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 WAS THE MESSIAH EXPECTED TO DIE? No. The Messiah whom the Jewish people of Jesus' time were expecting was to be a godly king and military hero who would drive the Romans out of the land, purify it and make it glorious again. He would certainly not be killed by the Romans, least of all by crucifixion, which would imply he was cursed by God. None of the heroes of the Hebrew scriptures had met an untimely death, with the exception of Samson. Because of the political and military expectations that surrounded the word "Messiah", Jesus was cautious about accepting the title. Instead, he often said that he would go to Jerusalem and suffer and die there. It seems that the disciples couldn't grasp what he was saying, or found it so outrageous or unlikely that they blanked it out. Quite a number of people claimed to be the Messiah around the time of Jesus. For example, some 15 years after the death of Jesus, a would-be Messiah called Theudas arose in Judea, preaching and prophesying, and 400 people followed him. He marched towards Jerusalem, promising that the River Jordan would part to let them through. In fact, he was ambushed by the Romans and beheaded. Those of his followers who survived dispersed. Almost all the "Messiahs" around the time of Jesus met grisly ends, and in each case their followers then gave up, because an executed Messiah must surely be a false Messiah. More questions about Jesus' death |
Picture: the Isenheim Altarpiece, by Matthias Grünewald, painted in the 16th century. |
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