MEET THE MASTER !

His name is Jesus Christ ……

Y’shua (in Hebrew) but as you read through the Bible you will find well over 200 names that refer to him. He is called;

The Alpha and the Omega

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter. In Revelation 1:8 Jesus says; “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Jesus is here declaring himself to be everything from A to Z and in complete control of history. When he returns for his Second Coming, he will do so with all power and majesty in contrast to his first coming as a humble servant. All the Christian world awaits and joins the voice of the apostle John in Revelation 22:20; “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

Immanuel

Immanuel means “God with us.” Matthew 1:23 says; “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Matthew is quoting the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah 7:14 which says; “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

The Lamb of God

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him at the Jordan River where he was baptizing, he said; “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) By God’s revelation, John saw that Jesus would be the one who would carry the sin of the world through his sacrifice on the cross. Isaiah prophesied this same thing in Isaiah 54:7. “He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.” When Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, flogged and condemned to death he did not defend himself but went willingly to the cross which would pay the total price for all of our sins.

Messiah – Anointed One

Messiah means Anointed One in Hebrew. The Greek equivalent of Messiah is Christos so every time the New Testament speaks of Jesus Christ; you could substitute Jesus, the Messiah. A central theme of the Old Testament is the expectation of a Messiah by the Jewish people. Yet by the time Jesus actually showed up many didn’t recognize him. Why not?

Perhaps for some there was tiredness in waiting and the “someday” shelf was dusty after such long delay. Yet for others, especially the leaders, that was not the major problem. The real problem was what kind of Messiah they were expecting. The Jews were under the control of the Roman government; not free to fully practice their religion or determine their own political destiny. They viewed the Messiah as someone who would come as a kingly conqueror and restore the kingdom of David and Solomon.

They no doubt felt they had plenty of scriptural back up to defend that position. Perhaps they looked to scriptures such as this: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.’” (Zechariah 6:13) There were also many others that pointed to a victorious Messiah.

Yet in their zeal to be out from under the Roman Empire, did they forget what else the scriptures foretold? Did they forget about the Suffering Servant recounted in Isaiah 53? He would be “despised and forsaken…a man of sorrows…smitten of God, afflicted…pierced through for our transgressions…crushed for our iniquities…oppressed…like a lamb that is led to slaughter…the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many.”

Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:6 says; “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

This prophecy was one of the many given through Isaiah concerning the coming Messiah and was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. It may have been one of the prophecies that caused the Jewish leadership at the time to reject Jesus as their Messiah.

By the time Jesus was born, Israel was in the iron grip of the all-powerful Roman Empire and they hated it. Of course they did; they knew that was not the way it was supposed to be. They looked back to the covenant of Abraham and the promises about their unique favor with God. They remembered: “’No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,’ declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:17)

Peace to the Jews at the time of the birth of Christ meant an earthly ruler, a political leader, and one who would restore the glory years of King David and King Solomon. They were thinking only in natural terms but God had something grander in mind for them AND ALSO FOR US.

What then really is the “Prince of Peace”? Real peace is best displayed in the midst of chaos, turmoil or confusion. Think about the surface of the water during a storm at sea. It tosses everything about quite violently. However, the deeper you go below the surface, the calmer things become. Far below the surface, deep in the ocean, is a quiet that is totally unaware of the disturbance at the top.

Jesus provides that kind of peace for us. “For He Himself IS our peace…” (Ephesians 2:14) All hell may be breaking forth against us on the surface of our life. Our health and finances and relationships may crumble and toss us about like violent waves. However, by sinking down deeper into him, we experience his peace as an anchor of security.

Paul, the great Apostle to the Gentiles was in prison (with far worse conditions than we can comprehend today) when he wrote to his dear friends in the Philippian church. Yet, he intimately knew Jesus as Prince of Peace when he said: “and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)

Even though the Jews were shortsighted when their Messiah came to them in an unexpected way, they were not entirely wrong. The prophecy about the Prince of Peace is both here now and yet still coming. All the prophecies concerning Messiah have their final completion in the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus will rule then absolutely over every kingdom of this world.

Receive him as Prince of Peace now and yet long for the day: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them.” (Revelation 21:3)

The Son of God

When the angel Gabriel announced to the young virgin Mary that she would be the mother of the long awaited Messiah he said; “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) Jesus was therefore called Son of God for the first time in the gospels. He was again called Son of God by the demons that recognized him as he was casting them out in Luke 4:41; “And demons also were coming out of many, crying out and saying, ‘You are the Son of God!’ And rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.” Jesus more often referred to himself as “Son of Man.” He was and is both fully God and fully man.

Savior

The word designates a deliverer or rescuer from a root word in Greek that means “to save.” After the Samaritan woman met Jesus at the well she told the whole town about him and they entreated him to stay on with them. At the end of two days many more people believed in him. John 4:42 tells us; “Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” It is usually in the understanding that one needs the Savior that one finds the Savior.

He is a man for all seasons and for all times

Not just a man; he is also fully and completely God. He existed before the worlds were formed; in fact he created them. The scripture says, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” That is found in John’s gospel, chapter 1, verse 3.

God knew it would be hard for us to relate to him as a pure spirit so he came in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. No matter what he calls himself or what others call him or say about him, the main question is this: who is he to you?