The Messiah

Messianic Hope Throughout their history the Jews had been occupied by surrounding nations including Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Roman forces. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures there is a hope that God would at some point help his people to overthrow these other nations This hope usually focussed around a central figure- that of the Messiah. For some groups, this hope came to a head under the occupation of the Romans- pantheists whose belief in many gods was at odds with the monotheistic beliefs of the Jews.

Messiah: The anointed one In the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament the prophets had foretold that God would send His Messiah to liberate his people. Messiah means “anointed one.”The term anointed is most commonly used in the Old Testament to refer to a King or Priest whom it was believed God had chosen. Anointing meant to pour oil over someone’s head and bless them Jews believed the Messiah would be God’s specially chosen person to rescue his people but there has been a lot of discussion over what type of person he would be with different Jewish groups having very different ideas.

Wanted: A King The Jews looked back to their great King David who had ruled before the northern and southern kingdom were divided. They thought that the Messiah would come from David’s family and would be a King over the Jewish people. This can been seen by what Jews believe God had said to the Old Testament Prophets: - “The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up in David’s line a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” Jeremiah 23.5 – “ He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness.” Isaiah 9.7

Wanted: a Priest We have already seen that Messiah means “anointed one” and some Jews thought that the Messiah would be a priest as it was often priests who were called anointed in the Old Testament. “ The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” Isaiah 11.2 Here it can be seen that a holy man who was filled with the spirit of God was expected. A common thought in 1 st century Judaism was that God’s Holy Messiah would bring in an age when all people would worship the God of Judaism rather than the Roman and Pagan gods.

Wanted: a Warrior A number of Jewish thinkers believed that the Messiah would be a great military commander or leader who would overthrow their occupiers, the Romans. This stream of thought came from the history of occupation and oppression of the Jewish people.