Is Jesus Christ the Messiah?

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus as the Messiah?

The Bible unequivocally declares Jesus Christ as the Messiah, fulfilling numerous Old Testament prophecies. The Scriptures, especially the Old Testament, are rich with prophecies regarding the Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth affirmed His identity as the Messiah in John 6:66-69 when Peter declared, 'We believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Throughout the Old Testament, various titles and characteristics of the Messiah are outlined, including that He would come from the tribe of Judah, be born in Bethlehem, and perform miraculous acts. From Genesis 3:15 prophesying the seed of the woman to Malachi 3:1 announcing the messenger who prepares the way, the entire narrative leads us to understand Jesus as the fulfillment of these divine promises.

Q: How do we know Jesus is the Christ?

We know Jesus is the Christ through His fulfilled prophecies, His lineage, and His miraculous works. The certainty that Jesus is the Christ comes from several profound truths. First, the timing of His arrival aligns precisely with the Old Testament predictions. Genesis 49:10 foretold that the scepter would remain with Judah until Shiloh came, affirming Jesus’ lineage. Additionally, scriptures like Micah 5:2 directly state His birthplace as Bethlehem, establishing prophetic accuracy that only Jesus can claim. Furthermore, His ministry was marked by miracles that authenticated His divine authority, fulfilling Isaiah's vision of the blind receiving sight and the dead raised. This miraculous validation combined with the testimony of scripture forms a compelling case for His identity as the Christ.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to believe Jesus is the Messiah?

Believing that Jesus is the Messiah is crucial because it affirms our faith in His redemptive work and eternal life. For Christians, the belief that Jesus is the Messiah is foundational to their faith. This belief assures us of our salvation and eternal life, as John 6:68-69 illustrates Peter's declaration that Christ holds the words of eternal life. The Messiah came to fulfill God's promises and provide a means of reconciliation through His death and resurrection. Moreover, acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah aligns believers with the entirety of redemptive history, from the promises made in the Old Testament to their fulfillment in the New Testament. This understanding fosters assurance in God’s sovereignty and grace, solidifying the believer's hope in Christ’s eternal kingdom.

I'm going to read a passage of
Scripture from the book of John, John chapter 6. I wish we had
time to read this entire chapter, the sixth chapter of John. One
of the most glorious chapters in all the Word of God, this
message by our Lord Jesus Christ. Sixty-nine verses or seventy
verses in this sixth chapter of John. But I'm just going to
read a part of it. I'm speaking to you today on
this subject. Now listen carefully. Here's
my subject. Is Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah? Is Jesus of Nazareth, is He the
Christ? Is He the Messiah? In John chapter
6, verse 66, right at the end of the chapter, after He had
brought this sermon people started leaving, deserting him. It says, from that time after
he said those words, many of his followers went back. They left him and they walked
no more with him. Many people who had been following
him for a long time, listening to him preach, observing the
miracles, they went back and they walked no more with him.
had nothing to do with it. And then Jesus said to the twelve,
those twelve disciples around him, Peter, James, John, Nathanael,
Philip, he said, will you also go away? Will you? And then Simon Peter answered
and said to him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and we're sure
that You are the Christ, You are the Messiah, You are the
Son of God. You are the Messiah. That's my
question. Do you believe that Jesus Christ,
Jesus of Nazareth, is the Christ? Do you believe Jesus, who was
born of Mary, born in Bethlehem, walked in Jerusalem, Capernaum,
Bethsaida, all these cities, came out of Galilee, called the
carpenter, died on a cross, do you believe He is the Messiah?
Do you believe He's the Christ? that God promised from the very
beginning in Genesis 315 and all the way through the Old Testament,
someone's coming, the seed of woman, the seed of Abraham, the
priest like Melchizedek, the prophet like Moses, the king
like David, that he's the Messiah. Now John the Baptist was in prison
and John the Baptist sent two of his followers to Jesus of
Nazareth. The Lord Jesus Christ was out
here preaching. I call Him the Lord Jesus Christ
because I believe and I'm sure that He is the Lord, He is the
Christ. But Jesus of Nazareth was out here preaching. And John
the Baptist sent two of his followers to Jesus of Nazareth. And this
is what they asked. They said, John sent us. And
John wants to know, are you the Messiah? Are you the Christ? Or do we look for another? And then when the woman at the
well, you remember the woman at the well? Of course you do.
Our Lord spoke to her in that whole fourth chapter of John.
He deals with this woman finally. She realized that she's talking
to a man who's no ordinary man. He knows too much about her and
about all things. He spake as no man ever spake.
And she realized that this man to whom she's speaking is no
ordinary man. She said, I perceive you're a
prophet. And then she added, we know that
the Messiah is coming, that Christ is coming. And when he's come,
he will tell us all things. He's coming from God, the Messiah. See, the Jews, Samaritans and
all, looked for the Messiah. They looked for the Christ, expected
Him to come. They expected Him to come a lot
differently from the way He did come, but they were looking for
Him. She, even this woman, said, The Messiah is coming, and when
He comes, He'll tell us everything. And that's when Jesus of Nazareth
said to her, I that speak to thee am the Messiah, I'm the
Christ. You see, the Messiah is described
by the Old Testament writers in so many, many, many, many
ways. If I were to start telling you the different ways in which
he's described in the Old Testament, I'd be here, the whole program
would be devoted nothing but names of the Messiah. He's described
as the anointed of God, as the prophet, priest, and king. He's
described in this way. His name is Wonderful Counselor. the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. He's called Emmanuel. He's called
the virgin son. He's called a man of sorrows
acquainted with grief. He's called the Lord our righteousness. He's called the branch. He's
called the son of David, the root of Jesse. He's called the
lion of the tribe of Judah. He's called the messenger of
the covenant. He's called the desire of all nations. They're
just name after name after name given to the Messiah in the Old
Testament. In fact, that's what the Old
Testament is all about, from Genesis to Malachi. Someone's coming. God is sending
a Messiah. God is sending the branch, the
King, the Redeemer, the Christ. He's coming. He's coming. Now, I believe He has come. And the disciples said, He's
come. We believe that you are the Christ. You are the Christ,
the Messiah, the Son of God. Can I show you from the scriptures
that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Messiah? He is indeed the
Christ. He is indeed the Redeemer. Let
me show you. If you'd like to take these down,
there are just several of them, but let me just point out a few
reasons for believing. and like Peter said, and being
sure that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. First of all, the
time when He came to the earth, the time when He came. In Genesis 49, 10, way back yonder,
when Israel was in Egypt, and Jacob was about to die, and he
called his 12 sons, and he was blessing these 12 sons, each
by name. Finally, he came to Judah. He
came to Judah, and he says to Judah, the scepter, the rod of
power and rule. Now, they were just a handful
of people, 100 or 120 people down in Egypt now, 12 sons, Joseph,
all the rest of them, Reuben, Dan, Judah. They were just a
handful of them. They didn't have a king, just
a handful of them there. And he was blessing them. And
he said, But the scepter shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh
comes. Shiloh. And unto him shall the
gathering of the people be. Unto Shiloh, line of the tribe
of Judah. My friends, when Jesus Christ
was born, the tribe of Judah was still known. Mary and Joseph
were of the tribe of Judah. But shortly thereafter, They
were dispersed. There was no tribe of Judah.
Several years after Christ died on the cross, you couldn't find
the tribe of Judah or the descendants of the tribe of Judah. He had
to be, the Messiah had to come then when the tribe of Judah
was still there and the scepter was in the tribe of Judah. They
didn't even have a nation after that. They were dispersed. Didn't
have a king. And then in Malachi chapter 3
verse 1, God says this. I will send my messenger, talking
about John the Baptist, he'll go before me, and then the Lord
shall suddenly come to his temple. The Lord shall come to his temple.
The Lord whom you seek shall come suddenly to his temple.
What temple? That was the second, the rebuilding
of the temple. And in Haggai 2, verse 9, our
Lord said to the rebuilders of the second temple that the Messiah
would come while that temple stood. The rebuilding of the
temple. They were rebuilding the temple.
And God said that the messenger of the covenant is coming to
this temple and the latter glory shall be greater than the first.
The latter glory, when Christ came to Jerusalem, and stood
in the temple. He made a whip and drove out
the money changers, but he said, My house shall be called a house
of prayer. Our Lord went to the temple, and there He preached,
and there He drove out the money changers. He came to the temple,
and the glory He brought to that temple was far greater than the
glory of Solomon's temple. They had an ark and a mercy seat.
Jesus Christ is the ark and the mercy seat, and He stood in the
temple. After he died, the temple was
destroyed. Titus, the Roman emperor, came
into Jerusalem and tore down the temple, tore down the city. There's no more temple. Hasn't
been for almost 2,000 years. So Jesus of Nazareth has to be
the Messiah. There's no temple for the messenger
of the covenant to which he can come. No temple for the Messiah
to stand in. That's right, the temple was
destroyed, so was Jerusalem. The time He came, He has to be
the Messiah. All right, secondly, the place
where the Messiah was to be born. Where was the Messiah to be born?
To Christ. The Old Testament tells us, Micah
5, verse 2 says, Bethlehem, Iphithah, thou Bethlehem, though thou be
little, a little town, Bethlehem, O little town of Bethlehem. the
little town of Bethlehem, little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee, out of thee shall he come forth," God said,
unto me, my messenger, my Redeemer, my Christ, that is to be the
ruler in Israel. And listen, his goings forth
have been from of old, from everlasting. Bethlehem, out of you, shall
shallow line of the tribe of Judah be born, and shall come
unto me. And it's written of him, he'll
be the ruler in Israel, he'll be the king of kings and Lord
of lords. And this line of the tribe of Judah born in Bethlehem,
his goings forth have been from everlasting." Where is Bethlehem? Where was it just a few years
after Christ came and died on the cross. Where's Judah? Where's the temple? Where's Bethlehem?
Gone. Matthew 2, 1 through 6, Herod,
the king, inquired of the scribes and priests where the Christ
should be born. He said, where is this? When
the wise men came through wanting to know where he was to be born,
it bothered old Herod. He said, this king of the Jews,
where is he going to be born? And all the scribes and the Sadducees
came around and the priest and they said, Bethlehem. He's to
be born in Bethlehem. Christ is the Messiah. Shallow,
line of the tribe of Judah, messenger of the covenant, the Lord came
to his temple, it was destroyed, born in Bethlehem, whose goings
forth is forevermore. Listen, thirdly, the Old Testament
scriptures insist and declare plainly that the Christ must
be the son of David. He must be the son of David. He must be of the house, the
family tree, the lineage of David. David has to be his great, great,
great, great, great, great grandfather. His house and lineage has to
be traced through his mother, right back to David. His mother
is in the line of David and an heir to the throne. Now then,
what about Jesus of Nazareth? He'll be from Judah, David's
tribe. He'll be the root of Jesse, David's
father. He'll be the son of David, of
David's house and lineage. If you look in your Bible in
chapter 1 of Matthew, the first 15 verses, you'll find there
the house of David. You'll find the family tree.
You'll find it listed right through Solomon. You'll find David, who
begat Solomon, who begat this one, this one, this one, who
begat Joseph, who was thought to be the father of Jesus. He
was the foster father of Jesus. In other words, Joseph, the foster
father of Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter, was a prince. He was a descendant of David,
a direct descendant of David through Solomon, Joseph. Now, if you turn to Luke, You'll
find that the house of David and the descendants of David
are traced through his son, Nathan. David's son, Solomon, begat different
ones. Joseph came through Solomon from
David. Then you take in Luke 3, Nathan,
David's other son. And you know who was born through
Nathan? Mary. But someone says over there in
Luke 3, it says, Heli was the father of Joseph, father-in-law. the father-in-law because no
woman ever had her genealogy traced in the Bible. It's always
traced through the man. And so in chapter 1 of Matthew,
you have the house of Joseph right through Solomon to David.
And in Luke, you have under Joseph's name who was the son-in-law of
Heli. That's Mary's daddy, Heli. You
have the house and lineage of Mary right back to David through
Nathan. So Jesus Christ born to Mary,
whose foster father was Joseph, is the heir to the throne, actually,
son of David. One day our Lord said to the
Pharisees, He said, What think ye of Christ, the Christ? Whose
son is the Christ? They said, Son of David. Well,
He said, How can He be David's Lord and David's son? They couldn't
answer that. Can you? He's David's Lord in
that He's God Almighty. He's declared to be the Son of
God, but He's manifested in the flesh, the Son of David, through
Mary, great, great, great granddaughter of King David, through Nathan.
He's the Messiah. And then, watch this, in the
Old Testament, the kind of miracles. See, the Messiah was to come
and perform. He had many witnesses, but He
was to perform certain miracles. If you look in the Word of God
in Psalm 146 and Isaiah 32 and 35, it tells about the special
miracles that he will perform. Now, going back right now to
that question John the Baptist asked Jesus of Nazareth, are
you the Messiah? Are you the Christ or do we look
for another? What was the answer that the
Lord Jesus gave him? He said here, go and show John
how the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the dead are raised,
the lepers are cleansed, and the poor have the gospel preached
unto them. The blind see. No one can give
sight to the blind but the Lord. No one can raise the dead but
the Lord. No one can make lame legs walk
but the Lord, the Messiah, the Christ. And even his enemies
acknowledged that. Nicodemus came to him and said,
no man could do what you do. No man could do what you do unless
God be with him. Now, Nicodemus was acknowledging
that there was a way in which Christ got his power from God,
but Nicodemus was not acknowledging that Jesus of Nazareth is God. And that's what we're saying.
He is God. He is God. He is the Messiah.
He is the Christ. He is the Son of God. The works
that He did bear witness that He is the Messiah. And then notice
this. The Messiah, in the fifth place,
the Messiah, the Christ, the King of Israel, shall be distinguished
not by His loftiness elegance and majesty but by his lowliness. That's where so many people missed
him. He came under his own and his
own received him not. He was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew him not. They didn't recognize
him because of his humility, his condescension, his lowliness. But he'll not come riding a chariot,
he'll come riding an ass, a donkey. That's not the way kings come.
This king did, because he has to be the lamb and the suffering
savior and substitute. He has to purchase his kingdom
before he has that kingdom. And so it says in Zechariah 9
verse 9, and this is what they missed, you see, the whole Old
Testament said this and they missed it. Zechariah 9 verse
9 says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem! Behold, your King cometh unto
thee, your King's coming, your King's coming unto thee. He's
just, just God and a Savior. He has salvation, but He's lowly,
and He'll come to thee riding upon an ass, upon the coat, the
foal of an ass. read Matthew 21 and tell me how
the Lord rode that day into Jerusalem before his crucifixion. He told
the disciples to go to this certain place and they would find tied
to a tree a donkey and they got it and brought it to him and
they put one of them put his clothes over the donkey and set
Christ on that donkey and he The majestic King of Kings, Lord
of Lords, rode into his city on a donkey, lowly and despised. Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
He's the Christ. Listen, Isaiah, in the sixth
place, Isaiah declared that the Christ would be lowly and humble
and would suffer and die at the hands of wicked men. Isaiah wrote
about the Messiah. Who hath believed our report?
Isaiah 53. To whom is the arm of the Lord,
the might of the Lord, the power of the Lord revealed? Behold,
he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out
of a dry ground. He has no form, no comeliness,
no beauty that we should desire him. He's despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and we hid as it
were our faces from him. Lonely, riding on a donkey. His followers, fishermen. Nobodies. Everybody that was
anybody turned thumbs down on this Jesus of Nazareth. Can any
good thing come out of Nazareth? We know Him. He's the carpenter. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid on Him by His stripes.
We're healed. Oh, that's right. All the way
through the Old Testament it's told how he would be hated and despised and finally
crucified. Psalm 22 tells you all about
it. My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Verse 1. They pierced my
hands and my feet. They cast lots for my garment.
They plucked out my beard. They said he trusted God. Let's
see if God will have him. If you read Psalm 22, this is
a Messianic Psalm about the Christ. And all these words were fulfilled
on Calvary. And then in the seventh place,
listen to this, the Messiah, the Scriptures teach that the
Messiah will die and be raised from the grave. Jesus Christ
not only died an ignominious, hateful death on a cruel cross. But they laid him in a tomb,
a buried tomb, and put a stone in front of it, and put the seal
of the government upon it, and put soldiers out there to keep
his disciples from, they said, stealing his body. But you know
what David wrote about the Messiah many years before that in Psalm
16? He said, Thou wilt not leave my soul,
Thou wilt not leave my body in the grave, nor suffer thy holy
one to seek corruption. And Peter, talking about that
scripture at Pentecost, he said, David's not talking about himself.
Thou wilt not leave my body in the grave, or suffer thy holy
one to seek corruption. David's not talking about himself,
Peter said, because David's sepulchre is with us to this day. You can
visit his tomb. That's where his bones are. This
is the Messiah. He'll die on a cross and be buried,
but he won't stay in the grave. On the third day, he rose again. And my friends, you can visit
the grave of every so-called Messiah and every so-called reformer
and every so-called religious leader. They all have their tombs. But you go to the tomb where
Jesus Christ once laid, if you could find it, probably can't
find it. But I'll tell you what God will say to you as you walk
up to it. He says, why are you here? Why
are you here? Why are you seeking the living
among the dead? Why do you think God is worshipped
with buildings and graves and tombs and crucifixes and statues
and all this foolishness? He lives. He lives. The Messiah lives. He's raised
from the tomb, raised from the grave. He lives evermore. He
was and He is and ever will be. Christ arose. He's the Messiah.
He's the only one who ever arose from the grave. He's the only
one who chose His own mother, the time He'd be born, the nation
to which He'd be born. Chose how He would die, when
He would die, where He would die, for whom He'd die. and by
his own spirit raised himself from the grave. He said, no man
takes my life from me. I lay it down. And he arose. He's a Messiah. And then last
of all, the Messiah will come to Israel. That's right. And
he'll fulfill every prophecy and pattern and picture and type
given to Israel in the Old Testament. But he'll have a people out of
every nation. You read that in the book of
Isaiah. The Lord God promised His Messiah a people from every
tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven. That's right. And He has all of those. So when our Lord spoke to the
people in John 6, He talked about, I'm the bread of life. He that
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood will never die. I'm
the Messiah. I'm the Christ. I'm the one sent.
Hear me. Hear me and live. refused to
hear Him and perish. And that's when they started
leaving. He said, Does this offend you? Wait till you see the Son
of Man ascend up where He was before. And then all of them
left. And He turned to the twelve and
said, Are you going away? Will you go away? And Peter spoke
for me and for you and for all of us. Lord, to whom shall we
go? Thou hast the words of life. We believe and assure that thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now I have this message
on a cassette tape. is Jesus of Nazareth the Christ.
On the other side is my name written in heaven. If you want
both these messages, send two dollars and we'll mail them to
you. Until next week, God bless you.

Is Jesus Christ the Messiah?

What does the Bible say about Jesus as the Messiah?

How do we know Jesus is the Christ?

Why is it important for Christians to believe Jesus is the Messiah?

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About Henry Mahan

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Is Jesus Christ the Messiah?

What does the Bible say about Jesus as the Messiah?

How do we know Jesus is the Christ?

Why is it important for Christians to believe Jesus is the Messiah?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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