The Historical Jesus Question

Download or read book Are You the One Who Is to Come? written by Michael F. Bird and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did Jesus claim to be the long-awaited "messiah"? Going against much contemporary scholarship, Australian scholar Michael Bird argues that he did. He begins by exploring the messianic expectations in the Old Testament and Second Temple Jewish literature. Next, Bird points out weaknesses in current arguments that "Messiah," or "Christ," was a title given to Jesus by the early church but not used by Jesus himself. Bird then examines the Gospels and related literature, finding in Jesus's words and actions evidence that he saw himself as the messiah described in the Scriptures of Israel and believed that Israel's restoration hinged on the outcome of his ministry.