Jesus Did in Fact Claim to Be the Messiah

The other day, my lovely wife of 31 years woke me up at 7 a.m. with these words: "It's raining, John."

Frankly, I knew exactly what she meant. She was referring to precipitation -- to water falling from the sky. There was nothing ambiguous about her simple comment. I stirred from a deep sleep and looked outside our bedroom window. The sky was gray and a steady rain was pouring down indeed.

As far as I'm concerned, specific words mean specific things.

Which is why I can't understand why Texas minister John Hagee -- or anyone else, for that matter -- can possibly say with a straight face that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. If words mean anything, and they do, Jesus repeatedly made it clear that He was the Annointed One of God...the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the world.

Frankly, on that point there is no ambiguity whatsoever. The New Testament is unmistakably clear as to the identity of Jesus -- particularly in reference to what He said about Himself. Consider just a few passages from the Gospels:

In John 10:24-25, we read the following: "Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me."

Note the remark that some of Israel's religious leaders made to Jesus -- "If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." Note also how Jesus replied -- "I told you, and ye believed not."

If words mean anything, some Jewish religionists wanted Jesus to tell them whether He was the Messiah. And He told them that He'd already told them. The problem, He added, was that they didn't believe Him.

Then -- as now -- the problem for those who rejected Jesus' claims to Messiahship was not one of confusion, but of unbelief.

Moreover, in examining the above-mentioned passage carefully, there is another important detail in Jesus' words. He speaks of His "works" -- and says that these "bear witness of me." His works refer to His deeds. Hagee says that Jesus did not claim to be Messiah in words or by deeds. But Jesus said that His works -- His deeds -- bore witness to His identity.

What was Jesus talking about? He was alluding to His miracles. His miracles (His works, deeds) served notice that He was no ordinary man. He was the Annointed One of God, as proven by His ability to perform deeds that transcended the laws of nature.

One of the titles for the Messiah is "Son of Man." It was Jesus' favorite self-designation. The term means that Jesus represents all of humanity. He is not a son of man, but THE Son of Man -- the one who came to earth to represent and lead us. The title indicates authority over all of mankind.

That proof that Jesus IS the Son of Man is that He performed mighty, miraculous deeds. And least that's what Jesus Himself said. And in my mind, those words mean something. What other conclusion could possibly be drawn from Matthew 9:5-7:

"For which is easier: to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house."

Here, Jesus healed a paralytic. Jesus knew that those who were watching did not believe He was the Messiah. He pointed out that anyone can easily say to another, "Your sins are forgiven." But to physically heal that person of a serious infirmity -- now that's another story altogether.

Bottom line: How could the people know that Jesus really did have the authority to forgive sins -- that He really was the Messiah, the Son of Man? Answer: by observing His miracle-working power. In other words, His mighty deeds confirmed His Messiahship.

In the four Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- Jesus by word and deed affirms that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

That is why He performed so many miracles over a three-and-a-half-year period. In doing so, He removed all reasonable doubt as to who He was...and who He claimed to be.

That is also why He made use of striking statements such as the "I Am" sayings in the Gospel of John. The phrase "I Am" was a direct claim to divinity. In the Old Testament, "I Am" was the Name by which God revealed Himself to Moses, as recorded in Exodus 3:13-14.

As the unique Son of God and possessor of deity Himself, Jesus applied the divine title to Himself -- frequently. In John's Gospel, Jesus identified Himself as follows:

"I am the Bread of Life" (6:35). "I am the Light of the world" (8:12). "I am the door of the sheep" (10:7). "I am the Good Shepherd" (10:11). "I am the resurrection and the life" (11:25). "I am the way, the truth and the life" (14:6). "I am the true vine" (John 15:5).

Even more startlingly, He made this powerful pronouncement in John 8:58 -- "Before Abraham was, I Am." Abraham lived more than 2,000 years before Jesus. Yet Jesus told a group of religious opponents one day that before Abraham existed, He, Jesus, was the "I Am." In other words, Jesus claimed divinity, and divinity was one of the qualifications and prerequisities of the Messiah.

In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, the Messiah who was to come was described this way: "...His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (9:6). Those words are more than beautiful lyrics in Handel's Messiah. They are words that tell of Messiah's nature and origin. He was/is no mere man -- He was/is the Mighty God: God in flesh.

In the First Century, there were people who somehow imagined that Jesus' words and deeds failed to establish He was the Messiah. And the same is true today. For whatever reason, those people, whether ancient or modern, simply aren't paying attention.