Information AboutMessiah |
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In Judaism , the Messiah ('''מָשִׁיחַ''' Standard Hebrew '''''', Tiberian Hebrew '''''', Aramaic '''''', Arabic '''''') initially meant any person who was anointed by a prophet of God. In English today, it is used in two major contexts: the anticipated saviour of the Jews, and one who is anticipated as, regarded as, or professes to be a saviour or liberator. Jews, however, don't generally use the word "saviour" in reference to the messiah, primarily because of the Christian connotation of the word "saviour." In the first century, Jews interpreted the prophecies of the Tanakh to refer more specifically to someone appointed by God to lead the Jewish people in the face of their tribulations with the Romans. Christians believe that these prophecies actually referred to a spiritual savior, and consider Jesus to be that messiah. The word ''Christ'' ( Greek Χριστός, ''Khristos'', "the anointed one") is a literal translation of " Mashiach " used in the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and derived from the Greek verb χριω "rub, anoint with scented unguents or oil, as was done after bathing", "anoint in token of consecration" (''Liddell & Scott's Greek-English Lexicon''). In Islam , Jesus ( Isa ) is also considered the ''Maseeh'', or Messiah, and his eventual return to the Earth is expected with that of another messianic figure, the Mahdi . Some speculate that the Jewish concept of the Messiah did not arise as depicted in the Hebrew Scriptures , but rather originates in the Zoroastrian idea of Saoshyant . For similar figures in other religions, refer to the "See also" section in this article. The Septuagint , an ancient Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Greek , translates all thirty-nine instances of the word ''messiah'' as ''Khristos''. The New Testament records the Greek form Μεσσίας, ''Messias'', only twice, in John 1:41 and 4:25. In the Hebrew Bible See Also: Jewish Messiah The concept of the messiah is neither common nor unified in the Hebrew Bible . In the Hebrew Bible, Israelite Priests , Prophet s, and Kings were anointed with Oil in consecration to their respective offices. The Hebrew Bible contains a number (the number is debated) of prophecies concerning a future descendant of King David who will be anointed as the Jewish people's new leader (''moshiach''). The prophecies regarding this person refer to him as a descendant of King David who will rebuild the nation of Israel , bring World Peace by restoring the Davidic Kingdom , destroy the wicked, and ultimately judge the whole world. The mainstream Jewish understanding of ''mashiach'' (the messiah) has little, if anything, in common with the Christian understanding of Jesus as Christ (messiah). This subject is covered in more detail in the entry on Jewish Eschatology . Traditional and contemporary Judaism The concept of the messiah varies in traditional and contemporary Judaism. The view of the messiah in Talmudic literature is that there are two messiahs, ''Mashiach ben Yossef'' (Messiah son of Joseph) and ''Mashiach ben David'' (Messiah son of David). {Link without Title} The Hebrew ''ben'' can mean either son or descendant. In this sense it can also mean "in the manner of", i.e., there will be a "suffering servant" messiah in the manner of Joseph son of Israel/Jacob and a different messiah in the manner of King David. A common rabbinic interpretation is that there is a ''potential'' messiah in every generation. The Talmud tells of a highly respected rabbi who found the Messiah at the gates of Rome and asked him "When will you finally come?" He was quite surprised when he was told, "Today." Overjoyed and full of anticipation, the man waited all day. The next day he returned, disappointed and puzzled, and asked, "You said messiah would come 'today' but he didn't come! What happened?" The Messiah replied, 'Scripture says, "Today, ''if you will but hearken to His voice'' . . ." (Psalm 95:7) Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism believe in a future physical messiah who will bring peace to the world. Reform Judaism teaches there will be a time of peace, etc., but that it will be the result of Tikkun Olam ("repair of the world") through human efforts toward social justice, not the actions of one man. "Choice is the underlying reason the Reform Movement gave up the need for and belief in a messiah who would one day bring judgment, and perhaps salvation, to the world. The fact that God imbues us with free choice mitigates the need for a messianic figure." Christian view See Also: Christian views of Jesus Christianity emerged in the first century C.E. as a movement among Jews (and their Gentile associates and converts) who believed Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah; the very name of 'Christian' refers to the Greek word for 'Messiah' (''Khristos''). Although Christians commonly refer to Jesus as the "Christ" instead of "Messiah", in Christian theology the two words are synonymous. Christianity claims that Jesus is the Messiah that Jews were expecting. John 1:41-42 ''The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.'' However, the Christian concept of the Christ/Messiah is fundamentally different and much broader than the Jewish and Muslim (Shafaat, 2003) concepts because Jesus claimed to be God (cf. John 10:37-38; 14:7-11; 17:5; 17:11 and the following): :John 10:30 (NIV) ''I and the Father are one.'' :John 10:33 (NIV) ''"...you, a mere man, claim to be God..."'' :John 14:9b (NIV) ''"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."'' In Christian theology, the Christ/Messiah serves four main functions (Ankerberg & Weldon, pp. 218-223):
In the New Testament , Jesus often referred to himself as 'Son of Man' (Mark 14:61b-62; Luke 22:66-70), which Christianity interprets as a reference to Daniel 7:13-14 (NIV): In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Because Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and that he claimed to be the Son of Man referred to by Daniel, Christianity interprets Daniel 7:13-14 as a statement of the Messiah's authority and that the Messiah will have an everlasting kingdom. Jesus' use of this title is seen as a direct claim to be the Messiah. Jesus offered no denial when others identified him as the Messiah and successor of King 4:25-26). Christianity interprets a wide range of biblical passages in the Old Testament (Hebrew scripture) as predicting the coming of the Messiah (see Christianity And Biblical Prophecy for examples), and believes that they are following Jesus' own explicit teaching:
Christianity believes many of the Messianic prophecies were fulfilled in the mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and seeks to spread throughout the world its interpretation that the Messiah is the only Saviour, and that Jesus will return in the Second Coming to fulfill the rest of Messianic Prophecy . (The role of Jesus in Christian theology goes far beyond identification as the Messiah described in the Hebrew Bible .) Section references: Ankerberg & Weldon, 1997; McDowell, 1999 In Islam In the Qur'an , the scripture of Islam , Isa (Jesus) is described as a Messenger of God as well as "the Messiah." The belief is that he was raised to heaven and will return at the end of days to live out the rest of his natural life. Some Muslims claims the Messiah was prophesized in the "testimony of Levi" in Genesis as a descendent of Levi , and that the prophecy about "the shoot of Jesse" was displaced in antiquity from the Joshua section to other Prophet s scrolls, and that both Joshua prophecy and the Testimony of Judah (the star, shoot) were already achieved in David . The '' Mahdi '' (''al-Mahdi'', ''Imam Mehdi'', etc.), is a different person from Jesus/Isa and is another messianic figure in Islam . The Mahdi will usher in a new age of peace, and restore a perfect Islamic society. Shia and Sunni opinions on Al-Mahdi differ somewhat, but both sects agree that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah . : ''As for Islamic sources, they do not mention a King-Messiah who restores the kingdom of David or a Priest-Messiah who restores the temple rites. Not only the Qur`an does not mention the King-Messiah or the Priest-Messiah, but it also does not give much importance to the institutions of kingship and priesthood.'' (Shafaat, 2003) Section references: Vaca, 2001; Shafaat, 2003 Other Messiahs See Jewish Messiah Claimants for an overview of such claimants and links to more detailed articles. In Stregheria , Jesus Christ is believed to have been a sort of "evil messiah" or False Messiah , while Aradia De Toscano is seen as the true Saviour who came to free the poor and the oppressed from the bondages of Christianity . Adherents to the Unification Movement consider Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon to be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Shakers believed that Jesus was the male Messiah and Mother Ann Lee , the female Messiah. For the Rastafari Movement , Haile Selassie Of Ethiopia was the messiah. The Ahmadi /Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, considered heretical by mainstream Islam, believes that the Messiah and Mahdi have come in the form of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India (1835-1908). Messianic figure A messianic figure is a person who is viewed as having a number of the characteristics of the Messiah in the eyes of a particular group. These usually include that the person is charismatic, influential, develops a power base, is appealing to a large group that views itself as oppressed in some way, and appears to offer a way to overthrow that oppression. Examples of messianic figures include St. Joan Of Arc , said to have visions to deliver France from English domination near the end of the Hundred Years' War and Adolf Hitler who claimed he would deliver post- World War I Germany from economic oppression caused by reparations and protect Germany from Communists . George Washington and Boris Yeltsin could be viewed as messianic figures of a sort. References Books On-line Judaism
Christianity Islam Non-specific religious General See also
External links Non-specific religious
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