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.
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From the Back Cover
"Michael Bird tackles a question central to historical Jesus research and to understanding the development of the Christian confession: Who did Jesus say that he was? Thoroughly conversant with the extensive history of scholarship, Bird applies a rigorous critique to the dominant arguments used against attributing a messianic self-understanding to Jesus. He builds a substantial case for Jesus's messianic self-understanding by analyzing the words explicitly spoken on this topic by or about Jesus during his earthly ministry and by examining the deeds Jesus chose to enact and the roles he would have been understood--and would have understood himself--to embody by these deeds. Bird brings a fresh perspective and keen mind to this debate, painting a historically plausible picture of a Judean well versed in current messianic paradigms who crafted a ministry that reflected both an awareness of acting as God's end-time agent and a particular understanding of what that agent was to accomplish."--David A. deSilva, Ashland Theological Seminary
"Michael Bird has written one of the clearest and most compelling treatments of Jesus and the messianic question that I have read. Ancient literature and modern literature are alike handled with great expertise and excellent judgment. Readers will find no long-winded, specious theories propounded here. On the contrary, this book lays out the evidence fairly and with economy and then consistently reaches sensible conclusions. In the end, Bird goes where the evidence takes him, concluding that Jesus understood himself as Israel's Messiah, which explains the nature of the name of the movement that arose in the aftermath of Easter. I recommend this book highly."--Craig A. Evans, Acadia Divinity College
"Bird offers a robust defense of what might be called a 'neo-conservative' position on Jesus's self-understanding. This book will appeal to scholars from a range of perspectives due to the vast amount of ancient source material covered in detail along with an array of important modern sources. Students and scholars wanting a detailed but accessible entry into this key topic in historical Jesus studies would do well to start with Are You the One Who Is to Come?"--James Crossley, University of Sheffield
"Michael Bird has written one of the clearest and most compelling treatments of Jesus and the messianic question that I have read. Ancient literature and modern literature are alike handled with great expertise and excellent judgment. Readers will find no long-winded, specious theories propounded here. On the contrary, this book lays out the evidence fairly and with economy and then consistently reaches sensible conclusions. In the end, Bird goes where the evidence takes him, concluding that Jesus understood himself as Israel's Messiah, which explains the nature of the name of the movement that arose in the aftermath of Easter. I recommend this book highly."--Craig A. Evans, Acadia Divinity College
"Bird offers a robust defense of what might be called a 'neo-conservative' position on Jesus's self-understanding. This book will appeal to scholars from a range of perspectives due to the vast amount of ancient source material covered in detail along with an array of important modern sources. Students and scholars wanting a detailed but accessible entry into this key topic in historical Jesus studies would do well to start with Are You the One Who Is to Come?"--James Crossley, University of Sheffield
About the Author
Michael F. Bird (PhD, University of Queensland) is lecturer in theology at Crossway College and honorary research associate at the University of Queensland in Australia. He is the author of Jesus and the Origins of the Gentile Mission and The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification, and the New Perspective. He is also co-moderator of the New Testament blog "Euangelion."
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jesus Is the Messiah and He Knew It All Along!,
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This review is from: Are You the One Who Is to Come?: The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question (Paperback)
The premise of this book is to show that what Jesus said and did can be submitted as evidence that He understood himself to be the Messiah of Israel. The first chapter shows that there are many scholars who doubt that Jesus ever claimed to be the Messiah or affirmed others when they addressed him as such (EP Sanders, James DG Dunn (!), R.E Brown.
The next chapter shows from the Hebrew Bible (2 Samuel 7:14, Psalm 2:7, 110, Isaiah 11, 35, 53, Daniel 7:13-14, Amos 9:11, et al) that there was a messianic expectation within the community). Bird also goes into the intertestamental literature (1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra) and the Qumran literature (4Qum246) to show that this expectation was heightened in some quarters by the first centuries BCE and CE. In particular, the Son of Man designation proved to be a very helpful vehicle for Jesus; own understanding of His messianic identity and ministry. The next chapter features Bird taking apart the arguments of those who contest that Jesus ever claimed to be the Messiah. The messianic secret was not a secret throughout the Gospel of Mark, and the downplaying of it early on is more consistent with the apocalyptic nature of this gospel than it is with any attempt to deny the Messiahship of Jesus. Moreover, even though the resurrection of Jesus helped to authenticate Jesus' messianic identity, it is not its point of origin and it by itself could not be the reason for the messianic designations ascribed to Christ. We need to consider what Jesus said and did during His ministry. Bird goes on to explain this in the next chapter. He highlights Matthew 11:5-6 and the riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as overt attempts by Jesus to conduct and explain His ministry in messianic terms. Other appeals to the "I have come" texts and to the anointing of Christ in Mark 14 are less convincing, but Bird has made his case in the main. Bird goes on to discuss and defend the historicity of the texts (Matt 16:13-20; Mark 14:61-64) where Jesus affirms His messianic identity. He coyly acknowledges that his defenses of the historical integrity will not convince everyone. But I didn't see the need for the reticence. Matthew and Mark have Jesus answering the Messianic question in the affirmative (multiple attestation), and even though it looks like Jesus dances around the question in Luke, his answer to the followup question leaves no doubt in the minds of His interrogators. The book has a great closing chapter about the theological ramifications of Jesus's Messiahship. Jesus is the eschatological deliverer, and He is our prophet, priest, and king. Being our prophet means that He is God's messenger to and for us, being our priest means that He is our mediator to and for us, and being our king means that He is our monarch. Good stuff! This book reminds me of Ben Witherington's classic volume "The Christology of Jesus." This volume makes its case more cautiously. It brings the discussion into the 21st century. It is well organized, well written and should be consulted by scholarly pastors and pastoral scholars.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful; brilliant scholarship and good writing!,
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This review is from: Are You the One Who Is to Come?: The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question (Paperback)
There aren't many biblical scholars who write well, so it can be tiresome to slog through the books. Well, Bird is different. Not only is his scholarship and logic wonderful, he actually writes well.
Bird tackles one of the thorniest problems in historical Jesus scholarship, "whether or not Jesus believed himself to be the Messiah. (It) is a recurring riddle of historical Jesus scholarship" (p 24). Many, if not most, scholars reject the idea that Jesus said he was the Messiah. Bird argues that Jesus saw himself "in messianic categories...(and) that it is the messianic nature of Jesus's ministry that explains the reason for Jesus's death and accounts for the messianism of the early church, including its Christology" (p 29). In the Old Testament, David was promised by God that his dynasty would continue "through a physical descendant...eternally, and that the king will have a unique filial relationship with Israel's God" (p 36). Given these promises, it is not surprising that, during the intertestamental period, messianism frequently centered on the Davidic line. Nor is it surprising to learn of "spasmodic revolts that seem to echo messianic ideas" (p 52). The early church clearly proclaimed Jesus the Messiah. But why? Jesus could have been resurrected without being the Messiah. John the Baptist could have been proclaimed the Messiah; he was not. Why? For that matter, if Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah, then why didn't Jewish polemics state this, since it would be "their best opportunity to pose a counterassertion to early Christian proclamation" (p 71). In fact, why did the claim originate after Easter if Jesus never made a claim to being the Messiah? Bird points out that many of Jesus's actions and sayings point to a messianic awareness. Among them, the "Son of Man' sayings seem steeped in messianic awareness, and, as Fitzmyer has argued, these sayings are closely tied to the coming Jewish king. Sanders has also asserted that the disciples of Jesus already thought of him as the Messiah even before the resurrection. "While it is undoubtedly true that Jesus's Davidic heritage was part of the christological reflection of the early church, it seems too widespread and too early to attribute it entirely to post-Easter currents" (p 109), Bird concludes. I would also strongly recommend Larry Hurtado and Martin Hengel for their books that investigate the earliest Christology.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finding a Messianic Jesus,
By
This review is from: Are You the One Who Is to Come?: The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question (Paperback)
In this great little book, Bird undertakes the much contested question in Jesus Studies concerning Jesus own self-presentation: who did he say and show himself to be? And for Bird, this means investigating the intention and identity exhibited by Jesus, arguing that Jesus "saw himself in messianic categories" (29). This proceeds, after an introductory chapter, with a careful though certainly not exhaustive look at messianic expectation in Second Temple Judaism, which provides the essential background and material for what is to follow, arguing that while there was indeed a variety of expectation, or in some cases even lack there of, during this period, even amid this diversity there were ideas and trajectories that were recognizably messianic. He then looks at whether Jesus declined the messianic role, undertaking specifically a study of the Markan Messianic secret motif, as well as interacting with the idea that Jesus' messiahship was only a post-resurrection inference, concluding that Jesus acted in such a way to deliberately arouse messianic hopes. The third chapter looks at how Jesus redefined the role of messiah in his own ministry, with a focus on how Jesus understood the "Son of Man" imagery and also the royal imagery that arises out of Israel's Scripture. The fifth chapter focuses in on Jesus final week and death as keys to seeing Jesus messianism. He concludes the chapter, "I think that Jesus' deliberate attempt to act out a messianic vocation is the smoking gun that explains the messianic testimony of the early church" (158).
These careful investagations lead him to the conclusion that several patterns and themes from the Jesus tradition come together to show that "Jesus' career centered on several messianic scenarios based upon the themes of victory, temple, and enthronement, and these were related to sociopolitical circumstances of Palestine in the first century," and that Jesus saw his role as "'the man' who will be vindicated and receive a kingdom" (159). He then concludes the book with a relatively brief yet helpful constructive chapter thinking about what understanding Jesus as Messiah means for the Christian faith, looking at such themes as relation to Israel, eschatology, and christology proper. Bird's book is relatively brief, considering the vast amount of terrain it covers, but I found it enjoyable and well argued. He has woven a number of important threads of the Gospels together to paint a coherent picture of Jesus as the Christ, and specifically of Jesus as one who took that role upon himself and acted it out. I am appreciative of his arguments and his great learning, and will certainly refer to it any time questions arise concerning Jesus and his messiahship.
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