THE
DOCTRINE OF
THE MESSIAH, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD
A
Look at what the Bible Says
When Peter said to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living
God,” the
second phrase in his statement, the phrase which characterizes the
Messiah as,
“the Son of the living God” was not an idea unique to Peter, but was
commonly believed
by the Jews at that time (Matthew 16:16). We know that because Caiaphas the high priest used virtually the same
phrase
when he said, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether
you are
the Messiah, the Son of God,” (Matthew 26:63). As we examine
other
passages of Scripture that relate to Peter’s statement it will become
clear
that the Jews not only looked forward to Christ’s coming, they also
believed that
He was true God, equal with the Father, and the Savior of the world.
[NOTE:
The
Hebrew word, “Messiah” which means, “Anointed” was translated into the
Greek
as, “Christ” and that word came into the English as another name for
Jesus. In
order to emphasize the Old Testament basis of Peter’s statement, I have
chosen
to use the word, “Messiah” where other translations traditionally use
the word,
“Christ”.]
THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD
Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus arrived in the
area of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do men say that I the
Son of man
am?… And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Messiah,
the Son of the living
God. Then Jesus said to him, You are blessed, Simon Bar-Jonah: for
flesh
and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven.… that is the foundation on which I will
build my church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
John 11: 27
She said to him, Yes, Lord: I believe
that you are the Messiah, the Son of
God, who was to come into the world.
Matthew 26:63-65 Jesus remained silent. Then
the high
priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us
whether
you are the Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus then replied, It is as you say:
nevertheless I
am telling you, That after this you will see the Son of man sitting on
the
right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high
priest
tore his clothes, saying, He has spoken blasphemy; why do we need any
more
witnesses? look, now you have heard his
blasphemy.
Mark 14:61-64 Jesus remained silent, and gave
no
answer. Again the high priest asked him, Are you the
Messiah, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said,
I am: and you will see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of
power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes,
and
said, Why do we need any more witnesses?
You have
heard the blasphemy: what do you think? And they all condemned him as
worthy of
death. [See Daniel 7:13-14.]
[COMMENT:
Christ’s church is founded on the fact that He is the Messiah foretold
in prophesy,
the Son of the living God. In the
verses given above, we have the high priest using the phrase, “the Messiah, the Son of God, or “the Messiah,
the Son of the Blessed,”
both of which mean the same thing, and both of which may have been used
during
the interrogation. The fact that Christ’s claim to be the Messiah, the
Son of
God was condemned as blasphemy reveals the fact that the Jews regarded
the
Messiah as divine. And, they got that doctrine straight from the Old
Testament.]
THE DIVINE MESSIAH
Psalm 2:2-12 The kings of the earth take
their stand,
and the rulers conspire together, against the LORD, and against his Messiah,… I
will declare the decree: the LORD has
said to me, You are my Son; this day
have I
begotten you. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the
Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in
the way…
Blessed are all those who put their trust in him.
Isaiah
Isaiah 9:6-7 Unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
shall be
called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty
God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase
of his
government and peace there shall be no end.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 Behold, the days come, says
the LORD,
when I will raise to David a
righteous Branch, who will reign as King and prosper, and will execute
judgment
and justice in the earth. In his days
Micah 5:2 But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are
little among the thousands of
[COMMENT:
These verses tell us that the Messiah is a Son whom God Himself has
“begotten,”
(Psalm 2:2,7) a virgin born Son who is “God
with us,”
(Isaiah
EQUAL TO THE FATHER
1 John 4:9 And God has shown his love for us,
by
sending his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live
through him.
Romans
Malachi
John 8:41-42 Then they [the Pharisees] said
to him, We are not born as a result of
fornication; we have one
Father, even God. Jesus said to them, If
God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came
from
God; nor did I come on my own, but he sent me.
John 5:17-18 But Jesus
said
to them, My Father has worked until now, and I work. Therefore the Jews
tried
all the harder to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but had also
said that God was his Father, making
himself equal with God.
[COMMENT:
When the New Testament writers tell us that Jesus Christ is the
“only-begotten”
Son of God, they are only telling us what the Old Testament teaches
(1John 4:9,
Psalm 2:7). At the same time, when we who trust in Christ are called
the sons
of God we know that we are not the sons of God in the same sense that
Christ is
the Son of God. We are adopted sons, Christ is the “only begotten Son”
(Romans
SAVIOR OF THE WORLD
John
Isaiah 49:5-6 The LORD who formed me from the
womb to
be his servant, and to bring Jacob back to him, says,…
I have also made you a light for the Gentiles, that you might be my salvation to the most distant parts of
the earth.
Isaiah 54:5 Your
Redeemer is the Holy One of
John 1:29,34 The next day John saw Jesus
coming to
him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world.… this is the
Son of God.
1Timothy
1John
[COMMENT:
When the Samaritans said that Christ was “the
Messiah, the Savior of the world,”
they were only saying what the Old Testament teaches (John
John 11:25-27 Jesus said to her [Martha], I
am the
resurrection, and the life: he who believes in me will yet live, even
though he
is dead: And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you
believe
this? She said to him, Yes, Lord: I believe that you are the Messiah,
the Son
of God, who was to come into the world.
John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other signs in
the
presence of his disciples, that are not written in this book: But these
are
written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of
God; and
that believing you might have life through his name.
1 John 5:1 Whoever
believes
that Jesus is the Messiah is born of God: and every one that loves him
who
begat loves him also that is begotten by him.
[COMMENT: Martha’s response to Jesus’ question tells us that she equated believing that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world [as a Savior],” with believing that He is “the resurrection, and the life” and that whoever lives and believes in Him “will never die”. All who believe that, trusting in Him for salvation, are born of God (1John 5:1).]
THOSE WHO DENY CHRIST
John 10:24-33 The Jews gathered around him,
and said
to him, How long will you keep us in
suspense? If you
are the Messiah, tell us
plainly. Jesus answered them, I told
you, and you did not believe… you do not believe, because you are not
my sheep…
I and my Father are one. Then the
Jews again picked up stones to stone him. But Jesus said to them, I
have shown
you many miracles from my Father; for which of those miracles do you
stone me?
The Jews replied, We do not stone you for
any miracle;
but for blasphemy; because you, who are
a man, claim to be God.
1 John 2:22-23 Who
is a liar
but he who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? He is an antichrist,
who denies the Father as well as the Son. Whoever
denies the Son, does not have the Father:
but he who
acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
[COMMENT:
The Bible not only tells us that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the
living
God,” (Matthew
CONCLUSION
Christ has founded His church on the
fact that He is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew
[NOTE:
only two of the Jewish groups or sects existing at the time of Christ
have
survived to the present day.
1- The first is the Pharisees who rejected
Christ. All
modern Jewish sects trace their roots back to the Pharisees and keep
alive many
of their traditions. Since they reject Christ they are antichrist,
(1John
2- The second group consists of those Jews
who did
accept Christ as the Messiah. These are the Jews who spread palm
branches
before Jesus when He entered