A QUESTION FOR MUSLIMS: WHAT DOES ‘MESSIAH’ MEAN?
Muslims believe that Jesus is the Messiah
It may surprise some Christians but Muslims are supposed to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. The Qur’an declares this in Surah 3:45; see too 4:157, 171, 172; 5:17, 75; 9:30, 31). Christians, of course, agree that Jesus is the Messiah, which in Anglicized Greek is the ‘Christ’ (e.g. John 20:31). The Qur’an does not give us much information as to what ‘Messiah’ means. In fact, ‘Messiah’ is not an obvious title to any of us.
Muslims are quick to say that the Messiah is not divine. ‘Messiah’ means ‘anointed one’. In the Old Testament, prophets (1 Kings 19:16), priests (Ex.28:41; 29:7; Lev.4:3), and kings (1 Sam.9:16; 10:1; 16:12-13; 24:6) were anointed with oil. Jesus, however, was anointed as prophet, priest and king with the Holy Spirit (Matt.16:16-17; Mark 14:61-62; John 4:25-26).
So how does a Muslim know what ‘Messiah’ means? The Qur’an tells us that to look to the Taurat and the Injeel, so let us do so: ‘It is He Who has sent down the Book (the Qur’an) to you (Muhammad) with truth, confirming what came before it. And He sent down the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)’ (3:3). Also, ‘And in their footsteps, We sent Isa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), confirming the Taurat that had come before him, and We gave him the Injeel, in which was guidance and light and confirmation of the Taurat that had come before it, a guidance and an admonition for Al-Muttaqun (the pious)’ (5:46). A key word is ‘confirm’; Muhammad is said to confirm what the Old and New Testament says.
The Old Testament Witness – Psalm 2 and Daniel 9.
Muslims have nowhere to go to get a definition of ‘Messiah’ except to the Old Testament. That must be their first port of call. The Old Testament prophesies the coming of the Messiah. It is important to realise that what we will look at now was written hundreds of years before the coming of Jesus. It makes no sense to say it is corrupted because why would a Jew who does not believe in Jesus as the Messiah insert such texts into his sacred text, even if he could get away with it?
(a) Psalm 2
Psalm 2 tells of the triumph of the Messiah over the Gentiles, as well as the offer of salvation to them. It begins with the kings of the earth and the rulers taking counsel together against the Lord (Yahweh, ‘I am who I am’) and his anointed (i.e. the Messiah) (2:2). They want to be free of the Messiah’s rule (2:3), but God’s victory is certain, so He laughs in derision (2:4), and is angry (2:5). God’s decree is fixed: ‘As for Me, I have set My King on Zion, My holy hill’ (2:6). God’s decree is fixed (2:7); His plan is fixed. The world cannot vote it out. This verse is cited at Christ’s baptism when He began His public ministry (Matt.3:17). It was cited again at the transfiguration when His ministry was confirmed (Matt.17:5). Hebrews 1:5 applies it to the eternal generation of the Son. In Acts 13 it is applied to the resurrection of Christ (Acts 13:32-33). His kingdom is not like that of David or Solomon. No, His kingdom is world-wide; the ends of the earth will be this king’s possession (2:8). To mutiny against Him is the height of folly (2:9).
The Messiah is the King of all the earth, not just of Israel. ‘Be wise’! (2:10-12) Indeed! Know who will win, for it will not be the unbeliever. Look at the verbs: ‘be wise’, ‘be warned’, ‘serve’ the Lord, ‘rejoice’ with trembling, ‘kiss’ the Son. Here is the assured victory of the one who is called Messiah (2:2), King (2:6), and Son of God (2:7, 12).
(b) Daniel 9:24-27
This is a somewhat enigmatic section of Scripture. Daniel 9:24 says that ’Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.’ The timing is something to ponder but the outcome is clear. Verse 26 says that ‘an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing’.
Verse 24 mentions six things regarding the work of the Messiah:
a. to finish transgression.
b. to make an end of sins.
c. to atone for iniquity. These first three are negative in their thrust. They do not say how the Messiah will deal with sin, only that He will finish off sin.
d. to bring in everlasting righteousness.
e. to seal up vision and prophecy, meaning either to finish it or to authenticate it. The Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ, and so is finished in Him who shows that it is true.
f. to anoint the most holy (place or person). Matthew 12:6 says that Jesus is greater than the temple.
All these things would be achieved by the Messiah by His death: ‘He will be cut off’. He ‘shall have nothing’, being forsaken by God and man. The Messiah will put an end to Jewish sacrifices (9:27; Heb.8:13; 9:12-14). Later, in A.D. 70, Titus and the Roman army destroyed the temple and since then there have been no Jewish sacrifices for sin. But who needs them?
Let us bring these two prophecies together. What is the Messiah? The Old Testament says that He will be the king of the whole world, and He will bring about atonement for His people’s sins through His death, which will see an end to Old Testament sacrifices.
What does Jesus say about the Messiah?
In Matthew 22, Jesus does something unusual in that He asks the Pharisees a question whereas usually it was they who ask Him a question. Jesus asked: ‘What do you think about the Christ (the Messiah)? Who son is he? (Matt.22:41) Remember that the Messiah is the king of the world who will die to bring in everlasting righteousness. The Pharisees think that Jesus’ question is easy: the Messiah is the son (descendant) of David. So He is.
However, Jesus then cites a Psalm of David, written in the Spirit, about 1000 B.C.: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet?”’ (Psalm 110:1) Hence He has a question for them and for each one of us: ‘If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son? (Matt.22:45) The Pharisees could not answer Him. Jesus presses upon us the need to answer this question. This is not from Paul or from later Christians; this is from the Old Testament itself.
Who is the Messiah? He is the king not just of Israel but of the whole world; He died to make atonement for His people; and He is David’s son (a human being) and David’s Lord (bearing God’s name). If you believe that Jesus is only God’s servant, you too will be baffled by Jesus’ use of Psalm 110.
The prophets of the Old Testament declared that the shepherds of Israel failed, so God Himself would seek out His people. This is stated, for example, in Ezekiel 34:1-2, 10, 11-16, 23-24. God warned: ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep.’ Verse 11 states: ‘”For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.’ The LORD speaks again in verses 15 and 16: ‘I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.’
A shepherd will come (34:23-24): ‘And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.’
There we see that God comes as a descendant of David.
Tying it all together.
The Essenes (presumably) of Dead Sea Scrolls fame were so bewildered by the Old Testament evidence that they seem to have thought there must be two Messiahs – one a kingly ruling Messiah, and the other a priestly suffering Messiah. Whether they did or not, the Old Testament does prophesy the Messiah in exalted terms and in suffering terms.
(a) Why is the Messiah human? He came to die, in order to pay the death penalty for sinners. Because of sin, death entered into God’s good world (Gen.2:16-17). God Himself as God cannot die, so He cannot pay the penalty which we should pay. The death of the Messiah is necessary for salvation: the Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
(b) How is the Messiah divine? He is David’s Lord as well as David’s son. In fact, He is king of kings and Lord of lords (Rev.19:16). The penalty for sin could only be paid for by God coming as man. We cannot save ourselves; we need a Saviour. The Old Testament prophesies one who would rule and who would die; who is man yet is Lord; who suffers and dies yet reigns in victory.
Ponder these things before God. Muhammad is not a saviour. He himself is told in Surah 47: ‘So know, O Muhammad, none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and ask forgiveness for your (singular) sin, and also for believing men and believing women’ (The Fighting, 47:19).
We need a king to rule over us because we are rebellious; a priest to die for our sins because we are sinners; and a prophet to reveal God to us because we are ignorant. Jesus is the true Messiah. He is all of the above. Muhammad is none of the above.
– Peter Barnes