People in the days of Jesus expected a messiah—but what kind of messiah did they expect?
That is not an easy question to answer. Although it is clear from the gospel accounts people were expecting and hoping for God to send someone to make things right—it is not nearly as clear who they thought that “someone” would be. In fact, the reason many struggled with Jesus was precisely because he did not fit their ideas of what the “Christ” would be like.
Even today scholars argue over what Jews expected in the days of Jesus—and what Jesus claimed for himself. Why did Jesus use the term “Son of Man” instead of Messiah?
Books upon books have been written on this topic (and more books written about those books)—but we are going to look at one key passage in Daniel. This passage, I believe, was key for Jesus in defining who he believed he was.
We believe God did send his promised agent for salvation—and the Christ was much more than people expected. He was “the Son of Man.”
