Messiah: Part 1, The Beginning

Years ago, when I began to explore the Jewish concept of Messiah, I found it to be vastly different from what I grew up with in the church - and in some critical ways that significantly impacted my worldview. My journey led me to speak with various Rabbis and teachers, many of whom I'm forever grateful for.

One Rabbi in particular comes to mind. From our interactions, I could sense he had great knowledge of Messianism. As a bonus, he also had a solid grasp of how these ideas were presented in the New Testament. I asked if he could teach me, and he replied, "No."

He explained, "This topic is so complex that I simply do not have the time to unpack it for you." Though this was not the answer I wanted, I respected his assessment. Years later, I can attest that he was correct. Some questions cannot be answered quickly, particularly when entangled with our personal worldview.

Additionally, there are many ways to understand the Messiah concept as it is not an exact science or doctrinal, much to the dismay of many.

Objective

After thousands of hours of study, I will humbly attempt to unpack some of the high-level points of this immensely deep topic. While much of this topic remains a mystery, and rightfully so, a re-examination of the basics will help us to understand the role of Messiah as understood from Jewish tradition. It is not inconsequential and, I think, will prove to be valuable to all of us in the here and now.

Naturally, some theological shifts may occur, yet we may find them productive and enlightening, emphasizing the purpose of life and how we can maximize our time. Where possible, links to resources will allow a curious reader to explore a particular concept more deeply.

If we could summarize the question from which we focus this work, it is, "Why do we need Messiah?" As usual, we'll begin this journey back to the beginning, the birth of the world.