Chapter 6

"THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD" ⁽¹⁾

Section 1: JESUS THE MESSIAH

Jesus and his disciples were in the far north of the land, commencing the long journey to his crucifixion at Jerusalem. As they walked, Jesus asked the twelve a question: 'Who do men say that I am?' Various replies followed, most of them suggesting that Jesus was a reincarnation of one of the notable Old Testament figures such as Elijah or Jeremiah. But he then turned the question on them: 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter's unhesitating answer forms the title of this chapter: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'. Peter's reply distilled into one short sentence all the information he had acquired during the three years in which he had been a constant companion of his Lord. Christ's response shows that Peter had correctly stated the facts. "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven". So we have a firm starting point for a detailed exploration into the person and mission of Jesus. He is 'the Christ', and at the same time the 'Son of God'.

To modern ears the word 'Christ' could easily be regarded as just another name for Jesus, but to a Jew in Peter's day it had a very specific meaning. 'The Christ' (Gk 'Christos') meant 'The Anointed One', and was the direct equivalent of the Hebrew word 'Messiah'. The coming of this Messiah is one of the themes of the Old Testament and was the earnest expectation of all pious Jews. So when Peter said Jesus was the Christ (Matthew 16:16), or when the high priest asked Jesus if he was the Christ (Matthew 26:63), or when Peter later preached that God had made Jesus "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36) each time they had in mind the fulfilment of the predictions about the Messiah. So in any enquiry into Jesus, the teaching about the Messiah must be explored.

ASPECTS OF THE MESSIAH'S WORK

If there is one common link between virtually all the books that comprise the Old Testament it is the expectation that there would eventually arise in the nation of Israel a notable man who would be a deliverer and ruler. Many different roles would be combined in this one person, and in each of these aspects the Messiah would be a source of great benefit to the world.

The first book of the Bible reveals that to Abraham, the founder of the entire Jewish race, God promised a descendant who would bring a time of blessing to everyone on earth:

"By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, ... in thy seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed" (Genesis 22:16-18, RV).

One of these Messianic 'blessings' was to be the forgiveness of sins leading to man's reconciliation to God (Acts 3.25-26). So here we have the promise of a SAVIOUR; although, as will be shown below, this aspect of his mission was not understood by many Jews.

A few hundred years after Abraham's day a different aspect of the work of this future personage was revealed when Moses received an assurance of the coming of a messenger with divine teaching and authority:

"And the Lord said to me, (Moses) ... I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him" (Deuteronomy 18:17-18).

Here the coming of a DIVINE TEACHER is promised.

Some centuries later David, the first king of Israel to have his royal throne in Jerusalem, was told by God that he would have a descendant who would one day occupy that throne for ever:

"I will raise up your son after you, ... and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever... And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever" (2 Samuel 7:12-13,16).

So this descendant of Abraham and David would also be an eternal KING.

But as well as being the son of David, this immortal royal ruler would also have another father. God said:

"I will be his father, and he shall be my son" (2 Samuel 7:14)

The promise thus concerned no ordinary man! He would be none other than the SON OF GOD.

By combining these aspects of Saviour, Teacher, King and Son of God, the work of the promised Messiah emerges as the clear teaching of the Jewish scriptures. The title 'Messiah' means 'the Anointed One'. It is an ancient custom to initiate both civil and religious leaders by anointing them with oil, and the 'anointed of the Lord' was often used to describe Israel's kings. But whilst these were 'messiahs' in this one sense, the future ruler was to be pre-eminently the 'Anointed'' Messiah the Prince' to use Daniel's description (Daniel 9:25, AV).

PREDICTIONS OF THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH

The Old Testament is full of predictions about the coming of this Messiah descended from Abraham through David, and the great work he would do. Many aspects of his life and mission were revealed in advance. The prophet Micah foretold the actual town where he would be born, Bethlehem:

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel" (Micah 5:2).

Isaiah spoke of his birth and of his success as ruler:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, ... Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Jeremiah links the Messiah's coming to the final deliverance of Israel:

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely" (Jeremiah 33:14-16).

These, along with many other similar predictions, formed the basis of the Jewish hope in their coming Messiah. He was anticipated mainly as a deliverer of the nation from a time of extreme trouble, and as a king under whose wise rule Israel and the whole world would live in a state of unparalleled peace, blessing and prosperity. This belief was instilled into Jews from their earliest age, and the coming of the Messiah was the pinnacle of their hopes. It is often overlooked that the first converts to Christianity were Jews who had been brought up in this hope of a coming Messiah. Thus we can understand the obvious excitement of the little group of men that later became the nucleus of Jesus' disciples:

"One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ).

Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him ... and Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:40- 41,45,47,49).

Notice the terms used to describe the Messiah: the Son of God, the King of Israel. And all this, those original disciples said, had been gleaned from the writings of Moses (the first five books of the Bible) and the prophets (all the rest of the Old Testament).

JESUS IS THE MESSIAH

The New Testament continues this emphasis on the Messiah, but now as a matter of reality, not prediction. It clearly identifies Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, as the Messiah or Christ. The very opening words of the New Testament trace the pedigree of Jesus back to Abraham and David as a basis for the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah:

"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1).

In confirmation of the identity of Jesus with the long expected Messiah we read that at the annunciation of his birth the angel predicted that he would fulfil all the aspects of the promise to David, viz: be a son of David, be also the son of God, and would reign over Israel for ever on David's restored throne:

"He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32- 33).

When Jesus grew to manhood his public preaching compelled many to believe that he was indeed the Messiah, or Christ. People on occasions addressed him by Messianic titles: "Jesus, son of David" (Luke 18:38), "Hosanna to the son of David" (Matthew 21:9), "Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God" (Matthew 26:63), "Are you the King of the Jews?" (Mark 15:2). It is important to note that in each case they were using Old Testament terms attributable only to the Messiah. On at least two occasions Jesus actually affirmed that he was the expected Messiah (John 4:25-26; Mark 14:61-62). And because they saw him as the promised Messiah, it is not surprising that they attempted to install him as their king on at least one occasion:

"Perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew ..." (John 6:15).

Christ's reluctance was because the fulfilment of the Messianic predictions of his kingship was to be at his second coming, not the first. Luke records that:

"He proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, A nobleman went into a far country to receive kingly power and then return" (Luke 19:11-12).

Clearly the nobleman is Jesus, and the far country heaven. In this way he tried to tell his listeners that although he was the Messiah, the promises were not to be fulfilled then, but would await his return from heaven. It was because Jesus did not do immediately the things expected of the Messiah capitalise on the wave of nationalistic emotion proclaim himself the King in David's line, rally the Jews to him, expel the Roman overlords from the Holy Land and city, set up the golden age of Messianic rule there and then it was because of his failure to do all this, that the tide of public opinion turned so rapidly and violently against him. Within a few days of the peoples' rapturous welcome of him into Jerusalem as the son of David, a similar crowd was howling for his crucifixion.

Even the disciples, including Peter who had once so strongly asserted that Jesus was the Christ, were disillusioned by the death of their master. "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel" they plaintively said (Luke 24:21). Along with all their fellow Jews they had failed to notice that the predicted Messiah or Christ had the role of redeemer as well as king. After his resurrection Jesus had to educate his disciples to understand that his recent sufferings and death were just as much a part of the Messianic rôle as the kingship:

"O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations" (Luke 24:25-27; 44-47).

So it was with this fuller, indeed complete, picture of the Messiah that the disciples embarked on their mission to convert the world to Christianity. Jesus, whom the Jews had crucified, was the Christ!

"Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified" (Acts 2:36).

"But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ" (Acts 9:22).

"He (Apollos) powerfully confuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus" (Acts 18:28).

These references stress the method of the apostles' preaching. Taking the universally accepted understanding of the expected Messiah as the starting point, they demonstrated from Scripture that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the promised Christ. When Christianity was first preached it was the Jewish Messiah that was the subject, followed by convincing proof (notably by his resurrection) that Jesus, whom many of them could remember, was this promised Messiah. So Peter, in the incident described at the opening of this chapter, was not wrong in styling Jesus "the Christ" and if we desire to understand the person and mission of Jesus of Nazareth the starting point must be the Old Testament predictions of the coming Messiah. A system of Christian belief that ignores this basis must inevitably be astray from the original and true teaching about the founder of Christianity.

Certainly, the Jews were expecting a human Messiah divinely sent it is true, but a fleshly descendant of Abraham and David and in the mould of their great leader Moses. They undoubtedly would not have expected, or been able to comprehend, the individual alluded to in later attempts to define the person and work of the Christ:

"I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father" (the Nicene creed).

This chapter will investigate whether the Nicene creed, and the equally famous Athanasian creed, are a true and legitimate interpretation of the Bible references to Jesus the Messiah. It will examine teaching on the person and mission of Jesus under the following Scriptural titles ascribed to him:

• The Son of Man
• The Son of God
• The Word of God
• The Lamb of God

• The Beginning of the creation of God
  

Section 2: JESUS THE SON OF MAN

REFERENCES

1. Matthew 16:16