June 24, 2010
God told Christians to witness to the Jew first (Romans 1:16). The Jews believed in the deity of the coming Messiah. The deity of the Messiah was never a question in the early church. The Jews were able to recognize the signs of the Messiah, and were able to look at the works of Jesus to see if Jesus was really the true Messiah. For instance in Matthew 11:2-6:
| Matthew 11:2 | Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, |
| Matthew 11:3 | And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? |
| Matthew 11:4 | Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: |
| Matthew 11:5 | 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 11:6 | And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. |
The Jewish people, who studied the scriptures, recognized that Jesus fulfilled these Messianic signs in Isaiah 35:5-6:
| Isaiah 35:5 | Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. |
| Isaiah 35:6 | Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. |
Q. What were some of the signs that the coming Messiah was really the Messiah? The Bible tells us the “I.D.” of the Messiah. His ethnic background, His place of birth, the time frame of His arrival and other identifying characteristics are given. These credentials enable us to identify the Messiah, and to recognize imposters. What, then, are some of the credentials of the Messiah? There are over three hundred and forty prophecies about the first coming of the Messiah, and ALL of them were fulfilled by Jesus. For instance:
- Messiah was to be born at Bethlehem: Micah 5:1-2 Fulfilled Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-6
- Messiah would be from the tribe of Judah: Genesis 49:10 Fulfilled Hebrews 7:14
- Messiah would present himself by riding on an ass: Zechariah 9:9 Fulfilled John 12:14-15
- Messiah would be tortured to death: Psalm 22 Fulfilled Matthew 27:34-50; John 19:17-30 (Psalm 22 contains 11 prophecies)
- Messiah would arrive before the destruction of the Second Temple: Daniel 9:24-27 Fulfilled in 70 AD and prophesied about by Christ Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2
All of these passages were recognized by the early Jewish scholars as referring to the Messiah. In detail as to His lineage, His birthplace, the time frame of His arrival, and lifestyle, it was Jesus who matched the Messianic expectations of the Hebrew Scriptures. The record of the fulfillment of these Messianic prophecies is found in the pages of the New Testament.
Clearing Up another False Claim
There is another false claim that must be cleared up. That is the claim that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. Jesus repeatedly made it clear that He was the Anointed One of God, the Messiah, the Christ, and the Savior of the world. So why are false teachers going around saying that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah? Jesus Christ clearly claimed to be the Messiah and the Son of God:
- Jesus told the Samaritan woman that he is the Messiah (John 4:25-26)
| John 4:25 | The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. |
| John 4:26 | Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. |
- Jesus affirmed Peter’s statement that he is the Messiah and Son of God (Matthew 16:15-17; Mark 8:29-31; Luke 9:20-23)
- Jesus told the high priest that he is the Messiah and Son of God (Matthew 26:63-64; Mark 14:61-62; Luke 22:70-71)
| Mark 14:61 | But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? |
| Mark 14:62 | And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. |
| Mark 14:63 | Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? |
| Mark 14:64 | Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. |
Jesus told us that He is the Messiah that was sent to die for the remission of our sins (Matthew 26:28), but we have to believe Jesus in order to have salvation. As a Christian, faith is very important, but salvation comes from what we believe in.
| John 3:16 | For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. |
| John 3:17 | For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. |
| John 3:18 | He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. |
| John 3:36 | He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. |
In John 5:17-18, the Jews understood that Jesus was equating himself with God: “he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:17-18).
| John 5:15 | The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. |
| John 5:16 | And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. |
| John 5:17 | But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. |
| John 5:18 | Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. |
After Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also, in John 8:19, Jesus tells them:
| John 8:24 | I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. |
The italics in the King James Bible are the marks of an honest translation. No one added these words to mislead us, or to change the word of God. Whenever the translators added a word, when translating from one language to the next, they put it in italics to inform the reader that the word was added. In John 8:24 the word “he” was added because it is in italics, so when we remove that added word we see the words of Jesus read; for if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.
Jesus is the God of Israel:
| Exodus 3:13 | And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? |
| Exodus 3:14 | And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. |
Jesus is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:
| John 8:56 | Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. |
| John 8:57 | Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? |
| John 8:58 | Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. |
| John 8:59 | Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. |
Abraham knew Jesus and rejoiced to see Jesus’ day. Abraham knew that God would provide “Himself” as a sacrifice.
| Genesis 22:7 | And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? |
| Genesis 22:8 | And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. |
As a person who used to write songs and poems, I like wordplay, and cleaver use of words. For example:
Paronomasia
Noun
1. A humorous play on words; Know Jesus Know peace. No Jesus No peace.
A pun (also known as paronomasia) is a play on words that transposes the meanings of words with similar sounds. This is usually for humorous effect, although one well known pun of serious intent is found in the Bible.
In the English language we use puns for the purpose of humor, but the bible uses puns through out scripture.
In Genesis 22:8, I like the word play that is used. It is saying one thing, but it has two totally different meanings. God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Not only will God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering (We see that in the ram caught in a dense growth of bushes by his horns in Genesis 22:13), but God will provide Himself as the lamb for the burnt offering. We see that in Hebrews chapter seven, which tells us that God offered up Himself as the sacrifice.
| Hebrews 7:26 | For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; |
| Hebrews 7:27 | Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. |
We must believe on Jesus, the son of God, in order to have salvation. Hebrews 11:6 tells us just how important faith is:
| Hebrews 11:6 | But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. |
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