Jesus Is the Christ: The Messianic Testimony of the Gospels by Michael F. Bird
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The word “Christ” is often used almost as a surname for Jesus, when in fact it was the Greek term for Messiah. Michael Bird would contend that the affirmation of the title is in fact appropriate to the person of Jesus.
Bird’s task in this introductory monograph is to explore the testimony of the gospels with regard to this messianic claim. Before this, he deals with a preliminary question: when did Jesus become the Messiah? Was this only subsequent to his resurrection or even sometime in the life of the early church, or was it within the lifetime of Jesus, or even inherent in his person? In particular, he finds theories that somehow transform a non-Messianic Jesus into a Messianic figure in the life of the church to be implausible.
He then considers the testimony of each of the four canonical gospels. These are distinctive but not divergent, variations on a theme rather than dissonant themes. Mark focuses on the crucified Messiah, the startling idea that the Messiah would die as Israel’s ransom (Mk 10:45). Matthew focuses on the Davidic Messiah, the descendant of David who is David’s Lord and brings renewal to Israel. Luke-Acts shows us the prophetic Messiah who forms a new community bringing together Jew and Gentile. In John we see the elusive Messiah, the one from Nazareth from which no Messiah would come yet whose signs and testimony reveal his Messianic identity, confessed by Martha prior to the resurrection of Lazarus.
His brief conclusion focuses on the theme of belief in Jesus as the Messiah that he sees as a common thread of the four gospels–the testimony of Peter in the synoptics (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and the purpose statement of John 20:31.
Bird makes this case by carefully, yet concisely marshalling the biblical testimony. This is a rigorous yet accessible treatment that frames the biblical arguments for the traditional view of Jesus Messiahship that gives the lie to contemporary proposals that this Messiahship is simply a creation of the church. Nearly sixty pages of bibliography and endnotes provide resources for those who want to go deeper. All in all, a great introductory work to this important question!