Messianic Titles

This assignment required me to give a brief definition of different Messianic titles used by the Jews and Jesus Christ himself to describe the "Annointed One".

Messiah: The translation means, “The Anointed”. It could have been applied to any person who held office by the gift, grace, and anointing of God (Scott, p.309). It came to be used in eschatological contexts to refer to the coming of the “Davidic king” (p.310). In the generic term, it designated any agent of God-individual, idealized concept, or corporate entity-expected to appear in the final age (p.310).

Levitic Messiah: A descendant of the tribe of Levi. Commonly believed to be both a priest and king and was expected to take precedence over the political Davidic Messiah (Scott, p. 311).

Son of Man: A heavenly, spiritual being transcending space and time. Enabled with divine gifts and shares the throne of God. Jesus referred to himself in the third person as the “Son of Man” and not the “Son of God”. The title “Son of Man” would have been accepted by the Pharisees and not considered blasphemy.

The Servant of the Lord: In Intertestamental Judaism it could have represented a collective body like the Israelites or the religious ideology of the Jews. It could have also referred to a singular messianic individual like a prophet, high priest or king sent to Earth to suffer for the sins of others.

The Prophet like Moses: A messianic prophet that would lead a new exodus from bondage, reestablish the covenant, bring a better revelation of God, and serve as a new national founder (Scott, p.318)

Elijah: Many believed that Elijah would prepare the way for the Messiah or anoint the forthcoming Messiah. Some believed Elijah would be resurrected and claim the title of Messiah.

Savior, Judge, Deliverer, Shepherd, Word, Righteous (Just) One, the Branch, Elect (Chosen) One, the Son of God or of David, the Stone, the Coming One: Other titles used to describe an eschatological figure that would arrive to rescue the Israelites from foreign domination and set their nation free.

The titles “Messiah” and “Son of Man” seem to appear most frequently in the New Testament. I love how Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man” in order to better relate his humanity to those who were around him (i.e. , Matthew 11:19, Luke 9:58). Jesus was fully aware that He was God (in human flesh) and that he had a divine purpose to fulfill. However, if he would have claimed to be God, it might have discredited him as a heretic or isolated his ministry to those followers who were already convinced that he, in fact, was the Messiah.

If there is one messianic title that I believe is the most powerful and conveys what Jesus’ role was in history, it’s “Savior”. The word itself is sufficient enough to completely describe and enforce the necessity of Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

To me, the word “Savior” is simplistic in its definition yet complex in how it is applicable in our lives as a fallen creature separated from God’s fellowship. “Savior” conveys love, mercy, forgiveness, strength, necessity, compassion, and grace, and is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of evangelism when attempting to witness to unbelievers and convince them that we must confess our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our redeemer…savior.

Scott, J. Julius. Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament . Baker Publishing Group, December 2007.

The Edge

Recently, I've started attending a great little church in Lakeville, MN called "The Edge". It is affiliated with The Church of God organization out of Cleveland, TN.

Great things are happening here and I feel as if our ministry is about to explode. The Holy Spirit is definitely moving in the lives of the congregation. We've recently started a "Food Shelf " to help feed families that are underprivileged and I'm hopeful to start working with a prison ministry preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to incarcerated inmates.

Here's the link to the website http://www.experiencetheedge.org/ We've recently started streaming live broadcasts of the Sunday service and all of the sermons are available in audio format. God bless.