Failed Messiahs
Failed Messiah #1
I had a friend when I was a teenager, I was maybe 16, he was a bit older. We were all at a church conference thing together, and he took me into his confidence one day.
Now he was a somewhat charismatic guy, I suppose. Came on a bit strong, you know? But he shared some things God had been telling him.
That disaster was coming. For the country, for the world… and God had given him a mission. He was going to save us.
And in the coming new world some of us had some specific purposes. I was the prophet Isaiah in his new world.
He had taken some other folks aside and let them know their new purposes. Some young women who would be taking care of and teaching the children. Some who had other responsibilities.
As the prophet Isaiah, I shared my own “special insight” that maybe this wasn’t coming from God and he should seek wise counsel.
And then I “prophesied” to some elders about what was going on. In particular, this was SUPER freaking some young Christians out and I was at least 98% sure that he wasn’t Jesus.
Nearly 30 years later I am even more sure.
Failed Messiah #2
Zerubbabel
Haggai 2:20–23 ESV
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”
What does that mean, to make Zerubbabel a “signet ring?” A seal, a symbol of his power? With all that “horse and riders” and “shaking heaven and earth”, God says “You are the Chosen One.”
This is some Messianic language, right? Zerubbabel is the descendant of David, he is setup for it perfectly.
It is to Zerubbabel that Zechariah sees as one of the pillars of Jerusalem.
It is to Zerubbabel Zechariah speaks the powerful words:
Zechariah 4:6 ESV
6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
And goes on to say:
Zechariah 4:8–10 ESV
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.”
and finally ending the chapter
Zechariah 4:14 ESV
14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
What is “anointed one?” The word here is “sons of oil” but the Hebrew word “Messiah” is literally “anointed one.”
So what about this other guy?
Failed Messiah #3
Joshua the high priest. Yeshua. He’s even got the name right.
He is other “chosen one” here. Recall this story from Zech 3.
Zechariah 3:1–5 ESV
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
Clothed in robes of righteousness. I get that he starts with “filthy robes” and that’s not great, but good news, now God has made him clean. There’s an early heresy called “adoptionism” and it’s the idea that God saw Jesus and made him Son of God, adopted him after the fact, because he was so good. That’s really what the Israelites were expecting.
And Joshua, this Yeshua, is primed for it. Look, now God has made him clean, in the metaphor of Scripture, this is a fresh start, this is righteousness, maybe even perfection (at least for a moment).
It gets better for Joshua.
Zechariah 6:9–14 ESV
9 And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’ 14And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as a reminder to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.
Yeshua is crowned… like a King. A priest who is a king… sounding familiar?
And this Branch character… initially this sounds like Zerubbabel, the man who Zechariah just said will build the temple. We can imagine all sorts of ways in which these are forerunners, foreshadows, types of the Messiah, showing glimpses of what Jesus would be.
But they sure come across as Messianic to the people. And God says this crazy thing:
Zechariah 6:15 ESV
15 “And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
Did they “diligently obey the voice of the Lord God?”
They did some great things. Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest do rebuild the temple. And maybe lived their whole lives under a kind of Messianic expectation… but in the end?
Guess what. They died. Spoilers.
They died without the earth shaking and peace on earth and new heaven and new earth and all that.
They died, sinful humans, falling so very far short of saving themselves or saving anyone really.
They may have got more parts of “Messiah-ness” right than anyone else. But in the end, they got it all wrong.
Joshua’s robes became filthy once more. Zerubbabel didn’t fulfill the prophecies of the seed of David, or the descendant of Abram, or the promise of Noah, or the Son of Eve.
In fact, the whole story of humanity can be seen as people trying to “save themselves” and failing. God giving humans every possible chance to be righteous, become righteous, prove themselves good enough. God giving us every chance to reach the end of ourselves.
Zerubbabel did pretty great. But who had heard of Zerubbabel before today or a couple weeks ago? Maybe a few scholars among you? I wouldn’t have pulled his name out in Bible trivia.
May have been a great man… but he miserably failed at being the Messiah to save us all.
But check this out.
Matthew gives the line of Jesus through his adopted father, Joseph:
Matthew 1:12–16 (ESV)
12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
Recognize a name in there?
Luke gives the line of Jesus through Mary:
Luke 3:23–27 (ESV)
23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
But about 10 generations later Mary is born of his line.
And, by the way, 10 generations later Joseph is born of his line.
The king, descended from kings, who is also the high priest crowned in righteousness, who is anointed and the source of all anointing, from whom flows the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Messiah. We can see ways that Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest helped show the way, helped set the stage, helped prepare us and Jerusalem and Judah to understand him when he came.
Here’s a great quote by another failed Messiah:
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
― Gautama Buddha, Sayings of Buddha.
This is the lesson every other aspect of life teaches. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. No one else is going to save you, can save you, can do it for you. Buddha is talking about karma, no one else can fix your karma because it is yours and yours alone.
In fact, every other religion has this in common: you have to save yourself. You have to do the right thing, say the right thing, do enough, give enough, be enough… and then you might make it.
And there are thousands of “Christians” confused about this too. If I just go to church enough, pray enough, sin little enough or hide it well enough… then I’ll be enough.
I’ll prove myself to God. I’ll save myself.
Here’s another failed messiah.
Failed Messiah #4
You.
You are a terrible Messiah. You can never, will never save yourself.
How many go to church every week and miss this heart of the gospel? No amount of “not sinning” or “not that sin” or “church attendance” or “big fat tithe” or “morning prayers” or “memorized Scripture” will ever save you.
But this is good news. For God so loved you, that He gave His one and only son, that if you believe in Him, you won’t perish or be punished… but you will live forever.
And that means you can stop trying to earn it. Stop trying to be “good enough.” He has already saved you. Live in the Victory.
Yes, you will grow in righteousness, in holiness, but only out of the joy of the Victory He has already won.
You are not Jesus. Hallelujah, you don’t have to be.
Relax in his robes of righteousness.
Zechariah 3:4 ESV
4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”
We are clothed in his righteousness, we celebrate His victory. Hallelujah!