If you go to church regularly, you will likely be regularly exposed to teachings on major Christian topics such as grace, faith, gifts of the Holy Spirit, and salvation. You might spend weeks or months studying one of those topics.
There are probably many times you have heard a Scripture and said to yourself, “I wish someone would give me a short lesson on a particular word or topic. Not a long treatise, but enough to get a better understanding.” The purpose of this series is to do that for a wide variety of topics. For that reason, some of these videos are shorter than the typical Eyewitness episodes.
As we often caution, we are not trying to add to what the Bible says, we are trying to add context that will help you understand the Bible better. So, please read the applicable Scriptures in the study guides for these stories so you will know exactly what the Bible says.
Messiah is a word based in Hebrew meaning “the anointed one.” Its Greek equivalent is “Christ.” At the time of Jesus, the Jews were looking for a messiah, a person who would come to deliver their nation from the Romans and restore the glory of King David’s reign, Israel’s golden age. They believed a messiah would come based on their interpretation of certain Old Testament scriptures. Looking at the New Testament, you can find that Jews were also expecting other attributes in a Messiah: a teacher, will do miracles, and live forever. The Jews of Jesus’ time had a very clear image of what they expected from a Messiah.
Acts 18:28 says Apollos proved from the Scriptures that Jesus as the Messiah. Acts 9:22 says Paul baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving Jesus is the Messiah.
Proving something requires a very high standard. The early Christian teachers had only the Old Testament scriptures to use as a standard. First, they agreed with their Jewish opponents that the Messiah would be a teacher, he would do miracles and would live forever. The first two were easy because everyone agreed that Jesus was a teacher and undeniably did miracles. They maintained that the Messiah was meant to deliver salvation in a spiritual way, not necessarily just a physical way.
