Jesus the Messiah

Names say something about who you are

One of the funnest part of having a new baby is choosing the name.

The most popular names for new born babies in Australia in 2020 are:

Top ten Boys and Girls Names:

Girls: Charlotte, Olivia, Amelia, Isla, Mia, Ava, Grace, Willow, Harper, Chloe

Boys: Oliver, Noah, Jack, William, Leo, Lucas, Thomas, Henry, Charlie , James

Mostly I hear people say they pick a name that they like. But in earlier generations mostly people choose a name with a meaning. Some parents still choose names w ith meanings today but mostly it is just about choosing a name they like. Sometimes people these days don’t know the meaning of a name and some names don’t have a meaning.

In our list our top girls name is Charlotte, it is french and it means free woman.

In our list the top boys name is Oliver, it is celtic which means descent of the Ancestor.

In Biblical times names that were given to babies meant something. When Jesus was born he was even given a name from God through the Angle who appeared to Mary to tell her that the father of the baby she was going to have was God Himself.

Luke 1:30–33 NIV

30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

The name Jesus is the Greek version of the Hebrew Name Joshua. The name means he will save his people from their sins.

In the Gospels Jesus is also given a number of titles that help us understand his purpose.

Just like Australians these days are not mostly worried about the meaning of babies name, we also don’t put much store on titles. We like to be low key and not too formal. For example when I was growing up, I called the parents of my friends mr and mrs. But these days the friends of my sons just call me Stu.

But in Bible times the titles given to someone designated their identity and authority. The Titles given to Jesus in the Gospels give us a really good idea of who Jesus is and what he came to do.

So this Christmas we are having a series on the names and titles of Jesus so we can get to know him better.

Today we are looking at how Jesus is called the Messiah to see that he was the longed looked for anointed King who would save us from our sins.

Lets look at Luke again

Luke 2:11 NIV

11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Today we are unpacking the rtitle of Messiah. What does it mean that Jesus is the Messiah?

Messiah

The word Messiah is a Hebrew title and occurs 39 times in the Old Testament. It means annointed. In the old testament when someone was annointed they were set aside for God to serve Him. Priests (Ex 28:41) were annointed, as were prophets (1 Kings 19:16) and kings (1 Sam 9:16) in their respectinve offices. Each of these offices were leaders in Israel who were to look after and care for the people.

Ps 45 shows us that there was one annointed office that would be above all others.

Psalm 45:7 NIV

7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

This verse is talking about the greatest anointed one, or the great Messiah. This great anointed Messiah will hold all of the anointed offices of priest, prophet and King. This great leader who is being spoken about here will be above all leaders not just in Isreal, but in History.

Of course this great annointed one or Messiah is Jesus!

Messiah is the Christ

The hebrew title of messiah is only used a few times in the New Testament. John 1:41 and 4:25 are two other examples.

Usually the New testament writers use the Greek version of Messiah when they talk about Jesus. This greek translation of Messiah is Christ.

This is where we get the name Jesus Christ. Christ is not Jesus’ surname, it is his title as the greated annointed leader, priest, prophet and king of Isreal and indeed the whole of human kind.

Messiah in the Old Testament

The first great promise of the coming of this great leader the Messiah was in Genesis.

Genesis 3:15 NIV

15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

This was a vague promise that the Messiah was the one who would defeat Satan the one who tempted Adam and Eve to Sin and be cursed with death. From the beginnig we know he will have great power.

The Messiah would be God’s agent to deliver his people

However more detail is uncovered as the Ot Testament story continues.

The prophecies o f the coming messiah become fuller and more detailed. The search for the Messiah goes on in every generation. As each great leader is raised up as God’s annointed leader the people wonder is this one the great messiah, the serpant crusher who will finally once and for all deliver the people of God from evil and death.

Abraham, Moses and Joshua were all great leaders of Israel, but all were flawed and failed to live up to the great promise of Gen 3. After the tumultious time of the judges where more flawed leaders like Samson led the people there was a cry from the people to have a king. God warned them that they should only have him as king but gave them a king in Saul. He was annointed as King only to turn out to be a miserable failure.

His Son David was also flawed however God promised that the coming Messiah would come from his House.

2 Samuel 7:16 NIV

16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ”

Despite this promise David fails to be the serpent crusher. His descendat will be.

However in the interviewning years Israel is led by some good and many bad kings and priests and Israel were taken into captivity.

Isaiah 45:1 NIV

1 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

Cyrus king of Persiah saved Israel from Captivity described as Yahweh’s annointed.

Daniel 9:25–26 NIV

25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.

Psalm 132:17 NIV

17 “Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one.

Isaiah 45:21 NIV

21 Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.

Acts 15 paul quotes the prohet Amos:

Acts 15:16–18 NIV

16 “ ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’— 18 things known from long ago.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus’ role as the Messiah is linked to Luke’s purpose throughout Luke–Acts to show that the message rooted in the Hebrews Scriptures is good news for all people. Luke’s birth narrative, like Matthew’s, confirms that Jesus is the “Lord’s anointed” (2:26), the Messiah, who came to fulfill the promises made to David (1:32–35). Yet this is much more than a message of Jewish nationalism. All along it was part of God’s plan that the Messiah would be a “light of revelation for the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47; Isa 42:6; 49:6) and that this message of salvation would go forth from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Luke 2:32 NIV

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Ephesians 1:20–21 NIV

20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.