Jesus of Nazareth - Messiah, son of God, savior

Aug. 5, 2007

Religion Views/Linus Mathis

Messiah is from the Hebrew mashiyach, meaning "the Holy One of God” or "the Anointed One."

Koine Greek, from which the New Testament has been translated, has no equivalent, as mashiyach embraces a Hebrew concept. The closest match in Greek is Christos (Christ in English). Most identify Jesus the Messiah as Jesus Christ. It's important to recognize these words as appellations and not surnames. Jesus was not a member of the "Christ" family.

The name Jesus is not in itself sufficient to establish the identity of the true Messiah. There are others mentioned in scripture with the same name. One such individual is Joshua.

Hebrews 4:8 in speaking of Joshua declares, "For if Joshua [Iesous] had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day." (1901 American Standard Version)

The word Iesous appears 975 times in the New Testament and is used to describe individuals other than the Lord. Notably, Barabbas (insurrectionist and murderer released in Jesus' stead, Mark 15:6-25) held the first name of Jesus.

Our Lord's name is significant as it means Jehovah is salvation and Jesus was sent to save God's people from sin! However, that name is not exclusive to our Lord. The title of Messiah is. Together their meaning is marvelous and held only by God's son.

The Apostle Peter knew and confessed this truth as John 6:69 records, "And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." (1769 Authorized Version)

Why is it then that so many so-called "Christian" ministers don't believe this? Why do they go in search of historical Jesus? Which is, incidentally, nothing more than a failed attempt by historians to reconstruct Jesus of Nazareth solely by historical methods. They hold that it's impossible for the Gospel accounts of Jesus to be historically accurate, because they record things that simply could not have happened, like Jesus walking on water, healing people, raising people from the dead or casting out demons.

No matter how you dice it, this is not scholarly evaluation of historical evidence or Biblical manuscripts. This is nothing more than metaphysical naturalism.

Metaphysical naturalism is the position typically adopted by atheists and those who deny that Jesus is the son of God. These individuals, being void of God's spirit, are empty containers attempting to validate their lack of faith from sources other than the Bible.

There is no "new evidence" supporting the idea that the Gospels were fabricated or seriously distorted "stories" about Jesus. There is no "new evidence" debunking the accounts of miracles or the resurrection. All attempts at discrediting the Bible have in fact reinforced its authenticity.

Recent discoveries have given even more credibility to the content of the New Testament records than ever before. The trend in the last two decades has been for liberal scholars to become more conservative in their views on the reliability of the New Testament record, not less.

The records in the Bible are accounts of events that happened. God determined, not man, what should be recorded and what should not.

II Timothy 3:16 reads as follows, "Every scripture, [is] God-breathed, and profitable unto teaching, unto conviction, unto correction, unto the discipline that is in righteousness." (1902 Rotherham Bible)

There is powerful substance (not mythology) supporting the authorship of both the Old and New Testaments. Those who think of the biblical records as myths are the same who don't believe that Jesus is the son of God. To believe Jesus is God's son requires believing the biblical account of his birth.

Matthew 1:18 tells us, "And of Jesus Christ, the birth was thus: For his mother Mary having been betrothed to Joseph, before their coming together she was found to have conceived from the Holy Spirit." (1898 Young's Literal Translation)

Those who don't believe that Mary conceived without Joseph's involvement do not believe Jesus to be the son of God. They therefore cannot honestly call themselves Christians.

Hindus don't believe Jesus was the son of God, nor do Muslims, Jews or Buddhists. None of them, however, operate under the pretext of being Christian!

A Buddhist monk does not pretend to be a Christian minister any more than a Jewish Rabbi claims devotion to Jesus. Those who don't believe the Bible or that Jesus is the son of God should not masquerade as Christian ministers.

The Quran for Muslims, the Bagavad-gita for Hindus, the Torah for Jews and the Holy Bible for Christians.

There's no debate, it's simple! You need a Ford factory manual for your Ford, a Chevrolet manual for your Chevy and a Dodge manual for your Dodge.

Any questions, see John 20:30-31, etc …

The Reverend Linus A. Mathis III is the founder and director of Frontier Christian Ministries.