Hanukkah and the Messiah p. 3 The Forerunner of the Messiah p

Messiah Presented

To God the Father by the parents

As a baby at the Temple when He was 40 days old as stated in the Mosaic Law: Luke 2:21-24 (Leviticus 12:2, 4-6; Exodus 13:2). This was the parental presentation. He has already been circumcised on the eighth day as required (Leviticus 12:3).
Merrill F Unger:
His parents brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord in memory of the deliverance of Israel’s firstborn from Egypt through the sprinkling of blood (Exod. 13:2). So the firstborns [sons only] were to be presented publically to the Lord as a token of His rightful claim to them and their service (Num. 3:44-47; 18:15-16; cf. Num. 3:11-38)

(Unger’s Commentary on the Gospels, AMG Publishers, p.318)

Note: in every aspect of His life in time Jesus perfectly kept the Mosaic Law. He did not obey, however, rabbinic law which He referred to as “the traditions of the elders” and “precepts of men” in Mark 7:3-13.

To God the Father by Jesus Himself

At the beginning of His ministry: Matthew 3:13-15
This was His public self-presentation to God the Father to do His will. Jesus fully identified with the plan of the Father for His life as baptism is a ritual of identification. He was to fulfill “all righteousness” as the spiritual substitute for mankind by paying the death penalty for sin. The baptism by John was by immersion which portrayed the future death, burial, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus.

To the Jewish people

By the Spirit of God at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: Matthew 3:16
v.16: the Spirit of God descending on Jesus was a proclamation that Jesus was the one prophesied in Isaiah 11:2 and 42:1. See Isaiah 61:1-2a and Luke 4:17-21.
By God the Father at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: Matthew 3:17
v.17: the voice of God the Father is heard declaring the reality of who Jesus truly is, the Son of God. See Psalm 2:7.
There were the disciples of John the Baptist and many other witnesses looking on.
By John the Baptist at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: John 1:29-36
Many people were again, no doubt, present when John made these statements, statements declaring who Jesus was.
“The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”: identifying Jesus as the perfect Passover Lamb who would by His sacrifice solve the complex sin problem for mankind. We know this occurred on the cross (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).
The Savior, as promised by the angels at His birth and declared by others, is now presented to Israel as such by the Forerunner, John the Baptist.
By Jesus Himself near the end of His ministry to the nation: Matthew 21:1-11 (Zechariah 9:9-10)
This was the official presentation of the Messiah as the King of Israel in fulfillment of the Zechariah prophecy.
Charles Swindoll writes about this so clearly:
The religious leaders clearly understood the message this sent. It said, in effect, I’m coming in peace as your Messiah, Israel’s promised priest-king. Yield your authority to Me, an let’s begin building the new kingdom. Thousands of Jesus’ followers responded to the gesture by giving Him a welcome reserved for royalty. They lined the road leading into the city, cheered His name, and paved Hs path with their cloaks and cut palm branches. They shouted, “Hosanna!” which means “save us now.”

(Jesus, Thomas Nelson, p.143)

Conclusion

Do you believe in the Jesus of the Bible or some other Jesus? The Jesus of the Bible, the unique God-man, sacrificed Himself to full pay for the sins of all mankind. It is this Jesus who alone can guarantee unconditional eternal life to all who will believe in Him alone for that life. Who is the babe in the manger to you? Is it the real Jesus?

The Mission of the Messiah
Isaiah 61:1-2a
Jesus reads from this passage:
Luke 4:14-21

When this scene happens on the Sabbath day in the Nazareth synagogue Jesus has already become a popular teacher (v.15). It is after His baptism and wilderness temptation. This passage lays out in prediction the central mission of His ministry at His first coming.

If you compare the two passages you will see that Jesus stopped partway through verse two. Why does He do this?
The answer is simply this: Verse one and the first line of verse two refer to the first coming of Messiah Jesus; the next lines of verse two are about the Second Coming of the Messiah.

The Two Messiahs Idea of the Ancient Jews

The idea of a first coming of the Messiah followed some time later with a second coming of the same Messiah was not understood by the Jews (and still is not). Scriptures such as Isaiah 53 and others show a suffering and dying Messiah while other passages, for example Isaiah 62- 63, show a conquering King Messiah who would establish the Kingdom promised under the Davidic Covenant. The Messiah would die a substitutionary death for sins yet He would also establish the Kingdom.

The ancient Jews came up with a unique solution to the issue: there were to be two different Messiahs!

Arnold Fruchtenbaum wrote of this in his small book, Jesus Was A Jew:

This is the two-fold picture the Jewish prophets gave of the Messiah. For centuries past, during the formulation of the Talmud, our rabbis made serious studies of messianic prophecies. They came up with this conclusion: The Prophets spoke of two different Messiahs.
The Messiah who was to come, suffer and die was termed Messiah, Son of Joseph (Meshiach ben Yosef). The second Messiah who would then come following the first was termed Messiah, the Son of David (Meshiach ben David). This one would raise the first Messiah back to life and establish the Messianic Kingdom of peace on earth. That the Old Testament presents these two lines of messianic prophecy was something that all the early rabbis recognized. The Old Testament never clearly states that there will be two Messiahs. In fact, many of the paradoxical descriptions are found side by side in the same passages, in which it seems that only one person is meant. But for the early rabbis the two-Messiah theory seemed to be the best answer (pp.13-14).
He goes on to note that modern Judaism has almost forgotten the two-messiah idea and only focuses on the conquering Messiah, the Son of David. The Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 are said to refer to the nation of Israel suffering under the hands of the Gentiles and not a reference to a suffering Messiah.
This is an important background to understanding the mission of the Messiah: There is only one Messiah, Jesus, and not two. The first coming was as the Suffering Messiah and His Second Coming will be as the Conquering Messiah.