Messiah Defined

The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” (John 10:24, NIV)

“It becomes clear that people must either recognize that Jesus stands in such a relation to the Father as no one else ever did, or else reject him entirely.” -Leon Morris

Jesus was not shy about defining Himself. His “I AM” statements in John are clear proof. But, He was careful about letting anyone pour their meaning into His definition. Already in John 10 Jesus has said that He is the Gate and the Good Shepherd. He will state that He is God’s Son (v36) and His opponents will understand His claim to divinity (v33). So, why doesn’t Jesus just come out and say, “I am the Messiah.” Because, that term was too full of misunderstanding and pre-existing definitions. (Side note, there is one glaring exception to this in John 4 when to Samaritans Jesus clearly identifies himself as Messiah).

While we don’t have nearly the theological basis for our misunderstanding of Messiah, we nonetheless often misconstrue what Jesus has come to do as God’s “Anointed One.” Ours is a time when we are convinced that the greatest good is self-actualization and evil is defined by any hinderance to discovering and expressing our “true” self. In this framework, Jesus’ Messiahship must be confined to the work of helping me become “the best me that I can be.” So, we might not take up stones to quiet Jesus’ claims but, we will often ignore or turn away from His very plain teachings. Following the Good Shepherd sounds harmless enough but, we must realize that Jesus is not interested in our self-improvement project. He is asking us to die to self not ‘actualize’ self. He has come to give us life (John 10:10) but that life is found in obeying God fully. Most of us won’t initially see it that way. The question is if we define Jesus or if He defines us. Defining Jesus is not Christianity. Jesus defining us is.

“Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. If we do, we shall then be sharing a life which was begotten, not made, which always has existed and always will exist. Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as He does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has- by what I call ‘good infection’. Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.” -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, italics mine

Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross

All who gather here by grace, draw near and bless Your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an offering far too small

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all

- Chris Tomlin, J.D. Walt, Jesse Reeves, The Wonderful Cross