Critical Issues

Areas of scholarly focus regarding the concept of the Messiah include:

• The diverse but coherent messianic expectations in early Jewish thought that shaped early Christian messianism (Collins, The Scepter, 1, 229–37; Horbury, Jewish Messianism, 64–108; Joseph, Nonviolent Messiah, 105).

• The nuanced messianic depictions of Jesus in the Gospels, with Mark presenting the crucified Messiah, Matthew emphasizing the Davidic Messiah, Luke portraying the suffering Messiah, and John offering an elusive Messiah (Bird, Messianic Testimony, 32–140; Matera, Christology, 5–64, 215–37).

• The early high Christology attested in Paul’s letters (compare Hengel, Between Jesus and Paul, 30–47; Fee, Pauline Christology)

• The examples of messiah language in ancient Judaism provided in Paul’s letters (Novenson, Christ Language, 176).

One prevalent debate among New Testament scholars is whether Jesus Himself accepted the title of Messiah (Bird, Are You the One, 27–28; 63–76). A commonly held view is that Jesus probably never applied the title Messiah to Himself (Dunn, Jesus Remembered, 653; Sanders, Historical Figure, 241–43; compare Mark 14:61–62; Matt 23:10; John 4:25–26). An alternative view is that Jesus did claim to be the Messiah of Israel, but with a revised understanding of that role (Stanton, “Messianism,” 95; Bird, Are You the One, 28; Wright, New Testament, 307–20). This would mean that Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ” (Matt 16:13–20; Mark 8:27–30; Luke 9:18–21) is an accurate statement (compare Mark 1:1; 8:30) and that Christ is an acceptable title for Jesus (Mark 9:41; 14:61–62; Marcus, Mark, 612, 1104–07; Evans, “Gospel of Mark,” 255).