Introducing Jesus: Messiah (January 12 Sermon Summary and Discussion Questions)

Throughout the public ministry of Jesus, many people who met him found themselves asking questions like, “Who is this?” or “What kind of person can this be?” As followers of Jesus, we continually need to be attentive to these kinds of questions. Life as a disciple of Jesus involves an ongoing exploration into Jesus’ identity.

The Gospel writers use several names or titles to refer to Jesus. These titles aren’t like a code that unlocks Jesus’ identity, but the way they come to be used about Jesus help us see him from different angles.

The most basic title is Messiah (also translated as Christ). Messiah means “anointed one.” The title expressed the hopes of a figure that God had promised (in the writings of the Old Testament prophets) to send to his people. By the time of Jesus, the word often expressed the hopes of many Jewish people that one day a powerful king would come to overthrow their oppressors and inaugurate the kingdom of God. The Gospel writers, especially Matthew, encourage us to grab hold of the idea of “Messiah” when we think of Jesus, but the meaning is transformed. We can see at least three truths about Jesus from the title “Messiah”:

1.      Jesus is the Promised One.

According to Matthew 1:1-17, the Messiah came as the climactic figure in a long history, summarized in the genealogy that traces Israel’s history from Abraham through David and the time of the exile. It was a long and complex history with many moments of sin and trouble and even despair. The Messiah came as the promise that this complicated history could come to a good conclusion in God’s will. He is the One who can pull together the complicated histories of our lives and make them into something whole again.

2.      Jesus is the Great(er) One.

In Matthew 22, we read that the Messiah was to be a descendant of the great King David. But Jesus points out that the Messiah was even greater than David, as David’s own words in Psalm 110 indicated. Jesus showed his greatness through the many signs of the kingdom of God that took place at his command: healings, deliverance from evil spirits, etc. In recognizing his greatness, we humble ourselves, expressing our need. In Matthew’s gospel, it is the humblest people (blind men and a Canaanite woman) who come to Jesus recognizing him to be David’s greater Son. The powerful leaders missed it, but those who were humble were ready to reach out to the Greater One.

3.      Jesus is the Surprising One.

Despite Jewish hopes that the Messiah would bring military deliverance from Roman oppression, Jesus showed his followers that his way was different. To be the Messiah was not to be a conqueror but to suffer and die for his people. Jesus’ disciples, especially Peter, didn’t like the sound of that, but Jesus insisted that his way was going to be the surprising way of the cross (Matthew 16:13-23). For us as his followers, the way we have been invited to join remains the way of the cross, as we serve self-sacrificially and practice forgiveness, knowing ourselves to have been served and forgiven at the cross of Jesus.

Discussion Questions

1.      Are there any areas of your life that feel to you like they have become unmanageably messy, or any relationships that have become too frayed to believe that they might come together again? Reflect quietly on whether you have allowed yourself to feel hopeful about a good solution to this situation.

Ezekiel 37 is a passage that deals with the question of whether Israel’s story could come together, whether their broken life could be restored. In context it is discussing the return of Israel to the land, but in the wider Biblical story it is the question of whether God can continue his plan to keep a people who will bring blessing to the world. This is in some ways the same question that underlies Matthew’s genealogy in chapter 1.

Read Ezekiel 37:1--14. What do we learn about the future from this passage (especially verse 3)? How does Ezekiel 37 refer to God? Why do you think this is important?

2.      Read Matthew 1:1-17. Which names in this genealogy do you recognize and how might they suggest that God was working with a complicated family story?

3.      Read 2 Samuel 7:1-17. This is the beginning of the promise that God had special plans for David’s descendants. As God speaks, he points out the many things he has done for David and affirms that he will continue to do work in the future. If God were speaking to you, what would be some of the key things God might say he has done in your life?

4.      Think of a time when you really needed help with some task or project. Who did you reach out to for help, and why did you choose them?

5.      In Matthew’s gospel, the people who call out to Jesus as “Son of David” are people who have stopped thinking that they can do much for themselves. What makes you reach out to Jesus for help?

6.      Jesus corrects Peter very sharply when Peter resists the idea of the Messiah suffering. Suffering and humility were key aspects of Jesus’ whole mission. So when Peter resists it, Jesus calls him “Satan.”

Read the story of the devil tempting Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11. What things does the devil use to tempt Jesus? How might we be taken in by similar temptations?

7.      To follow the crucified Jesus is to put the needs of others ahead of our own comfort, to forgive rather than even the score, to see ourselves as sinners in need of God’s grace. Consider the ways that your life still needs to be reshaped by the cross as you grow in the Messiah.