By Kelly O'Connell ——Bio and Archives--March 31, 2024
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INTRODUCTION: Christ as Messiah: Happy Easter! But why do Christians claim that only Jesus Christ offers eternal salvation --when the world overflows with ‘saviors’? The Bible states every other savior is a copy, a hoax, a faux hero, an outright fraud. This is a jarring statement! But the biblical claim is that Jesus appeared as a unique, sacrificial, brilliant, loving and theologically exhaustive savior such that only God on earth as man could achieve.
We note a number of other religions propound pseudo saviors, found in the other biblically oriented religions--Islam & Judaism, etc. So why do these fail? For those alarmed at such exclusive claims, we honor the devotees of these religions while confronting them by pointing out the heresies involved. From the Christian perspective, on this Easter, we assert there is only one means to Salvation--Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Matthew on the Messiah: Here, at the beginning of Matthew 1, Jesus is directly claimed the Messiah: “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:”
And Matthew 18-19: “18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
Then Matthew finishes the thought in 20-23: 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (or, “God with us”).
Christ’s Overall Claims of Jesus as Messiah, from Crosswalk:
See The Top 40 Messianic Prophecies
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Jewish Messianic History: The Jews have searched for their Messiah for thousands of years, and still seek in vain. Despite many false messiahs, there is currently a promising new Messiah candidate, “Israeli Rabbi Says He’s Already Holding Meetings With Messiah” -- Sept 9, 2022.” See the description in the Jewish Virtual Library on the Messiah:
Isaiah’s Trinitarian Messiah: He mentions the coming Messiah, in the most trinitarian statement, from Isaiah 9:6 --
Jewish False Messiahs: Simon Bar Kohkba Jesus was rejected by Jews since he was offered as the Lamb of God, not the violent Davidic savior coming as a warrior to destroy Rome and reassert Israel. See Judaism 101: The term "mashiach" literally means "the anointed one," and refers to the ancient practice of anointing kings with oil when they took the throne. The mashiach is the one who will be anointed as king in the End of Days.”
But after murdering Jesus, Israel was later presented with a tantalizing messianic candidate -- tall, charismatic, handsome, brilliant, persuasive and a true military leader – Simon bar Kokhbar. But Kokhbar attacked Rome, precipitating the largest disaster in Jewish history up to the Holocaust, triggering its complete annihilation and Diaspora.
Islam: Mahdi as Messiah
The Islamic savior is named the Mahdi. All Muslim thought of the end times involves the Mahdi, an eschatological messianic savior in Islam. And yet the Madhi is not in the Quran, so is the Mahdi arguably a Christ figure grafted into Islam to solve the problem of the apparent lack of pity in Islamic theology? Well, since Muhammad’s revelation was in 610, any biblical messiah came from previous Jewish & Christian ideas.
But as developed by Shia Islam, called “Twelvers,” the Mahdi is the only alleged descendent of Muhammad was born -- but then, within 6 years he enters a swift occultation, or hibernation, until the end times start. Later, Sunni Islam adopts this figure. See Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History, describing this time-traveling leader:
See PBS Pilgrimage to Karbala:
And so, the Muslim Mahdi presents a number of historical, theological and logical conundrums for Islam. Since the Mahdi is contained in no Islamic origin documents, is he just a watered down and revenge-minded Jesus-figure? Second, does the Mahdi supersede Muhammad as he appears to do in his overall powers? Third, is the Mahdi a savior, or an Anti-Christ figure, since Christ bows down to him, condemns all his Christian followers and then joins the Mahdi to slaughter all non-Muslims?
See the New World Encyclopedia:
Biblical Messianic Prophesies: Now, there are over 350 messianic prophesies in the Old Testament. Here are some top predictions:
Here is a list of important Messianic prophecies that Yeshua fulfilled. Additionally, see their corresponding New Testament references:
The 4 kinds of Messianic Prophecies. Some scholars find almost 600 messianic prophecies. And the 351 prophecies Jesus is claimed to have fulfilled.
What Odds Jesus Fulfilled the Prophecies: From his book, Is the Bible Really a Message from God?, author Ralph Muncaster “connected the dots” of the major Old Testament scriptures regarding Israel’s Messiah, its long-anticipated deliverer, savior and king. Muncaster calculates the chances that one man could fulfill 48 biblical prophecies of the Messiah. What are the odds? Muncaster concluded: The estimated odds of just the above 48 prophecies being fulfilled in the life of one man have been calculated as one in 10157. This would be equivalent to winning 22 lotteries in a row!”
CONCLUSION: Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ:
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Kelly O’Connell is an author and attorney. He was born on the West Coast, raised in Las Vegas, and matriculated from the University of Oregon. After laboring for the Reformed Church in Galway, Ireland, he returned to America and attended law school in Virginia, where he earned a JD and a Master’s degree in Government. He spent a stint working as a researcher and writer of academic articles at a Miami law school, focusing on ancient law and society. He has also been employed as a university Speech & Debate professor. He then returned West and worked as an assistant district attorney. Kelly is now is a private practitioner with a small law practice in New Mexico.
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