Is Jesus the Messiah?
Christians answer yes, and the writers in this collection do not treat it as a bare claim to be taken on trust — they point to prophecy written centuries earlier, to Jesus' own words, to His works, and to His resurrection. The title "Christ" is simply the Greek for "Messiah," the Anointed One; the real question is whether Jesus of Nazareth is the person the Hebrew Scriptures described.
The prophets Described Him First
The case begins in the Old Testament. One writer walks through the details that had to line up in one life:
A J PollockBut examine the record of Christ, and it abundantly proves that He was David's Lord and David's Son. Did the Old Testament tell us that the Messiah, "whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2), should be born at Bethlehem? Christ was born at Bethlehem. Did the Scriptures not state that He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)? Christ was born of a virgin. What did all the blood that flowed on Jewish altars mean? Did not each sacrifice foretell the great coming sacrifice of Christ on the cross?
Because those predictions are specific, they can be tested — and that cuts both ways:
VariousThe Lord Jesus Christ constantly appealed to the prophecies about Himself as proof of His mission; the apostles did the same. These prophecies are in great detail. If they are not true, how easy it would be to prove that Jesus is not the Christ; but if they are true, then the conclusion cannot be escaped.
He Claimed It Himself
Jesus did not leave the question to others. His first plain statement of it was made not in the temple but at a well, to a woman of Samaria — a people the Jews avoided.
C E Stuart"He will tell us all things," was the estimate she had formed of the coming Messiah. The One who sat by the well had told her of her past and present life... He had told her about God, and about the worshippers the Father was seeking; and, to crown it all, He had now told her that He was the Christ.
Messiah And Son of God Together
When Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," he was not stacking two unrelated titles. For his hearers the two belonged together:
VariousIt is clear from the confession of Peter, of Nathanael (John 1:49), and of Martha (John 11:27), as well as from the high priest's demand under oath (Matthew 26:63), and Paul's preaching in the synagogues (Acts 9:20), that the Jews in our Lord's time identified the Christ, the promised Messiah, with the Son of God... The question with them was not whether the Christ was the true and proper Son of God, but whether Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ.
That is why commentators read Isaiah's promised child as more than a great king:
Frank WallaceFinally in Isaiah 9 we have the description of the Messiah, clearly the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and one of the names given Him here is "Mighty God" (v. 6). Now if you turn to chapter 10 you will find the same name given to Jehovah, "the mighty God" (v. 21).
Rejection Was Foretold Too
The usual objection is that Jesus never took a throne. Scripture had already said He would not — not at His first coming.
William KellyThe meaning is that Messiah should be cut off and have nothing; that is, His inheritance is completely gone, His people refusing Him, His land not possessed, His kingdom denied, everything that belonged to Messiah taken away from Him.
Writers here read Daniel 9:26 as "shall be cut off and shall have nothing" rather than the older rendering "but not for himself," and understand it of man's rejection of Him rather than of atonement.
God's Verdict After the Cross
The crucifixion looked like the end of the claim. The resurrection reversed the verdict, and Peter said so publicly to the very people who had handed Him over:
Samuel RidoutGod is not unrighteous, that He should let the righteous One lie under the charge of sin. He is put upon the throne of glory: the highest place in heaven is His answer to the world for what it has done.
Why the Answer Matters to You
This is not a historical curiosity. John says his whole account was written for one outcome:
W. T. P. WolstonThe person who now believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, has life through His name... And what then is the effect? A person who really believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, that person receives life through His name. There is a communication of life by the sovereign grace of God.
Summary
- Foretold — the prophets gave the Messiah's birthplace, His virgin birth and His sacrifice in detail; the specifics make the claim testable, not vague.
- Claimed — Jesus stated it plainly, first to a Samaritan woman, after telling her everything about her own life.
- Confirmed — "Christ" and "Son of God" were one confession, not two; Isaiah's promised child carries a name belonging to Jehovah Himself.
- Rejected — Daniel foretold Messiah "cut off and having nothing," so the loss of His earthly kingdom fits the prophecy instead of contradicting it.
- Vindicated — God raised Him and seated Him in the highest place, and whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ receives life through His name.