Word 13: Messiah
Jesus
As the Advent season draws to a close, we now turn our focus for the
final words to the main character of the Christmas story: Jesus.
Throughout the story we have seen many of our characters waiting and
watching for the promised Messiah. Through the prophets God promised to send a
king, one who would be anointed by God to deliver his people. Over time the
Hebrew people began to anticipate that this Messiah would be a king who would
bring military and political domination that would free them from bondage and
rule by foreign nations.
The word Messiah comes from the
Hebrew word for anointed one ‘mashiach’. To anoint someone is to set them apart for special service
for God, and through that anointing of the Lord that person receives
empowerment for that service. Thus, Isaiah says, "The Spirit of the Sovereign
Lord is on" the Messiah. Here is Isaiah’s description of who the
Messiah will be and what he will do:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is
on me,
because the Lord has
anointed me
to proclaim good
news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for
the captives
and release from
darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of
vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn.” Isaiah 61:1-2
In Luke chapter 4:14-21, we see Jesus stand in the temple and
read this same passage from Isaiah 61, announcing that he is the One of whom
these words are spoken.
“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing.” Luke 4:21
God anointed Jesus as the Christ, which is Greek for ‘the anointed
one’. He is Christ,the Messiah. Jesus, as the Messiah, fulfilled Israel’s
anticipation of an anointed One who would deliver them. Jesus would spend his
ministry giving the disciples the true understanding of the Messiah’s rule, not
a king who would deliver them from foreign rule, but a king who delivers us
from our sins.
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