Who is the Messiah?
Jesus Christ is the Messiah. In the Old Testament, the Messiah of Israel (Jesus) is spoken of as the Seed of a woman in Genesis 3:15:
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
Here, God is speaking to the serpent. This is the first promise in the Bible of the Messiah who would come of the seed of the woman (by virgin birth) and crush the head of the serpent forever settling the sin question. Jesus was born of Mary, the young Jewish virgin.
The Messiah of Israel is also spoken of as the seed of Abraham (Genesis12: 1-3). The Hebrews from the time of Abraham onward correctly understood that the world deliverer would come of Hebrew parentage.
Jacob stated:
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people" (Genesis 49:10).
This Scripture is recognized by both Jews and Christians as a prediction concerning the coming of King Messiah. According to the verse the deliverer of the world will come from of the tribe of Judah. He makes His first appearance to the earth while the power and supremacy remain in the tribe of Judah. Since that authority passes away from Judah in the overthrow of the Hebrew race in 70 A.D. it is absolutely established and certain that Messiah Jesus appeared before that time. From this conclusion there can be no other. According to this great prophecy of Jacob, Messiah is the One who has the right to reign. All other monarchs and rulers occupy their positions until the King of kings, the Messiah of Israel, makes His second appearance and will mount the throne of David and reign over a restored earth.
The Messiah is also called the Seed of David (2 Samuel 7). The promise of the Messiah is narrowed down to the family of the great King of Israel─David. Isaiah the prophet spoke of this same deliverer as being born of a virgin: "Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel (Isaiah 7:14). This passage is a commentary on that found in Genesis 3:15 which says that messiah is to be the seed of the woman.
Micah's prophecy states that the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world comes to the earth first as a baby born at Bethlehem of Judah:
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
In the New Testament in the Gospel of Matthew reveals the generations of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham and clearly links the history of Jesus Christ with the promise which God made to Abraham and renewed to David. In the first chapter of Matthew we have an account of the birth of Jesus Christ, of the virgin, Mary. Matthew shows us that the passage found in Isaiah 7:14 was literally fulfilled in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
Before Joseph took Mary to whom he was betrothed, to himself as his wife, he became alarmed at her condition, realizing she was an expectant mother. To calm his fears an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream, saying:
"But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us" (Matthew 1:20-23).
From these Scriptures we see the prophecy of Isaiah in the Old Testament was literally fulfilled in the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that Mary was a true virgin is the testimony of the four gospel writers together with others of the New Testament. As further evidence that Jesus of Nazareth is the one promised David to sit upon his throne The angel Gabriel said this to Mary:
" Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" Luke 1:30-33).
From these passages it is evident that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the one to mount the throne of David and reign over the house of Jacob, extending his reign even to the ends of the earth. The apostle Paul in the first chapter of his gospel spoke very directly concerning the nature and person of the Hebrew Messiah by declaring: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The entire gospel of John shows conclusively that King Messiah is none other than God in human form, Jesus the Christ (Yeshua Ha Mashiach).
