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 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.

The Messiah in Christian Tradition

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).

3. 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).

5. 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)

6. 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).

7. 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).

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

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"

4. 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).

2. 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).