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

The Five-Fold Mission of the Messiah’s First Coming

Drawing from the both the Old and New Scriptures we will briefly point out the five-fold mission of the Messiah when He came into this world of mankind.

1. 
   To be the Savior of the world
   
2. 
   To offer the promised Kingdom to Israel
   
3. 
   To be the Second Adam
   
4. 
   To resolve the angelic conflict
   
5. 
   To become the Head of the Church
   

There are many aspects of the ministry of Messiah Jesus that could be presented, but it seems to me these five are the main parts of the mission of the Messiah and other parts could be organized under these headings. This comes to the forefront because when Jesus read the Isaiah 61:1-2a passage He said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” His coming into the world was a fulfillment of the five things listed in the Isaiah passage as being the mission of the Messiah.

As a result, we will build this study around Isaiah 61:1-2a. I am taking some basic liberty to apply New Testament truths to this passage rather than just placing the interpretation within the understanding of the people to whom it was first written. Progressive revelation allows us to see more meaning in this passage especially since Messiah Jesus applied to Himself.
It was understood by Jewish believers that Isaiah passage was a reference to the promised Messiah and it is. After reading this passage Jesus says, in Luke 4:21, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah, the one fulfilling the prophecy.
Jesus was proclaiming himself as the one who would bring this Good News to pass, but he would do so in a way that the people were not yet able to grasp (Life Application Study Bible).
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed me….” this anointing was seen at the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. It happened when the Holy Spirit descended on Messiah Jesus immediately after His baptism. The anointing was for the purpose of setting Him apart for the specific purpose of His mission and to empowering Him for it.
The Mission as given in Isaiah 61:1-2a with the topic titles built from later revelation:

1. 
   To preach the gospel to the afflicted (poor) ones – to be the Savior of the world
   
2. 
   To bind up the broken hearted – to be the Last Adam
   
3. 
   To proclaim liberty to the captives – to offer the promised Kingdom to Israel
   
4. 
   And freedom to the prisoners – To resolve the angelic conflict
   
5. 
   To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord – to become the Head of the Church in the dispensation of grace
   

To be the Savior of the World
Isaiah 43:11 (NASB) "I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me.
Isaiah 61:1 “to preach the Gospel to the afflicted (poor)”
Poor /afflicted: Hebrew #6035 anav, humble. Jesus preached the good news, salvation, to the poor. This is not speaking of the financially poor, but those who are not spiritually arrogant (“destitute and helpless in the realm of the spirit,” Wuest on Matthew 5:3), those who will hear the message of salvation or deliverance.
What salvation did Messiah Jesus bring at His first coming? There are four aspects to this:

1. 
   He solved the complex sin problem of mankind by the His sacrificial substitutionary penal death on the cross. Sin is no longer a barrier between God and mankind.
   

Matthew 1:21

John 1:29

Romans 5:8

1 Corinthians 15:3

1 Peter 2:24

1 John 2:2

2. 
   By His sacrifice He made it possible for those who believe in Him to legally receive imputed positive righteousness before the court room of God the Father in heaven.
   

Romans 3:10 No one has any positive righteousness before God in themselves no matter how “good” they seem. All are –R: there is nothing good in anyone that God can accept.
2 Corinthians 5:21 Because of number 2 below, believers are credited or imputed with the righteousness of Messiah Jesus. Before God the Father it is as if He had lived our life and we had lived His sinless human life. We are now declared to be +R by this imputation.
Romans 3:21-26; 5:1 It is by this imputation of the righteousness of Messiah Jesus that we are justified (legally declared right with God the Father).

3. 
   To bring the free gift of spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead. This gift is given by grace alone and received by faith alone in the promise of the Messiah, the only one who is able to make and keep this promise of eternal life.
   

John 3:16

John 5:24

John 6:47

John 11:25-26

Ephesians 2:1, 4-5, 8-9
1 Timothy 1:16 To believe in Him alone for unconditional eternal life, His promise, is what is necessary to receive that life as an absolutely free gift!
Belief simply means to be mentally convinced that something is true and that is all it means. Saving faith is simply to believe the promise of the Messiah to give eternal life to all who will believe in Him alone for that life.

4. 
   To bring deliverance to the material creation which has been under the consequences of the sin of Adam since the Fall.
   

Genesis 3:17-18

Romans 8:19-22 (futility = the curse)

Isaiah 11:6-9
Isaiah 29:19 (NASB) The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
To be the Last Adam

Isaiah 57:15 (NASB) For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 61:1“To bind up the brokenhearted.” Literally, “the broken of heart.”
“Bind” ḥāb̠aš -Hebrew #2280, chabash: A verb meaning to bind. This word is used primarily to describe a binding or wrapping of one object with another (The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament).
1 Corinthians 15:45 The “last Adam” is Messiah Jesus (see verse 47). Jesus as the Last Adam (or often referred to as the Second Adam) did that which the first Adam did not do: Jesus did not succumb to temptation and He lived a sinless life as a man in time. “Sinlessness in our Lord means that He never did anything that displeased God or violated the Mosaic Law under which He lived on earth or in any way failed to show in His life at all times the glory of god (John 8:29 (Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology, Victor Books, p.263). This historical reality has enormous consequences for us who believe.
Isaiah 61:1: “brokenhearted” Hebrew #7665 sabar, to break, to smash, to destroy. Why are the people broken, smashed, or destroyed and in need of a healing spiritual wrap?

Let me suggest there three things that Jesus as the Second Adam did to bring spiritual healing.

1. 
   He lived a sinless life and fully meet all the 613 commands of the Mosaic Law (Matthew 5:17; John 8:46; 1 John 3:5). Those who are not arrogant know that they cannot meet the standard of God (Romans 3:23; 1 John 3:4) which is the absolute perfection of His righteousness. No one could meet this standard; no could ever receive eternal life by keeping the Law because they could not keep it perfectly (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16). The Law shows people just how bad they really are in the sight of God. Jesus demonstrated that there was nothing wrong with the Law (Psalm 19:7; Romans 7:12; 1 Timothy 1:8); rather, the problem was with man himself. This is a crushing reality making one “brokenhearted.”
   

2. 
   Because of the life He lived in time as a sinless man as the Second Adam, Jesus can give the “healing wrap” of imputed righteousness (see 1, b, above). He “wraps” us with His righteousness! Jesus is the “life giving Spirit” because through Him alone can the believer meet the perfect standard of the righteousness of God.
   

3. 
   God created people to rule over His created order. When man was negative to the command of God and positive to the temptation of Satan, man lost the right to rule over the creation. Because of the work of Jesus as the Second Adam the right to rule has been restored to humanity
   

Genesis 1:26

Psalm 8:3-8

Hebrews 2:8-10 – the glory is the destiny establish for mankind which is to rule the universe.

Revelation 3:21

To Offer the Promised Kingdom to Israel

Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
Isaiah 61:1 to proclaim liberty to the captives
Liberty: Hebrew #1865, deror. A masculine noun denoting liberty, emancipation. It referred to the freedom proclaimed during the sabbatical year (Lev. 25:10; Jer. 34:8, 15, 17) (The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament.)
Captives: Hebrew #7617 sabah. In the OT shābâ chiefly conveys the idea of a military or para-military force subduing a foe and then taking into their possession the men, women, children, cattle, and wealth of the defeated party. (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.)

1. 
   Jesus preaching liberty to the captives was to the spiritual need of the nation of Israel. Because of the inability to fulfill the requirements of the Law, and because of continued sin, the promised national Kingdom where the Messiah ruled had never been established. They had the promise of the Kingdom yet as a nation they were caught in one cycle of failure after another with the result that they were either out of the Land or they were under foreign domination for most of their national history.
   

Deuteronomy 27-30
Isaiah 1:4-9

2. 
   Jesus, as the descendant of King David, came offering the Kingdom to Israel. Jesus offered the Messianic Kingdom and, if they had accepted it, the cycle of failure would have been broken. The people would have had liberty to enjoy the promises of God and would be set free from the satanic influence behind their repeated failures.
   

This is why both John the Baptist, as the forerunner, and Jesus Himself preacher that the Kingdom of God had come near, that is, it was imminent – it was ready to come at any moment because the Messiah was present.

Matthew 4:17
Matthew 12:24 – this rejection explains why the Messianic Kingdom did not come into reality even though the Messiah was present.
After His rejection as the Messiah by the national leaders Jesus began to speak of His suffering and death. Here in one person, one Messiah are both aspects of the predicted Messiah in the Old Testament. It is not two different Messiahs, as the rabbis had thought, but two different parts of the work of the one and only Messiah.
Mathew 17:22
God has not rejected national Israel and the promise of the liberty to be had in the Kingdom still stands to this day!
Romans 11:1, 26
Eventually, at the end of the Tribulation, the Nation of Israel will accept Jesus as their Messiah and the Kingdom will be established.
Revelation 19:11 – 20:5

To Resolve the Angelic Conflict

Genesis 3:15 (NASB) And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."
Isaiah 14:15 "Nevertheless you (Lucifer, Satan) will be thrust down to Sheol,

To the recesses of the pit.

Isaiah 14:17 Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities,

Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?'

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Isaiah 61:1 and freedom to the prisoners
Freedom: Hebrew #6495, peqaḥ-qôaḥ: A masculine noun indicating an opening; a release from captivity. This phrase means literally, opening of vision as eyesight.

(The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament.)

Prisoners: Hebrew #631, ʾāsar: A verb meaning to bind, obligate, imprison, hold captive. In its passive uses, it means to be bound, taken prisoner, or be imprisoned.

(The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament.)

1. 
   Those whom Satan has held as prisoners, Messiah came to set free.
   

Isaiah 42:1-8 – those in spiritual blindness are those who are the prisoners held in the darkness of the dungeon of the Satanic Cosmic System under the authority of Satan. They are in the dungeon of the kingdom of darkness either because they do not have spiritual life or as believers they are being held in false doctrine and the false thinking of the world in which they live.
Matthew 4:16; 6:22-23

Colossians 1:13-14
The Jewish people were also held in the satanically designed prison of rabbinic Judaism which added layer upon layer of burdens on the people. In contrast to the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees Jesus offered rest – true freedom where all one must do is to come to Him (a synonym for believing in Him).
So people today are held in the prison of false ideas about life after death and how to be with God when we die. All the world’s religion are based on some form of works, human effort, or rituals to achieve a positive outcome after death. That is a prison from which the Messiah has come to offer freedom. Salvation – unconditional eternal life is an absolutely free gift and that knowledge is liberating!

2. 
   Jesus death on the cross was the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Satan is already a defeated foe even though the final part of the sentence has been delayed. Satan will be finally cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of time and humanity will be forever free from anything to do with him.
   

Matthew 25:41

Revelation 20:10

3. 
   By Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection, He freed both Jew and Gentile believer alike from the fear of death which Satan uses for his purposes.
   

Hebrews 2:14-15
To Become the Head of the Church

Matthew 16:18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock (the rock of Himself) I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Acts 20:28b “…the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
Ephesians 1:22-23 And He put all things in subjection under His feet,

and gave Him as head over all things to the church,

which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1:9-10 (NKJV) having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ,

both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him.

Isaiah 61:2a to proclaim the favorable year of our Lord

“favorable” Hebrew #7522 ratson meaning pleasure, delight, desire, will, favor, acceptance. When attributed to God, the term expresses the divine goodwill which He extends to humanity as He sees fit (The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament).

The New Testament term to describe this favor of God is grace.
Arnold Fruchtenbaum states, “Or, it might be expressed as, ‘To proclaim the acceptable period of favor of grace’” (Messianic Christology, p.61).

1. 
   The dispensation of Law ended with the death of the Messiah and the new dispensation of grace began. God now was to deal with humanity on the basis of the finished work of Jesus on the cross. In the dispensation of grace human responsibility is to believe in Messiah Jesus for eternal life thus accepting the free gift of imputed righteousness. Such salvation is totally by grace through faith and this offer of eternal life is extended to all humanity.
   

2. 
   The first mention of the word “church” in the Bible is in the words of Jesus Himself:
   

Matthew 16:18, 18:17.

3. 
   Because of His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven, the Holy Spirit could be sent and the Church Age begin.
   

John 16:7

4. 
   On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) the Church was established. This was an entirely new entity that was not predicted in the Old Testament.
   

Ephesians 3:6-10 the term “mystery” speaks of a truth not revealed in the Old Testament but now revealed in the New Testament.

5. 
   The church exists in the dispensation of grace, the “favorable year of the Lord.”
   

6. 
   Messiah Jesus is the Head of the Church and the Church is referred to as His body.
   

Ephesians 1:22-23

Colossians 1:18, 2:19
Conclusion
Under the five phrases about the Messiah from Isaiah 61:1-2a we have discovered the five-fold mission of Messiah Jesus which He fulfilled at his first coming. I believe that all other aspects about the person and work of Jesus can be properly organized under these five headings although, I quickly add, it would take much more study to make this complete.
Romans 15:13 (NASB) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Student Study Guide
To receive the one hour FGBI credit for this four-section course the student is to complete the following questions and submit them for evaluation. The student must listen to the verbal teaching by Pastor-teacher David Pearson. The student must carefully read all of the Scriptures referenced in this study.
As always, the most important thing is to learn the materials and not to just rush through to receive a course credit!

Hanukkah and the Messiah

1. 
   The word Hanukkah means ______________________
   
2. 
   What are the two names by which Hanukkah is known?
   

1. 
   ____________________________________________________
   
2. 
   ____________________________________________________
   

3. 
   Where is the only place in the Bible where this feast is mentioned? ________________________
   
4. 
   Write true or false in the blank: The Feast of Dedication is one of the seven feast mandated by the Mosaic Law ______________
   
5. 
   Define “intertestament period”:
   

6. 
   Daniel 8:8-14
   

1. 
   What Empire does the he-goat represent? ________________________
   
2. 
   Who is the “little horn”? _______________________________________
   
3. 
   What is “the Beautiful Land”? __________________________________
   
4. 
   Who is the Commander of the Hosts? ____________________________
   
5. 
   Verse 11: What did Antiochus do? _______________________________
   

____________________________________________________________

7. 
   Daniel 11:21-35
   

1. 
   Who is the “despicable person”? _________________________________
   
2. 
   He set up an idol of what false god? ______________________________
   
3. 
   His sacrifice of a pig in the Jewish Temple is called
   

______________________________________________________________

4. 
   Verses 32=35 predict what revolt? ________________________________
   
5. 
   Maccabee is a military nickname and means _______________________
   

8. 
   In what year were the Greek Syrian forces defeated? ________
   
9. 
   What happened on December 25, 164 B.C.?
   

10. 
    Why does Hanukkah last for eight days?
    

11. 
    What does Hanukkah actually celebrate?
    

12. 
    What is the story of the “miracle of Hanukkah”?
    

13. 
    Write out John 8:12:
    

14. 
    John 10:22-36
    

1. 
   Where was Jesus at? __________________________________________________
   
2. 
   Why is the question in verses 24-25 not an honest question?
   

3. 
   John 3:3. What is the only way to enter the Kingdom of God? ___________________________________________________________________
   
4. 
   How is one “born again”? ____________________________________________________________________
   
5. 
   What is important about verses 28-29? ___________________________________
   

____________________________________________________________________

6. 
   Did the people listening to Jesus understand His claim? _________ How do you know?
   

15. 
    What is the real miracle to be celebrated at Hanukkah?
    

16. 
    Page 7: Of the seven things listed under “How should believers in the Messiah see Hanukkah?” write out the one most significant to you and why did you pick this one?
    

17. 
    The center candle of the Hanukkah menorah is called the ________________ candle
    
18. 
    Read John 8:12 and Matthew 20:28.Write out how you could present the Christian understanding about Jesus and the center candle of the Hanukkah.
    

19. 
    According to Matthew 5:13-16, who is the light of the world today? ____________
    
20. 
    There are two aspects of being this light. List them:
    

1. 
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   
2. 
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   

21. 
    Of the things you have studied in this lesson, what are the most significant to you and why?
    

The Forerunner of the Messiah

1. 
   Who was the Forerunner of the Messiah? _________________________________
   
2. 
   He was to _________________ the way for the Messiah’s coming and to __________________ His arrival.
   
3. 
   Who is speaking in Matthew about John the Baptist in Matthew 11:11? _____________________. Write below what Jesus says about Him in the first part of this verse (in your notes):
   

4. 
   What were the names of the parents of John the Baptist? _____________________
   

and __________________________

5. 
   Luke 1:5-23
   

1. 
   V.5: who is this Herod? _______________________________
   
2. 
   Write true or false in the blank: Zacharias was a common priest and not the High Priest _________________
   
3. 
   Elizabeth was from what priestly family? ______________________________
   
4. 
   V.6: Explain the meaning of this verse
   

5. 
   Why was their being childless such an issue in the time frame?
   

6. 
   How often would a priest have the opportunity to go into the Holy place to burn incense? _____________________________________________________
   

6. 
   P. 10: Draw a sketch of the Temple noting only the Holy of Holies, the Veil, the Holy Place, the Altar of Incense, and the Altar of Sacrifice.
   

7. 
   Luke 1:11-17
   

1. 
   Vv.11-12. What was the Jewish belief about an angel appearing on the right side of the Altar? Why does this help explain his fear?
   

2. 
   Vv. 13-14. What is significant about these verses?
   

3. 
   What does the name “John” mean? _____________________________________
   

____________________________________________________________________

4. 
   What can you learn from the F. B. Meyer quote?
   

5. 
   Fill in the blank: God is always _________________ in His _________________ and ______________.
   
6. 
   Fill in the blank: Read Numbers 6:1-4. John the Baptist was a __________________ from birth
   
7. 
   Read Luke 1:57-79. What are some things you can learn about God from this praise given by Zacharias?
   

8. 
   Why are verses 76-77 so important as far as John is concerned?
   

8. 
   Read John 1:6-8. What do you think are the most important things to note about John from these verses?
   

9. 
   Luke 3:19-20. Read the supplement below about this situation from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary.