This is a very long topic, but for now, I’ll introduce it briefly. For those who are interested, I will provide much more detail after this introduction.
Who is the Messiah ?
In the Tanach (OT), it is believed to be are over 300 prophesies about a character whose main role is to restore Yahweh’s original kingdom. There, He is referred to by various metaphors including “the seed of the woman” (Gen 3:15), a “promised lamb of Yahweh (God)” (Gen 22:8), “a branch” (Isaiah 11:1), “a Prophet from the midst of Israel like me (Moses)” (Deut 18:15), & many others, but probably, He is best known as “the Messiah”, the anointed one, the Mashiyach in Hebrew, & Christos in Greek.
Who was Messiah Yahushua ?
According to the Renewed Covenant Scriptures (RC) or New Testament, Messiah Yahushua was born into a Jewish family, & so first of all, He was a Jew. He was raised to be Torah-observant, (law obedient), as most of His fellow Jews were - Torah is the Hebrew word, poorly translated as "law", which means “instructions”. The following verses are evidence to support this :
Luke 1:59 tells us He was circumcised on the eighth day.
Luke 2:41 & John 2:23 say that He & His parents went to the feast of Passover.
Luke 8:44 explains that He wore "fringes" on His garments in accordance with the Torah command of Num 15:38.
What did Messiah Yahushua believe ?
Yahushua believed in His heavenly Father, & prayed to Him often (Matt 14:23, Mark 6:46 & Luke 9:28).
He believed in upholding, keeping, & teaching the Torah (law) of Yahweh (God) (Matt 5:17-19).
As a Torah-observant Jew, Yahushua would have been taught as a child, & knew that He had to follow Yahweh’s plan, and that meant giving Himself up for others. This is why He replied to His parents in Luke 2:49, "did you not know that I must be my father’s business".
What did Messiah Yahushua do ?
Because He was a Torah-observant Jew, He was therefore, an Israelite. We note that all Jews are Israelites, but not all Israelites are Jews - there are 12 tribes of Israel. Messiah Yahushua kept all the Torah commands that He could - no one can keep all the Torah, because some commands are for the high priest, some are for priests, some are for Levites, some are for women, some are for farmers, while some are for all.
He did the will of His Father in heaven (Matt 26:39)
Yahushua, as a Torah-observant Jew, in summary, He was circumcised on the eighth day (Lev 12:3), kept the seventh day Sabbath (Exod 20:8-11), celebrated Yahweh's moedim, appointed times, according to Lev 23, followed Yahweh's food commands of Lev 11, & observed the Covenant requirements of Exod 20-24.
If you would like to read more details about who the Messiah is, what He believed, & what He did, I have provided details of them in the following section.
Above, I’ve already introduced the Messiah of the Tanach, but if you are not convinced about whether that character came to Earth, as Yahushua (Jesus), I strongly encourage you to view Chuck Missler’s video, Chuck Missler What is Truth (Session 2) @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI77pIarER4
Chuck’s two sessions are very interesting, but if you forward the above video to about the 30th minute mark, I believe that you will find Chuck’s explanation of the Messiah of the Tanach fascinating.
If you are unfamiliar with the more than 300 Tanach prophesies related to the Messiah, they can be found @ http://therefinersfire.org/prophecies.htm
Most people know what they understand about “the Messiah” from the Renewed Covenant (RC) Scriptures (NT). I will be quoting from the King James Bible translation of the RC, in this section, unless otherwise noted. I will be using the Hebrew name for the heavenly Father, Yahweh, & the Hebrew name for His Son, Yahushua, whom you may know as Jesus. Any added emphasis is mine !
As an introduction to my comments about “the Messiah” of the RC, I’d like to begin with a quote from Michael Rood, who wrote about the genealogy of the Messiah. Michael writes :
“The genealogy of Yeshua through his only earthly parent, Miriam, is detailed in Matthew’s account of the origin of the “king from heaven”. The Messiah must be from the lineage of King David (Jeremiah 23:5). Though translations derived from the Greek text of Matthew confuse the genealogy, the Ancient Hebrew text of Matthew’s Gospel, from which the Aramaic and, later, the Greek were translated, clearly details Miriam’s lineage through her father Yoseph ben Yaakov through the kingly line of David through Solomon. Luke’s Gospel, on the other hand, details the lineage of Miriam’s husband Yoseph ben Eli through David’s son Nathan. Luke’s lineage is inserted directly after Matthew’s genealogy for comparison. It is clear that the Yoseph ben Yaakov mentioned in Matthew 1:16 and the Yoseph ben Eli cited in Luke 3:23 (which is the Yoseph who is Miriam’s husband in Matthew 1:19) are two different men with two distinct genealogical lines back to David – yet they both bear a very common Israelite name. A woman marrying a man with the same first name as her father is very common in every culture – this led a careless translator into profound error”.
From : https://restorationdownunder.com/genealogy-and-birth-of-messiah/
I hope this insight is helpful.
Matt 1:1 begins with a statement about the book of the genealogy of Messiah Yahushua. The character called “Messiah”, is first mentioned in Matt 1:16, as part of the genealogy of His only earthly parent, Miriam (Mary).
Mat 1:1 The Book of the genealogy of Yahushua Messiah the Son of David, the son of Abraham. (HRB)
Mat 1:16 and Jacob fathered Joseph, the father of Mariam, out of whom Yahshua was born, the One called Messiah. (HRB)
The next mention of the Messiah, occurs in Matt 2:4, where we are told that king Herod “asked the chief priests & scribes where the Messiah was to be born” ? They answered in verses 4-5, “in Bethlehem of Judea”, quoting the prophesy of Micah 5:2.
Mat 2:4 And having gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked of them where the Messiah was to be born.
Mat 2:5 And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet,
Mat 2:6 "And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, in no way are you least among the governors of Judah, for out of you shall come out One ruling, who shall shepherd My people Israel." (Mic. 5:2)
Matt 11:2 tells us that John the Baptist heard from his prison cell, about “the works of Messiah”, & that he, John, sent two disciples to ask whether Yahushua was the one coming, to fulfil the prophesy of Isaiah 60:1
Mat 11:2 But hearing in the prison of the works of Messiah, sending two of his disciples,
Then we have in Matt 16:13-16, the scene in which Yahushua asks His disciples of Himself, ”whom do men say the Son of Man to be?” They respond by answering, “some say John the Baptist, & others Elijah, & others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets”. Yahushua then asks Simon Peter the personal question, “whom do you say Me to be?” In Matt 16:16, Simon Peter answers saying, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living Elohim”.
I’m not really sure why, but Yahushua then tells them in Matt 16:20, that they were not to tell anyone that He is the Messiah.
Mat 16:16 And answering, Simon Peter said, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living Elohim.
Mat 16:20 Then He warned His disciples that they should tell no one that He is Yahshua the Messiah.
There are 75 verses in the RC that specifically mentions, “the Messiah”. By now, I hope that it is obvious that Yahushua is the Messiah, so :
What did Yahushua the Messiah, believe ?
It is a bit difficult to identify every belief that Messiah Yahushua had, but, based on the RC, here are some of His important beliefs, that we, as Followers of the Messiah, have discovered, & attempt to emulate. I have provided some of the scriptural evidence as support, sometimes just quoting the verse, while at other times, copying the whole or partial verse. They are not written in any specific order.
Because Yahushua was raised in a Jewish family, & lived in a Jewish community, He & His family were Torah-observant – they obviously believed in the heavenly Father, Yahweh, & they believed in, & kept the “Torah (law) of Yahweh (God)”. There are several verses that support this, including :
Luke 2:39 “they performed all things according to the law of Yahweh”
Luke 2:40 Yahushua grew – He waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom – the favor of Yahweh was upon Him.
Luke 2:41-52 In v41 – He & His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of Passover.
Luke 4:15-16 – He went to Synagogue on the Sabbath, & taught there.
Yahushua believed in praying to His heavenly Father – in Matt 11:25, He praised His heavenly Father. Yahushua taught His disciples to pray in Matt 6:8-13. He often went off to pray alone (Matt 14:23, Mark 6:46 & Luke 6:12)
In Matt 4:1-11, we are told that He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where He fasted for 40 days & 40 nights. When He was tempted by the tempter, Yahushua quoted Deut 8:3, 6:13, Ps 91:11-12, & Deut 6:16, to defend Himself from this spiritual attack. He obviously believed in, & used, the powerful words of Torah.
Yahushua believed that being baptized was important – He was baptized by John the Baptist (Matt 3:13).
There are many times we read of Yahushua healing people who were sick with disease, or who were possessed by demons (Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26, John 9:1-7, Matt 8:28-34). He obviously believed in the power of being spiritually & physically, healthy.
Yahushua believed in learning as much as possible about Yahweh & His Word - see Luke 2:49 – Yahushua, as a 12 year old, sat with the doctors of the law, hearing them, & asking them questions (presumably, about His Israelite faith) [Luke 2:46], & in v49.
He believed in giving credit to His heavenly Father. In John 4:19, He says – “the Son does nothing of Himself, but what He see the Father do”; in John 7:16, He tells the Jews & us – “My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent Me”; in John 12:49, He explains – “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment”.
Clearly, Yahushua believed in sharing what He knew, & understood about Yahweh, His Word, His Kingdom, & His Torah, by teaching & preaching these to others (sermon on the mount (Matt 5) & the many parables in Matthew, Mark & Luke).
He believed in making disciples – He called the 12 apostles (Luke 6:12-16),
Yahushua believed that the lost tribes of Israel were among the gentiles, & needed to be taught, & gathered. Matt 10:6 & 15:24).
He believed in educating His followers
~ As an adult, Yahushua certainly understood & believed that the Torah (law) & the Prophets still applied, & needed to be kept (Matt 5:17-19)
~ He also believed in empowering them. In Luke 9:1 & Matt 10:1 & Mark 6:7, Yahushua gave the 12 disciples power, and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases
~ He gave His disciples strategies for evangelism - in Luke 10:1, Yahushua sends out 70 in pairs, & in v2-12, He gives them specific instructions
Yahushua believed in encouraging His disciples. In Matt 5:14, He tells them, "they are the light of the world", in Luke 12:22, He says to them, “don’t be anxious”, while in Matt 11:30, Yahushua says “come to Me, for rest – My burden is light”.
He believed in warning His disciples & others not to be deceived (Matt 24 & Luke 21:9-19).
Yahushua believed in correcting the “theological” errors of the Pharisees, Sadducees, & scribes.
Examples include : Luke 11:37-44 & 11:45-53 (the Pharisaic washing of hands); in Luke 13:14 & 14:1 (criticism for healing on the Sabbath day); in Matt 12:1-8 (for plucking corn on the Sabbath); in Luke 20:2 & Matt 21:23 & Mark 11:27, when they challenged "His authority", & in Matt 15:2-9, & Mark 7:1-13, when they elevated the “tradition of the elders”.
He clearly believed in, & understood the concept of the two Houses of Israel. Yahushua tells His disciples in Matt 15:24, that He "came only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel (the ten northern tribes), while in Matt 10:6, He told His disciples not to go the the cities of the Samaritans, but to go the the lost sheep of the House of Israel.
What did Yahushua the Messiah, do ?
Messiah Yahushua put into action His most important beliefs – they were the things He did. Again, these are based on the RC, & are not meant to be a complete list of His activities.
In Luke 4:1-13, Matt 4:1-11 & Mark 1:12-13, we see that Yahushua was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days – there He fasted, & was tempted of the devil. Yahushua, believing in, & then used the powerful, words of Torah, (Deut 8:3, 6:13, Ps 91:11-12, & Deut 6:16), to fend off the devil’s spiritual attack.
Yahushua, as was His custom, went to synagogue on the Sabbath (Matt 4:23 & Luke 4:16). There He sometimes read. In Luke 4:16-17, we hear that He read from Isaiah 61:1-2, & in v21, He prophesied saying, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears”.
In Luke 4:33, we read that “the people were astonished at His message” because it was delivered with authority. Matt 7:20 supports this.
According to Luke 5:8-11 & Luke 6:12-16, Yahushua calls those men, especially selected to be His apostles.
Again, as an adult, Yahushua understood, believed, & carefully taught that the Torah & the Prophets still applied, & needed to be kept, explained, & filled with meaning (Matt 5:17-19). Sometimes, He did this by expanding on the written command, as in Matt 5:27-30, where He says , “when a man looks at a woman with lust, he has already committed adultery with her”. At other times, Yahushua simply reminds His audience not to judge another, as we are told about the woman was caught in adultery (John 8:3-11, specifically v7). Still at other times, He simply explained something, such as His last Passover meal, by doing it with His apostles (Matt 26:17-29).
Yahushua ate with “publicans & sinners”, explaining to the critical scribes & Pharisees in Luke 6:31-32, that the “sick need a physician, & that He called sinners, not the righteous”.
In Luke 6:1-5 & 6-11 respectively, Yahushua was criticized by some Pharisees & scribes, for breaking the “traditions of the elders”, their “oral law”, by plucking corn & eating it on the Sabbath, & then healing a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath. Yahushua corrected them, here & in Matt 15:9 & Mark 7:8, for elevating their “traditions” above Yahweh’s Word.
Yahushua, at different times, heals people with unclean spirits (Luke 6:18-19 & Mark 5:13), & gives His apostles authority & power over devils (Matt 10:1, Mark 6:7 & Luke 9:1). At the same time, this power & authority was extended to the apostles to cure diseases.
There were numerous times when Yahushua healed individuals. Those who were healed included people who were “lunatic” (Matt 4:24), those with the “palsey” (Matt 4:24), those who were either "blind or dumb" (Matt 12:22), those who were lame (Matt 21:14), many with “divers diseases” (Mark 1:34), & a woman who had blood issues for 12 years (Mark 5:29).
Yahushua taught in synagogues (Mark 1:21), on a mountain (Matt 5:1), in the Temple (Mark 12:35), from a ship (Luke 5:3), & by the seaside (Mark 2:3).
He often taught the ordinary people with many parables, including, the parable of the sower (Matt 13:1-9), the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), the parable of the lost sheep (Matt 18:10-14), the parable of the ten talents (Luke 19:11-27), & the parable of the ten virgins (Matt 25:1-13). He also taught several times about the kingdom of Yahweh (Matt 6:33, 19:24, Mark 4;26, 9:47, Luke 6:20, 8:10).
Yahushua taught His disciples on several specific subjects including, serious warnings such as, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees” (Mark 8:15), “take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt 24:4), beware of false prophets” (Matt 7:15). He taught them that “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven”, (expanding it in Matt 7:21-23). From Him they learned “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), & “I am the way, the Truth, & the Life” (John 14:6)
Several times, Yahushua explains His connection with His heavenly Father including, “the Son does nothing of Himself, but what He see the Father do” (John 4:19), “search the scriptures – they are they that testify of me” (John 4:39), “Had you believed Moses, you would have believed me” (John 4:46), “no man can come to Me unless the Father draw him” (John 6:65), & “My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent Me” (John 7:17).
Yahushua kept those parts of the Torah that applied to Himself. Clearly, He could not keep it all, because some of it was for the high priest, some for the Levitical priests, some for women, some for farmers, & some for everyone.
Examples include :
His family performed all things according to the Torah of Yahweh (Lev 2:39)
His family went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of Passover (Luke 2:40). He went to Jerusalem for Passover (John 2:23)
His family kept Yahweh’s moedim (feasts) as indicated in Lev 23 (Luke 2:41-52)
Yahushua went to synagogue on the Sabbath (Luke 4:16 & 5:6-11)
He went to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1-6, 10)
He was circumcised on the 8th day (Luke 2:21-24).
He wore fringes on his garments (Luke 8:44), in accordance with Num 15:38 & Deut 22:12.
In Luke 17:14, He told the ten lepers who were cleansed to show themselves to the priests, as was required by Lev 13:2.
In John 5:46-47, He taught about the teachings of Moses.
It is important to note that most of the above are not, part of the Ten Commandments of Exod 20.
Following the Messiah
In the RC, there are 18 verses where Messiah Yahushua said to His apostles & disciples, “follow Me”. When He said this, He meant that they, & us, are to believe what He believed, & do what He did (as much as possible). We, at Followers of the Messiah, attempt to do both these things, to the best of our ability. Again, I have provided a list of Messiah Yahushua’s beliefs & actions above.
In following Messiah Yahushua, He told His apostles & disciples, & us, the following :
“I will make you fishers of men” (Matt 4:19)
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross” (Matt 16:24)
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27)
“If any man serve me, let him follow Me” (John 12:26)
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt 28:19-20)