The Mission of Messiah

As pervasive as the idea of Messiah has become over the last 2,000 years, it is easy to forget the basic mission of why we need a Messiah in the first place, and how personal responsibility fits into the equation.

Adam

A helpful tool I have learned over the years is to return everything back to Adam.

(For the sake of focus, we will not discuss whether Adam represents humanity as a whole or a literal person. Instead, we will point to the general concept of Adam - somewhere in between.)

In the beginning, humanity found itself in a state of near-perfection, a blend of physical and spiritual components. Today, we have neither the hardware or software to comprehend what this may have looked like. In its original state, humanity was afforded some degree of proximity to the Creator.

So amazing was mankind, tradition tells us, the angels mistook Adam for a Divine being.

When the Holy One Blessed be He created Adam, the first man, the ministering angels erred with regard to Adam and sought to declare before him, Holy. - Midrash Genesis Rabbah 8:10

Adam had one mission: to submit his free-will to the Creator's Will. This is the test of all humankind. If he had achieved this, humankind would have moved into a perpetual state of higher consciousness.

"... If Adam had not sinned, he would have been able to attain this perfection without restraint. His soul would have purified his body step-by-step, until he reached the level required to permanently partake of everlasting bliss…” - Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal), The Way of G_D, 1:3:6-8

Additionally, the kabbalists tell us that Adam had potential to achieve the highest level, or dimension of the human soul - one that only comes through a great test of free will. Tradition tells us that this level of soul has existed from before creation, and in fact, was the reason for bringing creation into existence in the first place. Since Adam never achieved this, the Sages have called it the Spirit of Messiah as it will now be the job of Messiah to earn. A commentary on Genesis 1:2, reads:

"And the spirit of G_D wavered upon the water" - that is the spirit of the King Messiah. If man merits [to see him], we say to him: "You were created before all of creation." - Leviticus Rabbah 14:1

Rabbi Chaim Vital (1500's) expounds:

“... the soul of celestial splendor, no created being in the world has ever yet been worthy to obtain: the King Messiah, however, will receive it: it is accordingly said of him, ‘He shall be high and exalted,’ [Isaiah 52:13], etc, or as our Rabbis say, ‘He shall be higher than Abraham, exceedingly above Adam!” – Shaar HaGilgulim

After the Sin

Sadly, we know how the story goes. Adam failed at his mission - and created a bigger problem for himself and the world.

1) The original objective [submission of free-will] has been left unfulfilled, and,
2) all of creation has suffered a catastrophic collapse.

This means, mankind has fallen from its higher dimension of consciousness, and death and entropy have become our reality. According to tradition, humankind also incurred a new capacity for sin through this event.

The New Testament begins with this tradition in mind. Many times, we see this spoken about, for example, Paul writes in Romans:

So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned - Romans 5:12

Messiah's mission

Quite simply, the mission of Messiah is to repair what Adam broke, and ultimately usher mankind back to its created state. This will come through strict obedience to the Creator and passing the original test of Adam, overriding his freewill. From there, the original goal of Adam will be achieved and mankind will be back on track once more.

The Ramchal tells us:

For man and the world must first return to the state they were in originally before the sin, and only afterwards to raise themselves from that state to the state of perfection that fitting for man to ascend. - The Way of G_D, 1 3:8

But, here is the catch - Messiah cannot do it himself... he needs our help.

Hastening the Arrival

Do we really have a role to play in this? A discussion in the Talmud discusses how the redemption will begin. Do we sit back and wait? Do we hasten it? Or, is it both?

"Rabbi Alexandri says: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi raises a contradiction in a verse addressing G_D’s commitment to redeem the Jewish people. In the verse: “I the Lord in its time I will hasten it” (Isaiah 60:22), it is written: “In its time,” indicating that there is a designated time for the redemption, and it is written: “I will hasten it,” indicating that there is no set time for the redemption.

Rabbi Alexandri explains: If they merit redemption through repentance and good deeds I will hasten the coming of the Messiah. If they do not merit redemption, the coming of the Messiah will be in it's designated time." - Sanhedrin 98a

Through this we are told that we play a big role in the timing. If we strive to elevate ourselves, seeking to understand and abide by the commandments of Hashem, we can bring the redemption earlier.

Adam's test is our test. If we choose to indulge the whims of our own free-will, and live for ourselves, we opt for the long road.

For some, this idea may seem counter-intuitive to the way Jesus's mission has been explained, but we must remember, Peter himself reveals this truth:

"Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must we be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of G_D? Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze! But, according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness truly resides.”
- 2 Peter 11-13

With this knowledge, we must ask ourselves, how are we living? Are we hastening the collective redemption - or are we subverting it? Are we passing the tests given to us by the Creator? Or, are we choosing to stall the onset of a renewed global consciousness?