This paper traces the historical and theological development of the term "messiah" from its origins in Hebrew consecration practices through its transformation in Christian scripture. Beginning with the literal meaning of "anointed" in ancient Jewish ritual, the essay examines how the concept deepened through figures like David and Old Testament prophecies, then explores how Jesus Christ reinterpreted messianic expectations by emphasizing a spiritual rather than political kingdom. The paper demonstrates how Matthew's gospel connects Old Testament prophecies to Jesus's life and teachings, ultimately showing how the New Testament understanding of the Messiah expands and fulfills earlier Jewish theological frameworks.
The Jewish origins of the word "messiah" are found in the ancient consecration ritual of the Hebrews, who "anointed" something or someone by purifying it with holy oil (1 Sam 10:1–2). It is to this act of anointing that the word "messiah" is derived, as it means "anointed." Kings, priests, prophets, the Temple, and the special bread (which also takes on a unique significance in the New Testament) are all variously spoken of in terms of anointing or touching with oil in the Old Testament (1 Kings 1:39, Lev 4:3, Isa 61:1, Ex 40:9–11, Num 6:15).
However, the term "messiah" came to take on an even deeper meaning after Saul fell out of favor with the Lord and a new king, David, was anointed. David was not a direct bloodline descendant of the kings but rather a spiritual descendant of Abraham—he was of pure heart. David was anointed and, in turn, pointed the way to the Messiah of the New Testament (of whom he sang in his Psalms), whereupon the term, for Christians, took on its fullest meaning.
In Judaism, however, Christ was not believed to be the foretold Messiah for various reasons. One key reason was that he spoke of his kingdom being not of this world but of the other, and many Jews expected a "political" leader who would establish a Jewish kingdom in place of the Roman one. This paper reviews the history of the term "Messiah" and explains how its Old Testament meaning transformed into the New Testament concept.
The Old Testament is not without its foreshadowing of a divine ruler who would restore the house of Israel. For instance, Isaiah 9:6–7 foretells of a child being born who would take upon his own shoulders all the responsibilities of a ruler and that he would be called divine. But there is no actual mention of the term "messiah" in this passage.
The connection between the divine ruler and the "anointed one" would be made later, in the New Testament, when John the Baptist sends his disciples to inquire as to whether Jesus is the one for whom they are waiting or if they should seek another (Matt 11:3). Jesus's answer evokes the message of Isaiah 7:14: Jesus tells John's disciples of all the things he has done—the blind have been given sight, the lame have been given the ability to walk, all because of him—and he asks them to let these signs speak for themselves. This is how Jesus connects his role as the Messiah to the Old Testament understanding of the word, for as Isaiah says: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign" (Isa 7:14).
Walter Kaiser notes that the Old Testament uses the Hebrew word for "Messiah" a total of thirty-nine times in various capacities. Yet in the Greek translation of the Septuagint, it appears as "Kristos," from which the words Christ and Christian are derived. While the literal translation of the word is "anointed," its deeper meaning is evident in the significance that the term takes upon David's being "anointed" because, unlike Saul, David was a "man after [the Lord's] own heart" (1 Sam 13:14).
However, "anointed," as Kaiser observes, was also a term applied to "priests and prophets," a point which carried significant meaning for the early Christians who viewed Jesus as having a divine priesthood, which he passed on to his disciples at the Last Supper. At that meal, he also drew relation to that other anointed object—the unleavened bread—of the Hebrew tradition. By identifying himself as the new unleavened bread (the Pasch, or the new Paschal lamb), Jesus united himself to the Messiah image that had been passed down for centuries among the Abrahamic people.
The Messianic image had developed over time, first as part of the many covenants made between God and his people (the Adamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, and others) in which appears the theme of redemption and salvation. The prophecy of Nathan in 2 Samuel 7 helped to further deepen the implication of the term "Messiah," as it told of a kingdom in the lineage of David that would last forever. The Psalms of David also reflect this relationship between God and the "anointed one," speaking as they do of a "covenant" with God's "chosen one" who would be the Lord's servant (Ps 89:3–5, 132:10).
Thus, the Jews expected and looked towards the coming of the Messiah, who would lead them to glory. The radical revelation that Jesus brought, however, was that the glory was not an earthly one but a heavenly one—union with God. The earthly reward of followers of the Messiah was inglorious: suffering and death (as Christ himself showed on the cross, and as the first martyr, St. Stephen, showed soon afterwards).
According to W. Clark, "Matthew is the Jewish Gospel, connecting the Old Testament with the New Testament, and is written to prove the Messiahship of Christ." It is Matthew who refers to the Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah and whose gospel is written for a Jewish audience. However, in Mark 8:31, Jesus is shown teaching his disciples that the Messiah leads through accepting the punishment for the sins of mankind: that he would be rejected by the Jewish high priests, who looked for an earthly rather than a spiritual "messiah."
But Jesus also points to his power over death, a power significant to the Jews because it had been witnessed in Egypt when the Jews put the blood of the lamb on their doors to protect their firstborn from the angel of death. Jesus would suffer upon a new altar, like that which had been built by Abraham where he was to sacrifice his son Isaac. Jesus connects himself to all the major figures of the Old Testament, and in each connection is woven the thread of Messiahship, which by the time of the New Testament has come to be understood in its fullest sense: an anointed son of God, taking upon his shoulders the sins of the world, dying, but resurrecting, and leading souls to the glory of Heaven.
It is, after all, the kingdom of Heaven that Jesus has come to establish: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). In this sense, the "Messiah" of the New Testament expands the implications of the "Messiah" of the Old Testament by identifying the exact parameters of the Lord's kingdom and laying out a clear doctrine on how to behave in order to attain entrance into that kingdom.
In conclusion, the Old Testament usage of the term "Messiah" is used sparingly, but its sense is noted more often, in the hindsight of the New Testament (as in, for example, Micah 5:2: "Bethlehem...out of you will come one who will be ruler over Israel"). It is Jesus who illuminates the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies and sheds light on the meaning of the "anointed one" whom David prefigures, as he himself came from humble origins and went on to be ruler of Israel.
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