Scholar explains why Jesus is Messiah

Reflection

Whether Jesus fulfils the expectations laid out for a coming Messiah is one of the oldest debates between Jewish and Christian readers of scripture, and it deserves careful, respectful handling rather than glib certainty on either side. Scholars have long pointed to passages such as Isaiah 53's suffering servant or the timing prophecies in Daniel as texts Christians read as pointing toward Jesus, while others read the same texts differently. What is not really in dispute is that the earliest Christians, themselves Jewish, staked everything on the claim that Jesus fulfilled these hopes, a claim costly enough that many died for it rather than recant. Peter told the crowds at Pentecost that God had made this Jesus, whom they had crucified, both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36). A scholarly case for that claim is worth taking seriously precisely because the stakes, historically and personally, have never been small.

Questions to sit with

• How much do you actually know about the Jewish expectations Jesus is said to fulfil?
• What would change for you personally if you were convinced this claim were true?
• Are you willing to sit with a genuinely difficult historical and theological question rather than avoid it?

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