Messiah (Part 1-4)

This is part 1 of 4 on the series “Messiah” written by Rebecca J. Brimmer, International President and CEO of Bridges for Peace. May you be blessed by reading this teaching letter.

Messiah

Both Christians and Jews eagerly long for the coming of the Messiah. Yet, the topic of Messiah is one that has caused great division between Christianity and Judaism. The greatest dispute we have between us is the identity of the Messiah. As Christians, we know that Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiach) is the Messiah. Jews equally “know” that He is not the Messiah. The Jewish rejection of Yeshua as the Messiah has been a catalyst for Christian persecution of Jews throughout the centuries. What are the Jewish people looking for in the Messiah? Why did the Jewish people reject Yeshua? Did Yeshua claim to be the Messiah? I recognize that to adequately address this subject would require volumes, yet it is a worthy and important topic for even the length of a Teaching Letter.

Definition of Terms

The Hebrew word for Messiah is Mashiach (משיח) and means “anointed one.” This word comes from the root word mashach (משח), which means “to anoint, smear (with oil), or consecrate.” The word mashiach appears 39 times in the Older Testament, although the word “messiah” only appears twice in most English translations. The remaining 37 times, the word is translated “anointed one.” It comes from the ancient Israeli custom of pouring oil on the head of a person being appointed to a position of authority. The Greek word for Messiah is Christos, translated into English as Christ. The word literally means “anointed one.” When Christians say Jesus Christ, most think they are saying His name, perhaps like our own first and last names. However, Christ is not His last name; it is His title. When we say it with His name, it is an affirmation of faith. We are literally saying “Jesus the anointed one,” and we could also say it in Hebrew, Yeshua HaMashiach.

Living in Israel, I have come to understand that one can say the same words and have totally different understanding about their meanings, even between English speakers. For instance, I wear boots on my feet, but my British friends put their suitcases into the boot of their car (trunk to Americans). In a similar fashion, Christians and Jews will sometimes have conversations in which both feel there has been good communication and walk away never realizing that they have not understood the intent of the other. Moshe Kempinski says this: “Until the final days, our two communities will continue to use the same words and terminology but not necessarily mean the same thing, which as we have shown, inevitably leads to misunderstanding and confusion.”

Mashiach is one of these words. One of the most common misunderstandings is that there is only one Messiah in the Bible. While mashiach is mentioned 39 times in the Hebrew Bible, it can be applied to priests, kings, and prophets. “If the anointed [mashiach] priest sins bringing guilt to the people, then let him offer to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned…” (Leviticus 4:3). “And he [David] said to his men, the LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master [Saul], the LORD’s anointed [mashiach], to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed [mashiach] of the LORD” (1 Samuel 24:6). “Do not touch My anointed [mashiach], My prophets do not harm” (1 Chronicles 16:22). “Thus says the LORD to His anointed [mashiach], to Cyrus [the King of Persia] whose right hand I have held...” (Isaiah 45:1).

The Jewish Concept of Messiah

I have attended outdoor rallies in Israel when 100,000 Jewish people have fervently sung “Mashiach, Mashiach, Mashiach.” It was an electrifying moment when I felt the heartfelt desire of the people for the Messiah to come. The lyrics were written by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, more commonly known of as the Rambam or Maimonides (1135–1204 AD). He developed the 13 Principles of Faith, the most widely accepted list of Jewish beliefs. Number 12 says, “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the mashiach, and though he may tarry, still I await him every day.”

What are the Jewish people looking for in a Messiah?

1. He will be a great political leader descended from King David (Jeremiah 23:5).

2. He will be well-versed in Jewish law and observant of its commandments (Isaiah 11:2–5).

4. He will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example.

5. He will be a great military leader, who will win battles for Israel.

6. He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions. He will restore the religious court system of Israel and establish Jewish law as the law of the Land (Jeremiah 33:15).

7. He will bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the Jewish people by bringing them back to Israel and restoring Jerusalem (Isaiah 11:11–12; Jeremiah 23:8, 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5).

8. He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government, both for Jews and gentiles (Isaiah 2:2–4, 11:10, 42:1).

9. He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship (Jeremiah 33:18). (9 points taken from www.jewfaq.org.)

In reading Jewish authors on the subject, it is clear that many Jewish people believe that it is possible to be the Messiah. In fact, many “messiahs” have come forward throughout Jewish history. Wikepedia iden

tifies seven such messiahs (including Jesus) between AD 6 and 135. On the Jewish Web site http://www.jewfaq.org, it says: “It has been said that in every generation, a person is born with the potential to be the mashiach. If the time is right for the messianic age within that person's lifetime, then that person will be the mashiach. But if that person dies before he completes the mission of the mashiach, then that person is not the mashiach.”

Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin, in his book To Be a Jew, explains; “The Messiah in Jewish thought was never conceived of as a Divine Being. As God’s anointed representative, the Messiah would be a person who would bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the people of Israel through the ingathering of the Jews to their ancestral home of Eretz Yisrael [land of Israel] and the restoration of Jerusalem to its spiritual glory. He would bring about an era marked by the moral perfection of all mankind and the harmonious coexistence of all peoples, free of war, fear, hatred and intolerance (see Isaiah 2, 11 and Micah 4). Claimants to the Messianic title arose at various times throughout Jewish history. The criterion by which each was judged was: Did he succeed in accomplishing what the Messiah was supposed to accomplish? By this criterion, clearly none qualified. The Messianic era is still ahead of us. The reestablishment of a Jewish State in our times and the restoration of a united Jerusalem as the capital of that State have led many devout Jews to hope that these times may be the beginning of that process of redemption that will ultimately lead to the realization of all the other ideals inherent in the Messianic belief.”

The fact that many prophetic promises concerning the Messianic Age have not yet been fulfilled makes it difficult for Jewish people to think of Yeshua as the Messiah. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein says: “This idea sheds light on one of the most fundamental differences between Judaism and Christianity―the Christian belief that the Messiah has come and the Jewish insistence that he has not. Judaism affirms the inevitable incompleteness of a personalized salvation and individualized holiness so long as they are not indissolubly linked with the messianic redemption of Israel and the world. Christianity, on the other hand, affirms that the Messiah has come and that the individual can achieve spiritual completion and fulfillment now by accepting Jesus as his personal Savior and Redeemer. The Jewish mission is to bring about the completeness and fulfillment of both man and the world―to bring Messiah! The continued existence of evil and suffering in the world and the ongoing mystery of the survival of the Jewish people bear eloquent testimony that the Jewish mission is not yet complete―the world has yet to be fully redeemed.”

By Rebecca J. Brimmer

International President and CEO

All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Bibliography

Benner, Jeff A. http://www.ancient-hebrew.org

Blue, Lionel and Jonathan Magonet. The Jewish Guide to the Here and Hereafter. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1989.

Donin, Hayim Halevy. To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life. Basic Books (a division of Perseus Books Group), 1972.

Eckstein, Yechiel. How Firm a Foundation. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 1997.

Flusser, David. Jesus. Jerusalem, Israel: The Magnes Press, 1998.

Gorenberg, Gershom. The End of Days. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Kempinski, Moshe Avraham. The Heart of the People. Jerusalem, Israel: Shorashim of the OldCity Publications, 2006.

Lindsey, Robert L. Jesus, Rabbi and Lord: The Hebrew Story of Jesus Behind Our Gospels.Cornerstone Publishing, 1989.

Rich, Tracey R. http://www.jewfaq.org

Rubin, David. God, Israel and Shiloh: Returning to the Land. Jerusalem, Israel: Mazo Publishers, 2007.

Smith, James. The Promised Messiah. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993.

Wikipedia. “Messiah.” www.wikipedia.com

Wilson, Marvin R. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1989.

Pictures:

www.Israelimages.com/Gideon Levin

www.Israelimages.com/Hanan Isachar

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