We Have Found the Messiah!

One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. (John 1:41-2)

I do not think it is going too far to say that the theme of the Messiah is THE theme of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, and it is a theme that deserves careful and considered study. There are many passages throughout the Scriptures which shed light for us on the whole concept and content of the Messianic theme, and in this study we will look at some of the more prominent of these passages.

The context of the words "We have found the Messiah" is probably well known; this is the opening chapter of John's Gospel, a Gospel which is remarkable for the prologue of verses 1-18. This opening is unlike the other gospels, and reminds us of the unique glory that belongs to Jesus as the only-begotten and eternal Son of God. John then moves into narrative, and into the testimony of John the Baptist concerning that Jesus, who became flesh and dwelt among us, and of whom John said that he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Then at the close of chapter 1 we have John's record of the first disciples, the first followers of Jesus. We are told in verse 37 of those who followed Jesus on the basis of John's testimony, and then of how Andrew found Simon Peter and took him to Jesus. Then Jesus found Philip, and Philip brought Nathanael. In these different ways, we see how four people, who were destined to play a pivotal role in the church as preachers of the Gospel and as the first followers of Jesus, came to Jesus in different ways and by different routes.

I suppose at a primary level that the teaching of this passage is that the work of the Holy Spirit cannot be stereotyped. God's Spirit is like the wind, and in many ways defies logic. The way God's grace does its work, the experiences that the Spirit produces in the lives of men and women means that no two testimonies are ever the same. No two conversions are ever the same -- God's grace is a very particular and individual and personal thing. This is a wonderful thing; and it reminds us of the nature of God's covenant with us -- it is individual. He says to us "I have called you by your name..." (Isaiah 43:1). God's calling on Andrew is not exactly the same as his calling on Peter; his calling on Philip is not exactly the same as that on Nathanael. The backgrounds are different, the temperaments and the needs are different; but the common interest is an interest in foollowing, serving and pleasing Jesus.

There is an important lesson for us to take with us: that the important thing is not how we came into the kingdom, but whether we are in the kingdom, and, if so, whether we are following Christ as we ought to be. Testimony-telling can give the impression that the beginning is the important thing; and often, testimonies end with conversion -- they end where they ought to begin. We have so much to tell -- not just of how Christ brought us into the kingdom, but all he did for us since then -- ways in which he helped us, lifted us up, encouraged us, met our needs in remarkable ways. It is to our poverty as churches that we do not share as we ought the experience of the wondrous work of God in our own life since the moment we became his disciples.

When you read John 1, you can sense the excitement in Andrew's voice when he goes to his brother Simon and speaks to him. Andrew wants to tell many people about Jesus, and about what he has found; but it is not unimportant that the first place to which he goes is to his own brother. And however difficult that may be for him -- probably no-one knows Andrew better than Simon Peter -- it is to his brother that Andrew goes first.

In fact, it is interesting to see John's use of the verb 'to find' in verse 41: Andrew finds Peter, and then says to him 'We have found the Messiah'. All that Andrew has to say to Simon is what he himself has found in his own life. Witnessing does not necessarily mean being able to explain detailed theological principles or statements; all we are called to do is to tell what God did for our soul. We find others; and we tell then what we ourselves have found.

What Andrew says is -- WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH. Let's use Andrew's testimony as an introduction to the theme of the Messiah in the word of God.

First, let's note that although the concept of Messiah is central to the message of the Bible, the word itself is found in only three passages of the King James Version. These are the passage we are looking at in John 1:41, and the following two passages. The first is a prophecy from Daniel:

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be builte again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:25-26)

The second is in the account of Jesus's meeting with a woman from Samaria:

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. (John 4:25)

Most modern translations opt for the translation "an anointed one" in the Daniel passage. In the New Testament, of course, there was a Greek word which means the same as the word 'Messiah' -- that is the word 'Christ'. John, in both 1:41 and 4:25, explains the meaning of the word 'Messiah' in terms of the word 'Christ'.

The word 'Christ' appears very often in John's Gospel. In fact, John's burden in everything he writes is to demonstrate that Jesus IS the Christ, the Messiah, God's anointed one. This is what he says:

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:29-30)

The purpose, therefore, of John's record, and, indeed, of the Gospel records, and of the whole Scripture, is to demonstrate to us that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. John makes it clear that until we see this, we cannot believe, and, therefore, we will not have the life he offers. Those who have eternal life are those who can say with Andrew, "We have found the Messiah". Those who have trusted in Jesus have come to find the central theme of the Bible, and the heart of the Gospel. They have embraced the Saviour because he is the Messiah.

Second, let's note that the title "Messiah" or "Christ" is one of many titles attributed to Jesus throughout the Gospels. Indeed, even in the context of John 1 there are several titles and names used of Jesus. In verse 36 he is the Lamb of God; in verse 38 he is Rabbi; in verse 49 he is the Son of God; in verse 49 he is also the King of Israel; he says of himself in verse 51 that he is the Son of Man.

All of these titles are loaded with significance. From the outset, God revealed himself through his name. Moses asked God in the wilderness "When Pharaoh asks me 'Who has sent you?', what will I say?" And the Lord answers the question out of the burning bush, "I am that I am". God gave himself a name, and revealed himself through his name.

It is important to note that throughout the Bible there is an emphasis on the name of God as the way by which God makes himself known to us. For the righteous who trust in God, his name is a strong tower of safety (Proverbs 18:10); and the Gospel guarantee is that all who call on the name of God will be saved (Acts 2:21).

God's name, therefore, is a symbol of self-revelation: he has made himself known. He has made himself known, among other things, by the names, titles and attributes in the Bible. Jesus, as the divine Word made flesh, also used titles and names as means of revelation and self-disclosure (such as, for example, the "I am" sayings of John's Gospel). These names are windows by which we can know God, and appreciate his salvation. The name Messiah is one of these titles, as important as Son of God etc.

Thirdly, we note that this name means 'the anointed one'. Although the word 'Messiah' is found in only one passage in the Old Testament, the concept of anointing is everywhere present throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. Anything that was devoted to the service of God was anointed with oil. That is particularly true of the service of the tabernacle and the Temple, where not only were the buildings and their furnishings prescribed by God in detail; but even the mixture for the oil of anointing was prescribed: it was to be mixed in a particular way with particular ingredients. Everything in the tabernacle and its service, the priest and his service, had to be anointed. Through the anointing there was a symbolic setting apart to the service of the Lord.

Christ himself, throughout his ministry, is conscious of his having been anointed. The whole purpose of his baptism is to draw our attention to that. He has been baptised with the Holy Spirit and is the one of whom John says that he has the Holy Spirit 'without measure' (John 3:34). The fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily (Colossians 2:9); and yet at the beginning of his public ministry he is baptised with the Holy Spirit as the Lord's anointed, set apart for a particular service and a particular ministry. So Peter can declare in Acts 10:39 that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power".

That consecrating reaches its climax in the high priestly prayer of our Lord, and his statement in John 17:19 that "for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth". The Lord's sanctification had nothing to do with cleansing from sin; he is bringing us to the root idea of holiness and anointing -- to set apart for God's service.

There is something fundamental here. By virtue of our faith in Christ, we are united to Christ. We are in Christ. Christ is set before us in the Gospel in all the glory of his person and work. By nature we were outside Christ. The Gospel means that he completed our salvation and now we are in Christ. That is our security: not that he is in us, but that we are in him. If we are in him, we have been anointed in him.

Psalm 133 says that the oil poured on the head of the priest flows to the extremity of his robe. Even if we imagine ourselves to be simply at the edge of Christ's robe, we are still in him, and anointed by his Spirit and set apart for God. All that we are has been consecrated to his service. We are united to the one who is the Messiah, who is filled with the Spirit and in whom we are complete.

We must never think that incarnational theology can be confined to the pages of the Bible. What is the practical implication of the doctrine of the incarnation? Paul makes it so explicit: "we are complete in him" (Colossians 2:10). Christ being who he is, and we being in Christ, means that there is a fulness, a completeness about our Christian standing that could not otherwise be the case. All that I need to live a devoted life I have as a result of my union with him. All the grace that I need for this moment and for every other moment I have in completeness because I am in him who is the Messiah. And all my life is to be devoted and consecrated in this way.

If sin means anything, it means us not giving Jesus what is his own. We have failed to be what he calls us to be. We have backslidden instead of going forward, broken the commandment instead of honouring it. We have simply not given him what is his own.

Fourthly, let's note that the Messiah Andrew found was the Messiah of the Scriptures. That is made prominent in the words of Philip to Nathanael in verse 45: "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph". Here we are told that the Jesus who is the Messiah, is the subject and the object of the Old Testament Scriptures. Moses wrote of him. He was the subject of God's special interest. Before the world began, God had set him apart as the only Redeemer of his people. And from the moment when special revelation began and the books of Moses were written, the special focus of interest was in the Messiah.

We are used to reading the Old Testament in the light of the New; as the light of the New Testament dawns and casts its shadows into the Old, we can read the Old and see there the symbols and the types which prefigured the coming of Christ. Yet it is equally proper for us to go in the opposite direction. If it is true that the New Testament sheds light for us on the Old, it is also true that there are passages in the Old Testament which shed light for us on the New.

There are things in the New Testament which can only be understood in the light of the OT. There are doctrines, principles and concepts -- such as priesthood -- brought before us in the NT and which can only be understood as we allow the light of the OT to shine into them. These passages shed light on the OT, but the OT also sheds light onto the NT. In the writings of Moses, in the law and in the prophetic literature, the focus of God's interest was the Messiah. As the Spirit of God moved and carried these authors, it was the Spirit of Christ -- the Spirit of the Messiah -- that was in them (1 Peter 1:11) when they spoke of the sufferings of Jesus and consequent glory.

So we can come to the OT and passages which speak on the Messiah and we can allow the light that shines from them, filtered through the prophetic teaching, through the psalms, through the law, through the Scriptures, to illuminate the NT for us.

In the history of the lighthouses, apparently the original lighthouses were lit with the light of a candle. Yet it produced a beam that went miles out to sea, simply because it was filtered through a lens which magnified the flame and turned it into a powerful light which shone into the darkness. That is what Philip is telling us here. He is saying that even although the light of salvation history in the OT was dim in comparison with that which came in the NT, nonetheless through the writings of Moses, in the law and in the prophets, that light cast a beam forward through time, and sheds light for us on all that Jesus came to do as the anointed one of God.

We can therefore come to the messianic psalms -- Psalms 2, 89, 132, for example -- and we can see the light there, in the depths of the OT, casting their beam forward and shedding light for us on the Lord Jesus Christ. We can go to the promise of Genesis 3:15 -- it is a messianic prophecy which casts its light forward and sheds light for us on the coming and work of Jesus Christ. These, and other passages, speak of Jesus, and the light in them casts light for us.

It is the business, therefore, of those who have found the Messiah to keep searching for him and looking for him in the pages of the Scriptures. If we can say "We found him in the Bible", then we must keep searching in the scriptures which testify of him. It is in finding him there that we will have life. Our business is to look at the stories and the connection between the stories, to read the narratives and to trace the line which runs right through them. It is our business to gird up the loins of our mind and to study Genesis through Revelation to find there the one and only one who is the Messiah of God. The writings become our access to him; and he is to be found in all the Scriptures.

Having found him, it is our business to keep on finding him. And it was the finding of him that led Andrew to find his brother. It was the discovery of the Messiah in the Scriptures and in this experience of meeting with the lamb of God that fuelled Andrew's missionary interest in seeking the soul of his brother. Having come face to face with Jesus, and having heard his voice and having felt his power and the experience of his grace, he wants to serve him. Surely these things go hand in hand -- if our affections are stirred for him, and our love is great for him, then we will be zealous to serve him in this world. May we find him in the Bible, and then, with excitement in our souls, be devoted to his service more and more.

© Iain D. Campbell 2002