Title Background and Meaning of the Title of Messiah
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Advent has arrived again this year. Advent is the season of waiting for the coming of Christ, the Messiah, in the four weeks before Christmas in the church calendar. The word “advent” originally means “coming” or “returning” in Latin. It is a season to empty our minds and prepare to receive Christ in our hearts and lives. With four weeks left until Christmas, overseas churches, family and friends are all busy preparing for parties, choosing gifts, and sending cards. In foreign countries, Christmas is so commercialized that it is embarrassing, but in our country, there is a disadvantage that there is no atmosphere of Advent or Christmas due to the fact that we are too busy with each other and the entrance exam is held on the 24th. I want to share with you today to think about why we celebrate the coming of Jesus and wait for his return. Why do we wait and rejoice in Christmas? What is the real meaning of our being moved and grateful to hear of Handel's Messiah? As we approach Advent, I want to think about the meaning of Christmas, that is, the meaning of calling Jesus the Christ.
First of all, the word “Christ” is a Greek word for “Messiah” that comes from the Hebrew word “mashiach”. And it literally means 'the anointed one'. The 'anointing' was a ceremony performed to distinguish those under the special protection of Yahweh. Therefore, the title 'Anointed One' was mainly a title for a king or a priest, and in Israel, it was a title given only to people in very important positions. And the 'anointing' ritual was performed mainly by priests or prophets in the name of Yahweh. By placing the future king under his protection through this rite, Yahweh God consecrated him and at the same time entrusted him with the office of king. However, the Old Testament never directly refers to the future eschatological ruler as the Messiah. The prophets speak of a future ruler who will be appointed by Yahweh to rule the future with full power. And they are usually referred to in the broadest sense as the rulers, or Messiah, sent by Yahweh. The expectation of such an ideal ruler is expressed in Isaiah 9:1-7 and 11:1-9 in the Old Testament.
A child was born to us.
We have a son.
He will be our ruler. . . .
He sat upon David's throne and kingdom
From now on, the kingdom will be established with fairness and justice (Isaiah 9:6-7).
Meanwhile, in the book of Zechariah, a new interpretation of the Old Testament about the Messiah appears. According to Zechariah 9, the future ruler Messiah is still called a king, because he excludes all the characteristics normally attributed to a king. All that is left of him is the fact that he will do his part: to bring justice and salvation.
City Zion, rejoice greatly.
City Jerusalem, cheer up!
Your king is coming to you.
He is a righteous King, a King who brings salvation.
He is meek (humble) and comes riding on a donkey, a colt that is a colt (Zechariah 9:9-10).
Horses are commonly known as war animals. And the king who wins the war usually rides a horse. But the king here will ride a donkey, not a horse. He is a righteous king and one who will save, but he is meek (other manuscripts say 'Humble' or 'Humbled') and rides on a donkey. Whereas the king appears as a helper to the poor in other places, here he appears as a humble and meek man who humbles himself. This representation of the Messiah is very unique and new in the Old Testament. Scholars speculate that this representation of the Messiah may have been influenced by the self-understanding of the Israeli community, which had lost political power after the exile, or the song 'The Sorrowful Servant' of the Second Isaiah. This helpless and weak image of the Messiah plays a decisive role in the confession of Jesus as the Messiah in the New Testament. Here too, the scope of the Messiah's activities extends to the 'end of the earth'.
Meanwhile, in the book of Daniel, a new image of a future ruler appears. He is called the Son of Man, and he is the person who will rule this world in the end times. Unlike the Messiah, the Son of Man is related to the judgment in the last days of the end times. He is a pre-existing being in heaven, and when this world ends and a new world comes, to rule a new age in which only holy men of the new age exist It is supposed to appear. The reason he is called the Son of Man only tells us that he resembles the Son of Man in appearance. He is a celestial being with a human form. But he was easily identified with the Messiah as a future righteous ruler. The Messiah-Son of Man is a celestial being, active only in the end times, comforting righteous people, ruling the new world, and bringing liberation, peace and joy to the people who lived in darkness. It is a being of justice that liberates and saves the weak from oppression and suffering.
By all means, in the advent of the season of Advent, I hope that we too will be able to boldly break the frame of thinking and have a great change of thinking.