Messianic Titles in the First Century

The most basic messianic title is that of the Messiah as the term literally means to be the anointed one, and this term could be applied to anyone of the leaders of Israel that had been anointed (Scott, 309) prior to the ministry of Christ. The Hebrew scripture thus gave a wide variety of types of anointed ones that Christ was to fulfill as The Messiah, and as a result first century Jews may have been unable to comprehend how one person could fulfill all the messianic types in the Hebrew scripture. In first century Judaism the titles that represent the Messiah could be so very many as they sometimes derived from messianic passages found in the Hebrew scripture that had been somewhat uncommon among the scripture as a whole such as in the case of the Righteous One, Just One, Branch, Chosen One, Son of God, Son of David, Stone, and Coming One. (Scott, 319-320)

Among the most basic messianic titles, are those of the Servant of the Lord (Scott, 309) and Son of Man. (Scott, 311) For first century Judaism the Son of Man was a majestic title that was like a kingly position, and this concept emerged perhaps partly from the book of 1 Enoch. (Scott, 311-313) Scott defines the 1 Enoch Son of Man clearly as preexistent, heavenly, majestic, and with dominion and will to judge over all angles and mankind. (Scott, 313) Overall, the conception of the Son of Man contrasted sharply with the Servant of the Lord since, "In Isaiah 53 the task of the Servant of the Lord is to suffer for the sins of others, to take the place of the many who should have suffered. By this vicarious suffering he makes them righteous before God." (Scott, 314-315)

The Suffering Servant is the most critical messianic title for explaining the message of what Jesus Christ came to perform, and this is the messianic title that I would have to use to explain to an unbeliever what the purpose of Jesus ministry was in being killed on the cross. The Levitic Messiah and the Prophet like Moses conceptions of what the Messiah would be like are actually very important and correct as well in explaining the work of Jesus as the Christ since Jesus himself proclaims a woe to the Pharisees for neglecting justice and the love of god (Luke 11:42); moreover, Jesus demonstrated his convictions for justice and the love of God by establishing the new covenant with those that followed him like Moses established the national covenant between God and nation Israel after the Israelites followed Moses into the sea. Overall, the Son of Man represented Christ as king, the Suffering Servant demonstrated Christ as prophet, and the Levitic Messiah demonstrated Christ as priest; moreover, Jesus thus can be seen as having been foreshadowed by first century Jews as fulfilling all three messianic offices of prophet, priest, and king.

The concept of the Levitic Messiah is most important to me because having recognized Christ as High Priest even greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1-3), the neglect of the Pharisees to love God and perform justice (Luke 11:42), and Christ having sat down at the right hand of God the Father (Hebrews 8:1), I can thus appreciate Christ judging between the nations as king (Micah 4:3, Isaiah 2:4, and Revelation 19:15). The work of developing the body of Christ as the Church thus builds a hedge around the saints like the one noted in Job 1:10 and this develops a retaining wall as the hedge gets thicker (note 1 Peter 2:5) of the New Jerusalem as opposed to a whitewashed wall that is good for nothing (Ezekiel 13:15 and Acts 23:3). By performing justice through intercession in ways that supersede the Law of Moses (like in the case of Jesus saying, "let he who has no sin cast the first stone" - John 8:7) we thus demonstrate both Justice and the love of God at the same time while showing the Law of Moses having been canceled (Colossians 2:14), obsolete (Hebrews 8:13), and having been put in place to hold all people accountable to God (Romans 3:19).

Historically, all developments that have occurred since Jesus sat at the right hand of his father have happened through Christ judging between the nations. As a result, demonstrating the existence of Christianity despite its cost of death to martyrs (Acts 7:59), message that would otherwise be crazy if Jesus did not raise from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:32), and destruction of Jerusalem in 72AD along with Christians being permanently scattered all over the world shows that in order for all these things to happen such that now most of the world is Christian with a church every few blocks in some countries demonstrates that Jesus has really risen from the dead and is actively judging in heaven while making all people accountable to him. The fact that Christianity has grown despite the most wicked and ungodly people that sometimes try to grow it demonstrates even more clearly that if not for God causing Christianity to grow it would not even exist today. Overall, the most compelling fact that demonstrates the messianic qualities of God for me to convince a non believer is the fact that I once was a atheist and if not for the direct intervention of Christ making intercession, then I would still be an atheist without having received the faith.

Bibliography:

Scott, Julius. Jewish Background of the New Testement. Grand Rapids, Mishigan: Baker Academic, 1995.