Elijah, the prophet who it is said will be the harbinger of the messianic age] “When will the Messiah come?” “Go and ask him himself.” “Where is he sitting?” “At the gates of Rome.” “What will identify him?” “He is sitting among the poor lepers; while all of them untie all [their bandages] at once, and rebandage them together, he unties and rebandages each separately, [before treating the next], saying ‘I might be needed, so I must not be delayed.’ ”

The pseudonymous Sefer Zerubavel, c. 7th century, published in Jellinek, Bet haMidrash:

I turned and someone touched me. I saw a man, despicable and crippled…and he said to me, “Do not fear, you were brought here so I could see you…This is Rome, where I am bound in prison until my end comes” ... When I heard this, I hid my face; then I turned back to peek, and hid my face yet again from fear. “Why are you afraid?” “I have heard rumors. You are the Messiah.” He then appeared to me as an incomparably beautiful youth ... [An angel explained to me,] “Menachem the son of Amiel will come suddenly in the month of Nisan and stand at the Arbel valley. All of the sages of Israel will come out to him, and the son of Amiel will say to them, ‘I am the Messiah whom God has sent as good tidings to save you from your enemies.’ And the sages will despise him, just as you [initially] despised him and did not believe him. His fury will burn, and he will dress himself in vengeance and come to the gates of Jerusalem with Elijah the prophet and resurrect Nehemiah ben Hushiel who was killed, and then they will believe in Menachem ben Amiel.”

Zohar Bereishit 1, 4b:

All the righteous have been heads of academies on earth, and have become disciples of the heavenly academy, and the Messiah visits all these academies and puts his seal on the Torah that comes from the mouths of the teachers.

Maimonides, Laws of Kings 11:3-4:

If a king from the House of David studies Torah, busies himself with the commandments like David did, observes the laws of the written and the oral law, convinces Israel to walk in the way of the Torah and to repair its breaches, and fights the battles of the Lord, it may be assumed that he is the Messiah. If he succeeds at these things, rebuilds the Temple on its site, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is beyond all doubt the Messiah…But if he does not succeed fully, or is slain, it is obvious that he is not the Messiah promised in the Torah.

Conclusion

The characteristics of the Jewish Messiah:

1. He will be a servant of God: "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." (Isaiah 42:1).

2. He will build the kingdom of God: "He shall build a house for my name." (II Samuel 7:13).

3. He will be a national hero who will vanquish the enemies of Israel: "In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely." (Jeremiah 33:16); "And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies; also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee a house." (II Samuel 7:11); "Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him." (Psalms 72:11).

4. His kingdom will be eternal: "And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." (II Samuel 7:13).

5. He will have wonderful abilities: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." (Isaiah 11:2).

6. He will engage in acts of moral judgment: "But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." (Isaiah 11:4).

7. He will be a light onto the nations: "I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and I will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people for a light of the gentiles. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." (Isaiah 42:6-7).

8. His success will be the result of spiritual, not violent activities: "But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." (Isaiah 11:4).

9. He will be a stricken and suffering figure who will bear the pain of society: "Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5).

10. He will be a scion of the house of David: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." (Isaiah 11:1).

11. We do not know exactly when he will appear.

12. There is no Messiah without the kingdom, Olam Ha-Ba, the World to Come.

The Messiah in Christian Tradition

First Council of Nicaea (325)	First Council of Constantinople (381)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.	We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God,] Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;	And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;
By whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];	by whom all things were made;
Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;	who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;	he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.	from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead. ;
	whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Ghost.	And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.
	In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
[But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable'— they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.]

Conclusions

In Christian doctrine, Jesus is identified as the Messiah and is called Christ (from the Greek for Messiah). In the New Testament, Jesus is called Messiah several times, for example the Gospel according to Mark begins with the sentence "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1). The Gospel according to Matthew identifies Jesus as the Messiah and as the son of God: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." (Matthew 16:16). This statement expresses the belief that Jesus, as the son of God, possesses divine attributes. In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus admits to the high priest that he is the Messiah: " Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? and Jesus said, I am." (Mark 14:61-62).

1. He acts in the name of God: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor... This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:18-21).

2. He has wonderful abilities that enable him to perform miracles, including raising the dead: " The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." (Matthew 11:5).

3. He is presented as pursuing peace and opposing violence: "But I say onto you, That ye resist not evil: but whoever shall smite thee on they right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:39)

4. Jesus is depicted as suffering, both during the time of his ministry and in his death: "But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation." (Luke 17:25).

5. His ministry is directed not only at the people of Israel but at the gentiles as well: "Whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich onto all that call upon him." (Romans 10:11-12).

6. He is a scion of the house of David: "Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David." (Romans 1:3).

7. He came as the forgiver of sins. "So that you may know that the Son of Man hs the Authority on earth to forgive sins"

8. He will return the Final Judge: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." (Mathew 25:31-32).

9. He will establish the kingdom of God forever  the kingdom of heaven: "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2).

10. We do not know when he will return, except for the fact that this event will occur at the End of Days: "Watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come...Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." (Matthew 24: 42-44).