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In context, it refers to the Anticipated King of the Davidic line prophesied by Isaiah , who will rule the Jewish People during the Messianic Age ; in a general sense, it means any such saviour or liberator of the world; and among Christians , it refers to Jesus Of Nazareth identified as the Christ (, ''the Anointed One''). In the 1st 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, ''Christos'', "the anointed one") is a literal translation of " Mashiah " 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 called the ''Masih.'' Arabic for Messiah The Septuagint , an ancient Jewish translation of the Torah into Greek and later other books by anonymous people , translates all thirty-nine instances of the word ''messiah'' as ''Christos''. The New Testament records the Greek form Μεσσίας, ''Messias'', only twice, in John 1:41 and 4:25. IN THE HEBREW BIBLE (THE TANAKH) See Also: Jewish Messiah The concept of the messiah is neither common nor unified in the Tanakh . In the Tanakh, Israelite Priests , prophets, and Kings were anointed with Oil in consecration to their respective offices. The Tanakh 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''). Christians believe that Daniel was a prophet and gave an indication of when the Messiah the king “mashiyach nagiyd” would come in the Tanakh, Daniel . Jews do not consider the Book of Daniel to be prophecy and it is found in Writings, not Prophets. The Jewish position on Daniel 9 is that it is about two messiahs—the first who will give the order to rebuild the Temple (Cyrus, King of Persia) and the second who would be cut off during the time of the fall of the Temple. 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 Hebrew word for messiah translates to anointed one. Thus to Jews there have been many messiahs—all the anointed kings and priests including David, Solomon and Aaron. When speaking of "the" messiah of the future Jews speak of two potential messiahs. ''Moshiach ben Yossef'' (Messiah son of Joseph) and ''Moshiach 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 which often uses stories to make a moral point (aggadah) tells the tale 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 usher in the messianic age of peace to the world and the return of all Jews to Israel. Reform Judaism teaches both the belief in a messiah or that 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."Schwartzman, 2004 CHRISTIAN VIEW See Also: Christian views of Jesus Messianic prophecy in Christianity Christianity Emerged in the 1st Century A.D. 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' (χριστος ''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 from the Jewish and Muslim (Shafaat, 2003) concepts because all but a few Christians believe 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 7:13-14 (NIV): :In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a ''son of man'', coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. 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. Some identified Jesus as the Messiah ( 23:2), and he is recorded at least twice as asserting it himself directly (Mark 14:60-62, John 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 to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy. Section references: Ankerberg & Weldon, 1997; McDowell, 1999 MORMON VIEW Mormons believe that the Jewish Messiah is Jesus , the literal begotten son of God. They believe that he came initially and was rejected, killed and was resurrected, and rose to heaven to remain with God until the time of the Jews' redemption has come. They believe that King David referred to this waiting period in the following quote from Psalms: }} They further believe that in the last days, all the nations of the world will gather against the Jews, and that the Messiah will return and stand on the Mount Of Olives , causing it to split and allowing the residue of the Jews to flee out of Jerusalem : }} It is there, after their flight from the city, that Christ will present himself to the Jews so that they may see the wounds of his crucifixion, and they will realize that he was their Messiah: }} ISLAMIC VIEW: JESUS TO RETURN See Also: Islamic view of Jesus Mahdi Muhammad al-Mahdi Muslims believe that Jesus is alive in Heaven, and will return to Earth to defeat the Antichrist . A Hadith in Abu Dawud () says: :"Narrated . God will perish all religions except Islam. He will destroy the Antichrist and will live on the earth for forty years and then he will die. The Muslims will pray behind him." Muslims believe that al-Mahdi will arrive first, and after him, Jesus. Jesus will proclaim that the true leader is al-Mahdi. A war, literally Jihad (Jihade Asghar) will be fought - the Dajjal (evil) against al-Mahdi and Jesus (good). This war will mark the approach of the coming of the Last Day. After Jesus slays Al-Masīh Al-Dajjāl (literally "the Deceiving Messiah," loosely the Antichrist ; often referred to simply as "Dajjāl") at the Gate of Ludd , Muslims believe he will marry, die, and be buried in the Masjid Al Nabawi . During his life, he will have revealed that Islam is the last word of God. A Hadith in Sahih Bukhari () says: :"How will you be when the son of Mary descends amongst you and he will judge people by the Law of the Qur'an and not by the law of the Man." A very few scholars outside of Orthodox Islam reject all the quotes attributed to Muhammad (Hadith) that mention the second return of Jesus, the Dajjal and Imam Mahdi , believing that they have no Qur'anic basis. These scholars believe that the verb “mutawwafika” in verse implies that God caused the bodily death of Jesus, thus (3:55) should read as “O Jesus, I terminate your life, raise you to Me.” Others disagree with the implication of termination of Jesus’ life (for example Yusuf Ali’s translation reads: “O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself”). Verses imply that Jesus was not killed; Verse implies that Jesus will die someday. The vast majority of Muslims, and the unified opinion of Orthodox Islam since Islam's coming, maintain that the bodily death of Jesus will happen after his second coming. Many classical commentators such as Ibn Kathir, At-Tabari, al-Qurtubi, Suyuti, al-Undlusi (Bahr al-Muhit), Abu al-Fadl al-Alusi (Ruh al-Maani) and many others clearly mention that verse of the Qur'an refers to the descent of Jesus before the Day of Resurrection, indicating that Jesus would be the Sign that the Hour is close. :"And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment): therefore have no doubt about the (Hour)..." () Those that reject the second coming of Jesus argue that the knowledge of the Hour is only with God, and that the Hour will come suddenly. They maintain that if the second coming of Jesus were true, whenever it happens, billions of people would then be certain the Hour is about to come. The response given to this is that signs that the Last Hour is near have been foretold and given, including that of the second coming of Jesus, as signs indicating the Last Hour is near. They will not clarify when it is to come in any specific sense, and hence do not reveal it. Another relevant verse from the Qur'an: :"And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death" () As an example of a Qur'anic verse that is considered to refer to the end time events: :"Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): My servants the righteous, shall inherit the earth." () BAHá'í FAITH Bahá'ís believe in the essential unity of all the Prophets, as Manifestations of the same God. As such each Prophet is a return of the last prophet, the same spirit and message, and the only difference is in the non-essential teachings related to the exigencies of the day and age. "Bahá'ís believe that in the past literal interpretations of the signs related to the Messiah, the Second Coming , or the Mahdi have blinded people's eyes towards the message of God: :Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all times, yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they expected His coming, how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of Divine mercy might blow, and the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned away from His face—the face of God Himself…." Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh OTHER MESSIAHS See Jewish Messiah Claimants for an overview of such claimants and links to more detailed articles. In Stregheria , Jesus of Nazareth 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 is the messiah. The Ahmadi /Ahmadiyya religion, considered deviated 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 Charisma tic, 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 . NOTES REFERENCES Books On-line Judaism
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