Ministry of the Messiah

Obedience to God brings Blessing

The Messiah would bring salvation for both Jews and Gentiles.

Prophecy: Jews: "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place" (Jeremiah 50:6 KJV)

Fulfilment: "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24 KJV).

Prophecy: Gentiles: "Behold My Servant, Whom I uphold; My elect, in Whom My soul delights! I have put My spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice, and right, and reveal truth to the nations" (Isaiah 42:1).

Fulfilment: "And in and on His name will the Gentiles - the peoples outside of Israel - set their hopes" (Matthew 12:21).

The Holy Spirit would rest upon the Messiah.

Prophecy: "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:2).

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me..." (Isaiah 61:1).

Fulfilment: "And when Jesus was baptized...the heavens were opened and he (John) saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him" (Matthew 3:16).

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me..." (Luke 4:18).

The Messiah would be a prophet.

Prophecy: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from the midst of your brethren, like me (Moses); to him shall you listen: (Deuteronomy 18:15).

Fulfilment: "Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house" (Matthew 13:57).

The Messiah would proclaim God's messages.

Prophecy: "Then said I, Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me...I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly - tidings of uprightness and right standing with God. Lo, I have not restrained my lips, as You know, O Lord" (Psalm 40:7, Psa 40:9).

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor and afflicted..." (Isaiah 61:1).

Fulfilment: "And there was handed to Him (the roll of) the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book, and found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord (is) upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; he has sent me to announce release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; to send forth delivered those who are oppressed - who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken by calamity; To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord - the day when salvation and the free favours of God profusely abound.

The He rolled up the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing (attentively) at Him. And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing" (Luke 4:17-21).

"Soon afterward (Jesus) went on through towns and villages, preaching and bringing the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God" (Luke 8:1).

The Messiah would be a teacher.

Prophecy: "The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught" (Isaiah 50:4).

"Behold, God exalts and does loftily in His power; who is ruler or a teacher like Him?" (Job 36:22).

Fulfilment: "And all...marvelled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth" (Luke 4:22).

"Rabbi, we know and are certain that You are come from God as a Teacher" (John 3:2).

"Early in the morning (at dawn), He came back into the temple court and the people came to Him in crowds. He sat down and was teaching them" (John 8:2).

The Messiah would teach in parables.

Prophecy: "I will open my mouth in a parable - in instruction by (numerous) examples; I will utter dark sayings of old (that hide important truths)" (Psalm 78:2).

Fulfilment: "And he told them many things in parables - that is, stories by way of illustration..." (Matthew 13:3).

The Messiah would be a miracle-worker.

Prophecy: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing for joy; for waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert" (Isaiah 35:5-6).

Fulfilment: (They) asked Him, are You He Who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one? And Jesus replied to them, Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing), and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them" (Matthew 11:3-5).

The Messiah would bear our grief's and sorrows.

Prophecy: "Surely He has borne our grief's - sickness, weakness, and distress - and carried our sorrows and pain (of punishment). Yet we ignorantly considered Him stricken, smitten and afflicted by God (as if with leprosy). But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement needful to obtain peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes that wounded Him we are healed and made whole" (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Fulfilment: "When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons, and He drove out the spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick; and thus He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet

Isaiah, He Himself took (in order to carry away) our weaknesses and infirmities and bore away our diseases: (Matthew 8:16-17).

The Messiah Would be Rejected by His people.

Prophecy: "He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men...He was despised and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him" (Isaiah 53:3).

Fulfilment: "He came to that which belonged to Him - to His own (domain, creation, things, world) - and they who were His own did not receive him and did not welcome Him" (John 1:11).

The Messiah would suffer greatly.

Prophecy: "A man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief...oppressed and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:3, Isa 53:7)

Fulfilment: "...He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed. Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow..." (Matthew 26:37-38).

"He must...suffer many things" (Matthew 16:21).

"And He said to them, Thus it is written, that the Christ, the Messiah, should suffer..." (Luke 24:46).

"Although He was a Son, He learned (active, special) obedience through what He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8).

The Messiah would be an Intercessor.

Prophecy: "He...makes intercession for the transgressors - the rebellious" (Isaiah 53:12b).

Fulfilment: "He went up into a mountain to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12).

"In the days of His flesh (Jesus) offered up definite, special petitions...with strong crying and tears, to Him Who was (always) able to save Him (out) from death, and He was heard because of His reverence toward God - His godly fear, His piety (that is, in that He shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father) (Hebrews 5:7).

"He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

The Messiah would be praised while riding the colt of a donkey.

Prophecy: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your King comes to you; He is (uncompromisingly) just, and having salvation - triumphant and victorious; patient, meek, lowly, and riding on a donkey, upon a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9).

Fulfilment: "The next day a vast crowd of those who had come to the Passover Feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him. And as they went, they kept shouting, Hosanna!

Blessed is He and praise to Him Who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! And Jesus, having found a young donkey, rode upon it (just) as it is written in the Scriptures, Do not fear, O daughter of Zion! Look! Your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt" (John 12:12-15).

Obedience to God brings Blessing