Qualifications of Messiah, in a nutshell


The Tanakh ("Old Covenant") was dedicated and ratified with blood; so the "New Covenant" was also instituted and ratified with blood through the atoning blood of Messiah Yeshua. Yeshua was the "God-Man", God's Divine Sacrifice, whose blood took away the sins of the world, thus offering mortal man the opportunity for eternal life. Yeshua was foreshadowed throughout the Tanakh as the following verses show. NOTE: The reason we've put quotation marks around the words Old and New Covenant is because Messianic Jews and Gentiles believe that the Bible is one continuous God-breathed Word, rather than two separate testaments.

  • Conceived by a virgin, not by seed of man. (Yeshua was born to Miriam [Mary], virgin bride of Joseph, as foretold in Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 7:13-15, and Matthew 1:17-19.)

  • Born of an extremely rare bloodline that includes many of the fathers of Israel. (See geneology from Abraham to David in Matthew 1.)

  • Born in Bethlehem; descendant of David, traced back to Abraham. (Matthew 1; Matthew 2:6; Micah 5:2.)

  • Messiah was to a prophet like unto Moses. (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, 19.)

  • Messiah would enter Jerusalem in triumph, gentle, and riding on a donkey. (According to Daniel, there would be 483 years between the decree to rebuild the wall and the city of Jerusalem in troublesome times before Messiah would be cut off for the sins of the people. Exactly 483 years after the rebuilding of Jerusalem and its walls, Yeshua of Nazareth offered himself to the nation of Israel. He rode into the city on a donkey to the rejoicing of the people, just as the prophet Zechariah had predicted: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. See Zechariah 9:9.)

  • Messiah would be rejected by His own people. (Most Jews to this very day reject Yeshua as Messiah. They believe He was just a good rabbi and prophet, and definitely NOT the Messiah. See Daniel 9:24-26, Isaiah 53:1, 3, and Psalm 118:22.)

  • Messiah would minister mostly in Galilee. (Isaiah 9:1-2.)

  • Isaiah and Malachi predict Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner. (Yeshua was very much like Moses: Both were delivered from death as infants. Both were prophets. Both performed miracles. Both were leaders. And both were intermediaries between God and man. No other prophet is as much like Moses than Yeshua. Moses led the Jews out of the bonds of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land of Israel. Moses died shortly before the Jews entered Israel. Yeshua leads people - anyone who accepts Him as their Savior - out of the bonds of sin and into the Promised Land of Heaven. Yeshua died for our sins so that people could enter the Kingdom of Heaven. See Deuteronomy 18:15-18; see also Malachi 3:1-5; Isaiah 9:6-7).

  • The Psalmists said that Messiah would be betrayed by a friend. (He was betrayed by Judas, one of his 12 disciples. See Psalm 41:9 and Matthew 26:47-50.)

  • Zechariah said that Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. He adds that people will look on the one whom they have pierced. (Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver, then later committed suicide when he realized the enormity of what he had done. See Zechariah 11:12-13.)

  • Messiah would be tried and condemned. (Isaiah 53:8.)

  • Messiah was to be silent before His accusers. (Isaiah 53:7.)

  • Messiah was to be smitten and spat upon by His enemies. (Micah 5:1, Isaiah 50:6.)

  • Messiah was to be mocked and taunted. (Psalm 22:7, 8.)

  • Messiah was to suffer with transgressors and pray for His enemies. (Isaiah 53:12.)

  • Messiah was to be given vinegar and gall. (Psalm 69:21.)

  • The Psalmists prophesied that people would divide His garments among them and cast lots for His clothing. (Psalm 22:18)

  • Messiah's bones were not to be broken. ( Numbers 9:12, Exodus 12:46. Often, the Romans broke the legs of their crucified in order to speed impending death, as the crucified could then no longer support their body weight, which would asphyxiate them. God the Father [YHVH] saw to it that Yeshua's bones were not broken.)

  • Messiah was to die as an offering for sin. (Isaiah 53:5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12.)

  • Messiah was speak to us in parables. (Psalm 78:2, Matthew 13:35)

  • The Psalms say he was to be raised from the dead/resurrected. (Psalm 16:10, Mark 16:19-20; John 20:1-10; Matthew 28:11-1; John 20:19-23; Mark 16:14; and Mark 16:14-18. Yeshua actually prophesied His own persecution, death and resurrection. He told His disciples that He would go into Jerusalem where He was suffer at the hand of religious leaders before being put to death. He also said that He would rise again on the third day. See Matthew 16:21-26.)

  • Messiah now at God's Right Hand. (Psalm 110:1.)

  • Isaiah 49:6 says God's salvation would reach the ends of the earth. (In Isaiah 49:6, the prophet speaks of a servant of God who would be a light to Gentiles (non-Jews) so that God's salvation could reach the ends of the earth. Messianic believers believe that Yeshua is the fulfillment of this promise. There are now about two billion believers in Christ worldwide. And they believe that salvation is available to anyone who accepts Yeshua as their savior.)

Messiah came 2,000 years ago! As all Man, yet also all God, He was a DIVINE sacrifice. No one else could, or has ever, fit these particular qualifications besides YaHashua (Yeshua), whose very Name means "God is Salvation" ("Ya" is short for YHWH, or Yahweh).

The Good News is that Yeshua died for us on that cross at Calvary! He was the ONLY perfect Person - all man, yet also all God - who ever walked the face of this earth - the ONLY one qualified to become our redeemer! Although He, like all of us, had been given free choice, He chose to give His life so that we might have a chance to go to Heaven and live for all eternity. Satan tried to entice Him away from God (Zecheriah 3; Matthew 4; Mark 1:13), and away from His intended role of Saviour, but Yeshua continually rebuked him with Scripture, and chose to proceed with God's Plan. Three days after His death on the cross, Yeshua rose and revealed Himself to at least 500 witnesses before finally entering Heaven to take His rightful place "at His Father's Side" for eternity.

The Good News is because of Yeshua's willingness to be the final SIN Sacrifice for all mankind, we were afforded eternal life by simply believing on His shed blood at the cross. No longer is man required to provide his own blood sacrifice and do "works" in order to try to gain God's favor. All one has to do to be "saved" (assured their place in Heaven) is to acknowledge their complete belief in Yeshua and put their faith and trust in Him from now on. John 14:6 tells us: Yeshua said "I AM the Way - and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. Once you've given your life to Him, you will change from the inside out; and you will finally be able to understand the things of God which once seemed foreign to you - That is a solemn promise!

The Bible tells us that there are only two choices when it comes to eternity: Yeshua and heaven; or Satan and eternal separation from God.

Why not choose to live eternally with the One who loved you enough to lay down His own life for you?

(For more details about the Messiah and other Bible prophecies, please check out 100Prophecies.org.)