4. Jesus Is The Christ (Savior)
The Old Testament announces the salvation program that God has programmed for mankind. According to experts, the Bible mentions Christ 300 times. All Jews know this promise.
Who is the Messiah (Christus in Greek; Ki-tô in Vietnamese transliteration) who will come?
Jewish concept of Christ
Why do many Jews not recognize the Christ (Savior) they have been waiting for?
In the first chapter of the Gospel, Saint John wrote, “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him” (Jn 1, 11). Before dying, Jesus asked for those who crucified him: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Lk 23, 34).
Many Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Christ who was to come, according to the scriptures, because of ignorance.
Indeed:
– In a context where we must always be on guard against the polytheism of the pagans, worshiping a single God, it is unacceptable for anyone to call himself the ‘Son of God’. Jesus, to the Jews, did not call himself God (although he was) but always called God his father. The Trinity is a concept that is completely foreign to Judaism. Therefore, they accused him of blasphemy, “You, a man, claim to be God” (Jn 10, 33).
– They cannot understand the immense love of God for mankind, which is beyond our understanding, as the prophet Isaiah said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Is 55, 8).
– The Jews only thought, until now, that the Messiah that God promised them, was only an outstanding person, a ruler of the world, a king capable of freeing the people of Israel from foreign slavery, making the people prosperous, ruling for a long time in justice and integrity.
If so, then Jesus could not be the Christ.
Christ does not clearly rule
Because Christ is very noble, according to Eastern philosophy: the incarnation of God comes into a human being, the mind of contemporary people does not understand, so His appearance is shocking and incomprehensible to our short imagination.
When the disciples were asked who Jesus was, Peter confessed, “He is the Christ, the son of the living God” (Lk 9, 30). Jesus immediately said: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Mt 16, 17).
Because of his hindering the task of going to Jerusalem to suffer, Jesus rebuked Peter, “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Mt 16, 23).
Could the Christ that God promised to the Jews be God? This shocked even the disciples, who were of Jewish origin. Perhaps they understood it only later, but they certainly did not understand it at the time.
Jesus once addressed the Jews’ misconceptions about the Messiah. He asked the Pharisees, “What is your opinion about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “David’s.” He said to them, “How, then, does David, inspired by the Spirit, call him ‘lord,’ saying, “The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet”? If David calls him ‘lord’, how can he be his son?” (Mt 22, 42-45)
The process of knowing Christ is not a one-day affair. We now understand what Jesus said to his disciples, “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth” (Jn 16, 12-13).
The divine life is different from human society. Our minds often cannot understand the mysteries of the divine world, and it takes time to evolve.
The Bible announces that Christ will come, but not everyone understands His appearance and mission in the same way.
St. John the Baptist knew that his mission was to prepare the way and prepare for the coming of Christ. “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Lk 3, 4-6). He himself did not know when Christ would come and who He was, although he knew that this person was very great and that he himself was “not worthy to untie the thong of His sandals” (Luke 3, 16). He sent two disciples to ask Jesus if he was the Christ (Lk 7, 20). Jesus replied, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Lk 7, 22).
Jesus is the true Christ
John the Baptist understood Christ differently from the Jews: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3, 11), that is, to save people from the domination of sin, not to liberate them from material politics.
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared and accompanied two disciples on the road to Emmaus, explaining to them the scriptures about himself: Then Jesus said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures” (Lk 24, 25-32).
Jesus affirmed that he was the Christ as the Bible says: When reading the book of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, he affirmed, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4, 21).
When he was on trial, the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus answered, “I am” (Mk 14, 61-62).
He said to the Pharisees who did not believe in him, “The Father… You have never heard his voice or seen his form… You diligently research the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that testify about me” (Jn 5, 39).
Some prophecies about Christ in the Bible are fulfilled in Jesus
St. Matthew wrote in his gospel that Jesus is the Christ based on the prophecies in the Old Testament.
The prophecies about Jesus date back hundreds and thousands of years ago, propagated by the prophets in the Bible. Some of them are related as follows:
* Christ belongs to the Judean clan
Genesis 49, 10: “The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and he receives the people’s obedience.”
Luke 3, 33: “the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah.”
* Born in Bethlehem
The prophetic book of Micah 5, 1: “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathaha, least among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times.”
Matthew 2, 1: “When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.”
* A Virgin will conceive and give birth
Isaiah 7, 14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel.”
Matthew 1, 18: “Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit.”
* Massacre of children in Bethlehem
Jeremiah 31, 15: “Thus says the LORD: In Ramah is heard the sound of sobbing, bitter weeping! Rachel mourns for her children, she refuses to be consoled for her children—they are no more!”
Matthew 2, 16: “When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.”
* Despised by Jewish people
Isaiah 53, 3: “He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, knowing pain, like one from whom you turn your face, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.”
John 1, 11: “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.”
* Glory to Jerusalem on the back of a donkey
Zechariah 9, 9: “Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
John 12, 13-15: “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out: “Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel. Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as is written: Fear no more, O daughter Zion; see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.”
* Betrayed by one of his disciples
Psalm 41, 10: “Even my trusted friend, who ate my bread, has raised his heel against me.”
Mark 14, 10: “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them.”
* Sold for 30 silver coins
Zechariah 11, 13: “The Lord said to me, Throw it in the treasury—the handsome price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the treasury in the house of the Lord.”
Matthew 26, 15: “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver.”
Matthew 27, 6-7: “The chief priests gathered up the money, but said, “It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury, for it is the price of blood.” After consultation, they used it to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.”
* When being tried, he remained silent
Isaiah 53, 7: “Though harshly treated, he submitted and did not open his mouth; Like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth.”
Matthew 26, 62-63: “The high priest rose and addressed him, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
* Will have to suffer for others
Isaiah 53, 4-5: “Yet it was our pain that he bore, our sufferings he endured. We thought of him as stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.”
Matthew 8, 16-17: “When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: “He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
* Crucified with criminals
Isaiah 53, 12: “Therefore I will give him his portion among the many, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death, was counted among the transgressors, bore the sins of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”
Matthew 27, 38: “Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left.”
* Punctured both legs and arms
Psalm 22, 17: “A pack of evildoers closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and my feet.”
John 20, 27: “Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.””
* Being ridiculed and despised
Psalm 22, 7-8: “I am a worm, not a man, scorned by men, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer.”
Matthew 27, 39-40: “Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
* They gave him sour vinegar
Psalm 69, 22: “Instead they gave me poison for my food; and for my thirst they gave me vinegar.”
John 19, 29: “There was a vessel filled with vinegar. So they put a sponge soaked in vinegar on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth.”
* stabbed in the side
Zechariah 12, 10: “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of mercy and supplication, so that when they look on him whom they have thrust through, they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and they will grieve for him as one grieves over a firstborn.”
John 19, 34: “But one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.”
* They draw lots of his clothes
Psalm 22, 19: “They divide my garments among them; for my clothing they cast lots.”
Mark 15, 24: “They crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take.”
* Not a single bone is broken
Psalms 34, 21: “The Lord watches over all his bones; not one of them shall be broken.”
John 19, 33: “When they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.”
* Buried in a tomb of the rich
Isaiah 53, 9: “He was given a grave among the wicked, a burial place with evildoers, though he had done no wrong, nor was deceit found in his mouth.”
Matthew 27, 57-60: “ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over. Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.”
* Be resurrected after death
Psalm 16, 10: “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor let your devout one see the pit.”
Matthew 28, 9: “And behold, Jesus met the women on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.”
* Image of the loyal servant
The holy passage that describes the portrait of Christ (Savior) and his mission and is the clearest that we see, which is completely different from the limited concept of materialism of the Jewish people, is the passage in the prophetic book of Isaiah:
“See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him – so marred were his features, beyond that of mortals his appearance, beyond that of human beings. So shall he startle many nations, kings shall stand speechless; For those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it.” (Is 53, 13-15)
“Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye, no beauty to draw us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, knowing pain, like one from whom you turn your face, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.
Yet it was our pain that he bore, our sufferings he endured. We thought of him as stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep, all following our own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.
Though harshly treated, he submitted and did not open his mouth; Like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth.
Seized and condemned, he was taken away. Who would have thought any more of his destiny? For he was cut off from the land of the living, struck for the sins of his people.
He was given a grave among the wicked, a burial place with evildoers, Though he had done no wrong, nor was deceit found in his mouth.
But it was the LORD’s will to crush him with pain. By making his life as a reparation offering, he shall see his offspring, shall lengthen his days, and the LORD’s will shall be accomplished through him.
Because of his anguish he shall see the light; because of his knowledge he shall be content; My servant, the just one, shall justify the many, their iniquity he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the many, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death, was counted among the transgressors.” (Is 53, 1-12)
Christ of all peoples
When God called Abraham to leave his country, He said: “Through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12, 3).
God is the king of heaven and earth. The sin of Adam did not only penetrate the Jewish people. Therefore, the Messiah did not come only to this people. He is the Savior for all nations everywhere to free mankind from the slavery of sin, not the one who saves the Jewish people from foreign domination, as they were expecting.
Before Pilate, when being tried, Jesus also said: “My kingdom is not of this world” (Jn 18, 37). The kingdom of the Messiah is the kingdom of all peoples.
In short:
The criteria for a Messiah according to material and worldly politics as the Jews believed cannot be realized because at present no one can know who is a descendant of King David.
This can only be the Holy One of God. He is of the divine world and not of the human world. He is Jesus.