Is Christianity true (the Bible)?
This blog is part of my series titled “Is Christianity true?” The series addresses four common objections to the truthfulness of the Christian worldview, namely concerns about: (1) the trustworthiness of the Bible; (2) the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection; (3) the compatibility of faith in God with modern science; and (4) the incompatibility of Christian truth claims with those of other worldviews.
IS THE BIBLE TRUSTWORTHY? NEW TESTAMENT FULFILLMENT OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY (PART 2)
THE ROLE AND MISSION OF THE MESSIAH
From the many Old Testament prophecies concerning the role of the coming Messiah, a multifaceted portrait emerges. The three principal aspects are king, priest, and suffering servant. The ordinary understanding of these three human types is difficult to reconcile with the concept of one person fulfilling all three roles.
Perhaps most surprisingly, the Messiah was prophetically portrayed as a suffering servant.
For example, in the Old Testament, the priests of ancient Israel came exclusively from the tribe of Levi and performed an intermediary role between God and the people of Israel. In contrast, the kings did not come from the tribe of Levi and they ruled over the people of Israel. Perhaps most surprisingly, the Messiah was prophetically portrayed as a suffering servant. This picture would likely have seemed strange, if not confusing, to the people of Israel in the pre-Christian era since a kingly persona would have seemed at odds with that of a suffering servant. In those days, suffering was generally viewed as a sign that the sufferer was cursed by God, whereas the kings of Israel were deemed blessed by God.
Regarding the mission of the Messiah, He was seen in the Old Testament as a deliverer not only of the people of Israel but of all humankind. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, however, the people of Israel eagerly anticipated the arrival of a human king (like King David) who would rescue their nation exclusively rather than the entire world. More specifically, they saw him as someone who would defeat the Roman military rulers and deliver them from bondage to the emperor in Rome.
According to the prophet Isaiah, however, the Messiah “was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
The video series “I Met Messiah” documents the testimonies of modern Jews, many from the professions, who found Jesus in the Hebrew scriptures, particularly Isaiah 53, from which the foregoing quotation was drawn. Indeed, one needs to engage in some fancy footwork to avoid the conclusion that, hundreds of years before Jesus’ arrival, Isaiah prophetically foresaw him!
According to this prophecy, the mission of the Messiah was to rescue humankind, but not in the ordinary sense of liberation from human oppression. Rather, He would save us from the consequence of our sin by paying the just penalty for human iniquity. In this way, He would open the door to reconciliation between humankind and God. By undergoing substitutionary suffering resulting in death, the Messiah would be the ultimate fulfillment of the priestly, or intermediary, role. He would also fulfill the kingly role by surviving death and assuming rulership over the kingdom of God, which comprises everyone (both Jew and non-Jew) who trusts in Him.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
