Name Above All Names: "Messiah" Series

It was a question that struck at the very heart of WHO he was and WHAT he came to do . . . “Are you the

Christ?”

Mark’s gospel tells us that after Jesus had been apprehended in the Garden the large mob armed with

swords and clubs took Jesus to the high priest. There all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of

the law came together. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin {the chief ruling body for the Jews; the Supreme Court of sorts} were looking for evidence against him so that they could put him to death, but

they couldn’t find any. Vs. 55 No doubt the High Priest became frustrated at all the differing stories that he was getting about who this man was and what he had claimed! The Bible says that many of those who

testified against him were lying and none of their statements agreed! Some said that he claimed he would

destroy the temple! He was a terrorist! Some said he was going to build it back in three days! He was a

lunatic and a blasphemer!

Mark 14:60-61

60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this

testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again

the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" (NIV)

THAT’S the question, isn’t it? ... the question that all humanity hangs on! Is Jesus the Christ or is he the greatest con-artist the world has ever seen? That was the charge against him... that he was a blasphemer

because (as we saw last week) he not only claimed to have the same authority as God (to forgive sins),

but he claimed to BE God!

62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on

the clouds of heaven." 63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64

"You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death. (NIV)

Jesus again claims to be God. You remember how it goes down from there... the Sanhedrin had no real

authority to execute him, so they send him to the Roman authorities. But Pilate, the regional governor

(procurator of Judea) didn’t want anything to do with the whole mess, nevertheless, it falls to him to deal

with. They bring Jesus before him and Pilate asks him essentially the same question, in Roman

terminology this time... “Are you the king of the Jews?”

The Chief Priest had used the term Christ; “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed One?” but that’s

what he had meant, “Are you claiming to be the king... the Messiah that we have been looking for all these

years?” This morning, we’re continuing our look at the various NAMES given to Jesus in the Bible...

hoping to get a fuller and clearer picture of who he is and what he has done for us... so that we can more

confidently put our hope & trust in him! The Bible says, “..God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil

2:9-11 NIV)

This morning let’s look at the name (or title, rather): Christ or Messiah. The word Messiah means “anointed.” It’s a Hebrew word transliterated into English. ‘mashiah’. Translated into Greek, it is christos, from which we get CHRIST ;more of a title than a name. It means, roughly, king... in Latin the term is Caesar, in German- Kaiser; Czar in Russian and Shah in certain Middle Eastern languages. It refers to someone who has been chosen or anointed for a particular office.

In the Old Testament there were at least two such positions that were explicitly said to be God’s specially “anointed”: priests and kings. Some prophets were also said to be ‘mashiah’/ anointed. priests were anointed to lead the worship of the nation kings were anointed to their office of authority and leadership for the people. prophets were anointed to their teaching role- speaking God’s Word before the people.

When we talk about Jesus being the Messiah... we should see how he fulfills each of these vital roles for God’s people. He is certainly God’s spokesperson/ prophet as the Bible says, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe.” (Heb. 1:1-2) He is also our great High Priest who offered the one perfect sacrifice that made all previous ones meaningful and any future ones unnecessary. “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12) But MOST IMPORTANTLY for our understanding of the term Messiah, is the Kingly function of the Messiah! Above everything else, the Jewish people expected the Messiah to be their KING! That would come to be a source of great confusion for them.