July 21, 2004

THE MESSIAH

"The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah,' (that is, the Christ)" (John 1:41, NIV).

One can almost feel the excitement in Andrew's voice as he announced his discovery to his brother Simon. "We have found the Messiah!" he exclaimed. The air was similarly charged with excitement when the woman at Jacob's well also discovered Jesus to be the Messiah.

No title in Scripture was associated with such profound and eager expectations as that of "Messiah," All the hopes and aspirations of the Jewish nation centered in the coming of the Messiah. According to popular opinion, the coming of the messiah meant hope, deliverance, and restoration to splendor and royalty. The devout looked for the Messiah to come as priest, prophet, redeemer, and king. Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time and fulfilled the specifications of the prophecies, though unrecognized and even rejected by the very ones to whom He came.

As the Messiah, Christ was called and anointed by God to the fourfold ministry of prophet, priest, redeemer, and king. As prophet, Jesus came in the form of man to represent God before humanity; as priest He ascended to represent humanity before God; as redeemer, He came to bring eternal salvation from the power of sin and death; as king He will reign forever in the coming kingdom of glory. Discussing the two demoniacs who found Christ, Ellen White wrote: "They could not instruct the people as the disciples who had been daily with Christ were able to do. But they bore in their own persons the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah. They could tell what they knew; what they themselves had seen, and heard, and felt of the power of Christ."--The Desire of Ages, p. 340.

My Prayer Today: Lord, like Andrew, I rejoice that I have found the Messiah, Amen.