“Jesus is Our Messiah”

“Jesus is Our Messiah”

Jesus fulfilled over 300+ Old Testament messianic prophecies, including his birth in Bethlehem, lineage, and crucifixion. When I say the word messianic, all it means is, “it’s concerning the Messiah,” covering his lineage, birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, with highlights including being born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), including riding into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech. 9:9), and dying for sins (Isa. 53). These, written centuries before his birth, provide evidence of his identity as the Messiah.

• So, Pastor, since there is so much evidence, why do the Jews have such a hard time accepting Jesus as the Messiah when there is so much proof!  First of all, many do believe, we call them Messianic Jews, but you’re right, not all believe. While some identify as Jewish followers of Jesus, mainstream Jewish denominations generally do not recognize Messianic Judaism as a form of Judaism.

In the first century, many Jewish people struggled to believe Jesus was the Messiah because his life and ministry did not match their deeply held scriptural and cultural expectations. While the New Testament presents Jesus as the Spiritual Savior, Jewish tradition defined the Messiah through specific, tangible tasks that Jesus did not appear to complete during his lifetime. 

Key Reasons for Disbelief

1. Political and Military Expectations: At that time, Israel was under harsh Roman occupation. The prevailing expectation was for a conquering king coming from the line of David. 

2. Establishing Global Peace: Bringing an end to all war (Isaiah 2:4).

3. Ingathering of Exiles: Bringing all Jewish people back to the land of Israel, this happened May 14, 1948. (picture) But according to many interpretations of biblical prophecy, a significant re-gathering of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is expected during the seven-year tribulation period.

4. Rebuilding the Temple: Constructing the Third Temple in Jerusalem. We’ve all been waiting to see this as an actual hard sign of the end-times. I believe it will be built during the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation period. I don’t believe we will be here to see it, why? Because the Lord will take His Church home in the rapture.

5. Universal Knowledge of God: Leading the entire world to acknowledge the one true God. Sounds good. The Antichrist is a false messiah who will deceive many and oppose God. He will be revealed at the end of the age and will be destroyed by Jesus Christ in the final battle. This figure, often aligned with the “man of lawlessness” and acting as an “idol shepherd”, uses deceptive miracles and charisma to mimic divine power and demand worship.

Theological Conflicts:

Divinity and the Trinity: Judaism emphasizes the absolute unity and singularity of God. The Christian claim that Jesus is “the Son of God,” and a part of the Trinity is considered incompatible with Jewish mo-no-theism and is viewed as a form of idolatry by traditional standards.

Observance of Jewish Law (Torah): The Messiah is expected to lead all Jews to full observance of the Torah. Jesus’ perceived challenges to certain interpretations of the Law—such as Sabbath regulations—caused religious leaders to view Him as a “false prophet” rather than the Messiah.

• The Torah is the foundational sacred text of Judaism, comprising the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Written in Hebrew, it contains 613 commandments, including the Ten Commandments, which provide instruction and law for Jewish life, faith, and ethics. 

Concept of the “Second Coming”: Jewish tradition holds that the Messiah will fulfill all prophecies outright in one lifetime. The Christian idea that Jesus will return to complete these tasks is not found in the Hebrew Bible and is often seen as an “after-the-fact” explanation for his death.

• Please relax, this is not a message in replacement theology. Meaning “Christianity is not replacing God’s chosen people because God is mad at the Jews”. Actually, we need to be thankful that God’s chosen people have protected and preserved His Word for thousands of years so that we can be saved, so that we can celebrate the event that literally changed the world, Resurrection Sunday. Let’s look at some of these scriptures:

Isaiah 7:10-14 New King James Version

10   Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 

11   “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

12   But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

• Don’t be fooled, Ahaz was considered one of the most wicked and unfaithful kings of Judah. He reigned for 16 years, during which he practiced idolatry, burned sacrifices in the Valley of Hinnom, and even sacrificed his own children to foreign gods. His reign brought significant military loss, religious apostasy, and instability to the nation. God spoke again to King Ahaz in Isaiah 7:10-14 to offer a sign of assurance amidst the threat from Israel and Syria, aiming to move him from fearful, faithless, and ungodly reliance on Assyria to trusting in Divine intervention. Despite Ahaz’s stubborn refusal to ask for a sign (cloaked in false piety), God proactively provided the messianic Immanuel prophecy to guarantee the safety of the Davidic line. 
• To Reassure and Reconfirm the Covenant: Ahaz was terrified of the approaching Syro-Israelite alliance (Rezin and Pekah) and he intended to bribe Assyria for protection. 
• God spoke again to encourage faith: and prove that His, covenant oath to maintain the line of David was stronger than any earthly army. Ensuring that the Syro-Ephraimite alliance would fail. Your God and my God is still talking to this man, whom I’m sure was far worse than you and I have ever been or will ever be. Un-image-able Grace.

• To Offer Mercy Despite Faithlessness: While Ahaz was an unfaithful king, God showed patience and offered a “sign” from the depths of Sheol to the heights of heaven to bolster his faith, which he refused.
• To Provide the Ultimate Sign of “God With Us”: When Ahaz refused, God, as a divine mandate, promised a sign anyway: the Immanuel prophecy “God with us”, representing not only immediate deliverance from Israel and Aram but also the future, the true deliverer, Jesus.
• To Expose and Rebuke Lack of Faith: By offering this, “God highlighted that Ahaz was wearying God by refusing to trust in Him”,,

Isaiah 7:13-14

• The prophet Isaiah is speaking to King Ahaz and the “House of David”

13   Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 

14   Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. 

• Isaiah 7:14, which prophesies the birth of Immanuel, was spoke by the prophet Isaiah around 735–732 B.C.. The birth of Jesus Christ, which we view as the fulfillment of this prophecy, occurred roughly 700 to 740 years later.

The Message’s Purpose: The sign is given to reassure Ahaz that the kingdoms of Syria and Israel would not destroy Judah, because of Ahaz’s refusal to ask for any kind of sign as God had given permission, He gave him one he could not see

• Targeted Recipient: Initially, Isaiah speaks to Ahaz; however, due to Ahaz’s refusal to trust God, the pronoun changes in verse 13-14 to address the entire House of David (plural), indicating it is a promise to the whole lineage rather than just this skeptical king.
• The Sign: The sign is the birth of a child named Immanuel (“God with us”), serving as a sign of God’s presence and deliverance to the Davidic line.
• Long-Term Fulfillment: While the sign was for immediate comfort regarding King Ahaz, God knew he could not and would not see. King Ahaz’s end was in 715 B.C. marked the close of a 16-year reign noted for extreme idolatry, such as child sacrifice and closing the temple, making him one of Judah’s most wicked kings. Although buried in Jerusalem, he was denied burial in the royal tombs of the kings.
• This scripture is also interpreted by Matthew as a prophetic fulfillment pointing to Jesus. 

Matthew 1:17-25 New King James Version

17   So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.

18   Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 

19   Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 

20   But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 

21   And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

22   So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 

23   “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

24   Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,  

25   and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.  

Let’s look at more Old Testament scripture:

Zechariah 9:9 New King James Version

9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.

• 450 to 500 years before Jesus fulfilled it during the Triumphal Entry (Palm Sunday)
• “God had commanded the kings of Israel not to multiply horses. The kings who broke this command were miserable themselves, and scour-gers to their people. Jesus came to fulfill the law. Had He in his title of king rode upon a horse, it would have been a breach of a positive command of God; therefore, he rode upon an colt.”
• Though the triumphal entry was a joyful celebration, a Roman spectator would wonder what was so triumphal about this entry. It didn’t compare at all to the kind of parade Julius Caesar had when he came back to Rome from Gaul. Then there was a parade that lasted three days as he displayed all the captives and booty he brought back. In contrast to this, the procession of Jesus must have seemed pretty humble, and this showed that Jesus was a different kind of King. Believe me, it wasn’t the Savior the Jewish people wanted to see.
• Let’s look at Isaiah 53:

Isaiah 53 New King James Version

1   Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2   For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness; 

• New American Standard Bible
• For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of dry ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we would look at Him, Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him.

53:2b  And when we see Him,                                                                             There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

3   He is despised and rejected by men,                                                                    A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.                                                                  And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;                                                              He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4   Surely, He has borne our griefs                                                                          And carried our sorrows;                                                                                              Yet we esteemed Him stricken,                                                                            Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5   But He was wounded for our transgressions,                                                         He was bruised for our iniquities;                                                                                         The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,                                                      And by His stripes we are healed.

• Chastisement is the act of severe punishment, criticism, or formal rebuke, often intended to correct behavior. It frequently refers to physical punishment (corporal punishment) or a harsh scolding/reprimand. It implies delivering discipline to correct a wrongdoing, such as a stern lecture or reprimand.
• How many people carry around pain — griefs and sorrows — that Jesus really carried for them? He took them from us, but for it to do us any good, we must release them. And by His stripes we are healed: Here, the prophet sees through the centuries to know that the Messiah would be beaten with many stripes (Mark 15:15). 

Mark 15:15 New King James Version

15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

• More so, the prophet announces that provision for healing is found in the suffering of Jesus, so by His stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:6-12

6   All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7   He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

8   He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

• Few understood his spiritual generation/divine nature at his death. It implies a lack of witnesses to his true identity and lineage.

9   And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10   Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

11   He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

12   Therefore, I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.