1.1 Prophecy regarding the Messiah

Question 1

what is the definition of messiah?

Answer 1

A hebrew word which means ‘anointed one’, the chosen one by God

Question 2

What is the definition of christology?

Answer 2

The study of the person of christ and in particular the question of his human and divine natures.

Question 3

What is the definition of prophet?

Answer 3

Someone whom God has chosen and communicated a message to, often through dreams and visione. e.g Moses

Question 4

What is the definition of prophecy?

Answer 4

The message the prophet gives to the people. It both forthtells and foretells, as it makes known what God requires and declares future events as revealed to the prophet.

Question 5

What is the significance of the expectations of the Messiah for the gospel writers?

Answer 5

The new test/ the gospel writers aims to show Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. So they refer to old test prophecies of the messiah and present Jesus that way in the new test. Making it seem like the messiah they prophesised was always Jesus

Question 6

What are the two key Old Test prophecies of how the messiah would be?

Answer 6

1. The Line of David
2. The suffering servant

Question 7

What is the story of the suffering servant told in Isaiah?

Answer 7

The message is that Tsrael had been chosen by God as His servant and will be restored from exile, revealing God’s glory to all nations.
* The servant is the chosen on of God
* The 4th song (52:13-53:12) explains the atoning sacrifice of the suffering servant, who is despised amd rejected yet obeys to his death. Highly exalted by God

Question 8

What parallels can be drawn between Jesus’ life and the suffering servant?

Answer 8

• The servant was a normal man born to normal parents
• he was despised and rejected
• He was pierced, crushed, chastised and wounded
• He did not protest or defend himself
• He was punished for other people’s wrong doings
• His death was for a criminal even though he was innocent

Question 9

What is the significance of the suffering servant for the new test?

Answer 9

The new test writers believed that this was a messianic prophecy and Jesus was the fufilment of it.
(The question is whether Jesus aligned himself with the suffering servant or if it was the early church to explain why the messiah died)

Question 10

Who is Morna Hooker?

Answer 10

A new test scholar who was a professor of divinity at Cambridge. She focuses on new test christology and the use of the old test in the new.

Question 11

What is the traditionalist view about the suffering servant as Jesus?

Answer 11

Jesus knew he was the servant and wanted to fulfil the predicitions:
* when Jesus told the disciples he must be rejected and killed (Luke 9:22), using Isaiah 53 to show he was the servant
* Eve of his death Jesus references Luke 22:37 when seeing his death in the light “numbered wuth the transgressors”
* Jesus’ words suggest the suffering servant- Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”

Question 12

What is Moorna Hooker’s view of Jesus as the suffering servant?

Answer 12

She challenges the traditional approach, and she finds no convincing evidence that Isaiah 53 is talking about Jesus specifically.
She claims Jesus as the sufferingservant has to do with the early church making that connection

Question 13

What is the importance of Line of David?

Answer 13

• David’s rule over Israel was seen as the golden age in Jewish history, and he was promised one of his offspring would rule for ever and establish God’s kingdom forever
• Kings, prophets and priests were annointed by oil, a sign God had chosen them. So messiah was used as someone who would save and restore God’s kingdom
• Throughout the old test there is a messianic expectation that the Messiah would be from the line of David, expecting a ‘king messiah’
• In matthews gospel on 6 different occasions Jesus is referred to as the son of David

Question 14

What is the messianic secret?

Answer 14

The theory that Jesus tried to keep his messiahship a secret for as long as possible.

Question 15

Who cam up with the theory of the messianic secret?

Answer 15

William Wrede

Question 16

Where is the messianic secret evident?

Answer 16

• Jesus silences the demons who knew him (Mark 1:34)
• Jesus tells people who are healed to not tell anyone about him (Mark 5:35-43)
• Jesus speaks in parables so people find it hard ro understand his message (Mark 4:11-12)
• Jesus’ own disciples don’t know who he is (Mark 4:41)

Question 17

What does Hooker believe about the messianic secret?

Answer 17

• Believes that after the resurrection that people came to understand who Jesus was and Mark has perhaps used the techinwue of the messianic secret to explain the failure of the disciples and the religious authorities to fully understand that Jesus was the messiah.
• Possible that the secret motif came from Jesus himself since he didn’t want to detract from the kingdom of God

Question 18

What is the messianic secret through an apologetic purpose?

Answer 18

Jesus kept his messiahship secret, evident as his disciple didn’t really know who he was and didn’t acknowledge him as the messiah

Question 19

What is the messianic secret through a thematic purpose?

Answer 19

Jesus kept his messiahship a secet because in order to believe it, it required a leap of faith from the Jews who were oart if a non-converting religion. So he kept his messiahship secret so that he could still spread the word of God without too much upset.

Question 20

What is the messianic secret through a historical purpose?

Answer 20

Jesus didn’t want to be oersecuted by the Romans for being a political opponent to the state, so kept his messiahship secret.

Question 21

Scriptual references in Matthew’s birth narrative

Answer 21

• 1:18-25 references Isaiah 7:14- Joseph’s first dream where he finds out a virgin will give brith, and he will call his son “Immanuel”
• 2:1-12 references Micah 5:2- the messiah will be born in Bethlehem
• 2:13-15 references Hosea 11:1- God called Israel out of egypt, and Joseph takes Jesus to egypt for safety
• 2:16-18 references Jeremiah 31:15- Jeremiah pictures Rachel weeping over her children as they are taken into captivity. The exiled Jews return to Egypt like Jesus.
• 2:19-23 references Isaiah 11:1- Jesus went to live in Nazareth, a branch in Hebrew is called a Nazarence. Jewish readers recognise the ‘branch’ to be a descendent of the line of David.

Question 22

How does Matthew’s birth narrative link with the line of David?- Genealogy

Answer 22

1:2-17
Genealogies are divided into 3:
* Abraham to David, age of waiting. Promie of another king was fulfilled through David.
* David to exile, era of the kings. Age of decilne, ends the last kingship and the JEws are expelled.
* Exile to messiah, another ear of waiting. Ends with the birth of Jesus, brings reader back to the climax of the end of the first era of waiting
* Jesus is related to David through Joseph

Question 23

How does Matthew’s birth narrative link with the line of David?-Birth of Jesus

Answer 23

1:18-25
* Joseph referenced as the son of David, emphasising Jesus’ Davidic lineage
* first time Matthew fulfils a proof text (1:22)
* Immanuel means God was always with them, Jesus’ last words are “I am with you always” (28:20)

Question 24

How does Matthew’s birth narrative link with the line of David?- King Herod and Egypt

Answer 24

Chapter 2
* Bethlehem is stressed as Jesus’ place of birth, link between David and Jesus
* Jews looked back to Exodus and Moses:
Killing of first born by Pharoah- Herod’s decree to kill children
Moses being hidden and saved- Jesus saved by the escape of Egypt
Moses being told to return on Pharoah’s death- Joseph told to return Jesus to Israel