Messiah is a term we hear more during the month of December than during the remaining 11 months of the year. It’s a beautiful word, meaning, “The Anointed One,” and signals the fulfillment of a promise. Genesis 3:15 is the first allusion to this Messiah, the declaration to Satan that the descendant of woman would someday crush his head. In 2 Samuel 7:12-16 we read God’s promise to David that David’s son Solomon would rule after David and that a future descendant would ultimately rule forever. This promise was not conditional upon any action of David or Israel, and we refer to it as the Davidic Covenant.
Daniel then spoke of the Messiah in his prophecy regarding the 70 weeks: “Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks”(Daniel 9:25a). For thousands of years, Jews looked forward to the Messiah, the anointed one who would deliver them. That’s why Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her cousin Elizabeth could grasp, in some small measure, the significance of what happened to them.
When Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptizer, the forerunner of Jesus, saw Jesus, he proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” to two of his followers. Andrew was one of these, and he immediately followed Jesus. He then found his brother Simon Peter and said, “We have found the Messiah”(John 1:36-41). A few chapters later we read of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. Even she evidenced knowledge of the Old Testament prophecies when she responded to Jesus, “’I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ)’”(John 4:25). Jesus replied, “’I who speak to you am he’”(John 4:26).
Ultimately, the Jews rejected their Messiah at that point in history. They looked for a conquering king who would destroy their enemies and raise them to positions of power. This Jesus was, instead, a humble servant. They did not understand that the prophecies of the birth of Messiah and the reign of Messiah would be separated by hundreds, thousands of years.
In the book of Revelation, John prophesied that someday the world will become, “’The kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever’”(Revelation 11:15). A few chapters later we read, “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns’”(Revelation 19:6), and, “On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords”(Revelation 19:16).
The birth of Messiah is worthy of celebration, so remember the significance of the first arrival of The Anointed One. He came for you.