The Messiah is the fullness of the G-d of Israel manifested in a physical form. This concept is readily evident throughout the Biblical text and extra-biblical writings. In Hebrew, the word אחד echad helps to explain this oneness that exists between HaShem, the Messiah, and the Spirit as the word echad means one, but not always in the singular. Rather, it is better used to describe a “complex unity.”

Complex Unity

Biblical Support

The idea that the Messiah would be more than a human figure goes back to the last centuries B.C.E. when Biblical passages were interpreted and attributed with messianic significance. We see commentaries, like the Aramaic Targums, that include sections from Daniel, Zechariah, Isaiah, and others. These authors absolutely believed in, and ascribed, an exalted status to the Messiah.

We have much to thank Chabad for - particularly for their work spreading Yiddishkeit around the world, and for bringing fellow Jews back to Torah. I too have much to thank Chabad for personally, for their role in my own spiritual journey. However, most of all, I think we owe Chabad a bit of gratitude for bringing the issues of Mashiach front and center in the Jewish community.

This is particularly true in regard to Chabad Messianism. Many people outside of Chabad circles have assumed that much of the messianic fervor within Chabad has all but fizzled out. However, in a recent blog post, I pointed out that Chabad Messianism is alive and well.

Chabad continues to raise awareness to messianic ideas within Judaism that have mostly been brushed aside and "hidden under the rug," if you will. Ideas like a resurrected Messiah, incarnation, and miracles. Messianic thought that appears in Jewish history and texts, but have been weeded out due to their sounding too much like "that other guy" (i.e. Yeshua).

Yesterday I came across a particularly interesting blog post at Failed Messiah about a radio talk show that featured well-known modern Orthodox rabbi and thinker, Yitz Greenberg, and Rabbi Sholom Ber Kalmanson, a leading Chabad messianist.

I really encourage you to listen to the radio show. Aside from an annoying Christian guy who called in and probably did more harm than good, the show gives an interesting perspective into Chabad messianic understanding. And, interestingly, the weak responses against some of the ideas Chabad messianists put forth.

Aside from the comments made by the Chabad rabbi, one of the most controversial points in the radio show is when a couple Chabad messianist women called in and repeated over and over again that the Rebbe did not pass away, that he is at this very moment the messiah, and those who do not believe in him will be damned.

Shmarya Rosenberg, at Failed Messiah points out; during one of these calls, the radio host, Zev Brenner, asked one of these women, "Did the Rebbe die?"

She responded, "G-d forbid. The Rebbe is atzmus me'elokus [the very essence of G-d] in a guf [body]. He cannot die."

"Where is the Rebbe right now?," Zev Brenner asked.

She said, "All over." After being pressed by Zev Brenner, she repeated "All over," and then said, "[He's in] 770, [he's] everywhere."

Shmarya Rosenberg, who is a former Chabadnik, emphasizes that what Zev Brenner heard represents normative Chabad messianist theology. The idea that the Rebbe, no longer confined to his body, is everywhere. That he is omnipresent and almost, but not quite, omnipotent, as well. He answers your prayers and intercedes for you on high, and watches over you.

I would like to again point out, that one of these callers claimed that the Rebbe is "the very essence of G-d in a body"! A claim that over and over again the wider Jewish community has declared "NOT JEWISH." And yet, it truly is. Those of us who understand these ideas recognize points of legitimacy to these claims. We would only disagree on the "who."

Anyway, and interesting discussion indeed. What do you think?

The idea of a preexistent Messiah is not unknown to Judaism. In fact, I lightly touched on this idea in my previous blog post on Breishit, where I additionally connected this idea to Creation, and further to John, chapter 1.

The book of John is traditionally attributed to the apostle John, one of the original twelve shlichim of Yeshua, and believed to be written between 60-100 CE. Many scholars believe that one of the main emphases of the book is to defend Yeshua’s deity. Rather than a history of Yeshua, it is primarily a profound study of who Yeshua is. It is deeply mystical, and filled with rich spirituality and symbolism.

When reading the beginning of John, one should be immediately hit by the imagery of Creation. This is no accident, for there is a direct and purposeful connection between Genesis 1 and John 1. John purposefully uses words and imagery from the Creation Account to equate the G-d of Creation with Yeshua. For John, since Yeshua was at the Beginning (John 1:1), and only G-d was existent at Creation (Genesis 1:1) John is contending they are one and the same! John wants the message to be bold and clear – Yeshua the Messiah is the God of Creation.

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with G-d, and the Word was G-d.

He was with G-d in the beginning.

All things came to be through him,

and without him nothing made had being.

In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not suppressed it

…The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,

and we saw his Sh’khinah,

the Sh’khinah of the father’s only Son,

full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5, 14)

For those steeped in Jewish thought, the Jewish context of John is clear. John is writing with Genesis in mind. As such, for many of us, the idea of the Torah made flesh – that Yeshua himself is the Torah incarnate – is not a problem.

However, the question may still arise as to the idea of incarnation within a modern Jewish context. One can argue that maybe during the Second Temple period there may have been a few Jews that believed in a divine Messiah, and in some sort of concept of incarnation. But is there a more recent parallel in Jewish texts?

The answer is yes! Around 1797, the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (the founder of Chabad Chassidus) composed the Tanya – which quickly became one of the primary texts of the Chassidic movement. In a particular passage of the Tanya, the Alter Rebbe explores an idea of the Torah and HaShem being one and the same. According to the Tanya, the Torah itself is a physical incarnation of G-d.

Although this is not an exact parallel to John 1, what it does help us understand is that the idea of incarnation and specifically the idea of “Torah made flesh” are Jewish. The Alter Rebbe spends an entire chapter in the Tanya describing this mystical relationship between HaShem and the Torah.

When I was growing up, John the Immerser received very little attention. Of course people talked about him as being important because he was a cousin and forerunner of Yeshua, but otherwise his role was largely reduced to a small mention in the introduction to a much larger narrative.

Mentioned in all four Gospels

However, most people miss the emphasis on this incredible, yet mysterious figure. The Gospel writers place the greatest weight on details they deemed most important to the larger story. All four Gospels emphasize John. You can choose to skip over this fact – as most others do – or you can recognize the significance. Not even Yeshua’s birth narrative is mentioned in all four Gospels (it is only recorded in Matthew and Luke). As such, all four Gospel writers considered John’s narrative as having far more relevance to the larger redemptive story of Yeshua than even Yeshua’s birth.

Think about that for a moment.

Who was John?

So who exactly was John? In addition to being Yeshua’s cousin, he was a cohen – a priest on both sides of his lineage. He was groomed from birth to be a cohen in the Jerusalem Temple. Yet, it seems at some point he was either sent, or vanquished to the desert. Luke records:

The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel (Luke 1:80).

Imagery of John as Elijah

The imagery ascribed to John is also important. He is described as Eliyahu, Elijah, wearing clothing of camel’s hair, a leather belt tied around his waist, eating locusts and wild honey, and proclaiming a message of repentance (compare the imagery of 2 Kings 1:7-8 with Mark 1:6). Luke describes John as coming in the “spirit and power of Eliyahu” (Luke 1:17) in fulfillment of Malachi 3:23-24. Although the real Eliyahu will usher in the second return of Mashiach, John is described as also fulfilling this function.

An important figure in his own right

John was an extremely important figure in his own right. John become well known within Judea, and built up a number of followers. Andew, the brother of Peter, was originally a follower of John before becoming one of the original 12 apostles of Yeshua (John 1:35-41). And the movement he created would outlive him. In fact, John’s message of repentance and immersion spread throughout the known world. A number of years after Yeshua’s death, Paul encountered a man in far away Ephesus (Asia Minor) who was aware only of “the baptism of John” (Acts 18:25 & 19:3), proving how widespread his influence became.

John and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Many scholars have also long connected John with the Qumran community and to a message found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The similarities between John and the Qumran community are indeed extraordinary. John proclaims a similar message:

John’s emphasis on ritual purity, his message of repentance and righteousness, and his prophetic forms of rebuke all echo motifs found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Another interesting connection between John and the Dead Sea Scrolls is actually found in an exchange between Yeshua and John. While John is in prison, Matthew 11 records that he sent a message through his talmidim to Yeshua asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for someone else?” (Mt. 11:3). John is clearly asking, “Are you the Messiah?” And Yeshua responds, saying:

Go and tell John what you are hearing and seeing – ‘The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are being raised and the poor hear the Good News.’ (Matthew 11:5 quoting Is. 61:1)

Yeshua responds with a Messianic passage from Isaiah on purpose. Why? Because in Jewish thought, talk is cheap. Yeshua does not respond merely with words, but rather a demonstration that he is indeed the Messiah. Yeshua wants John to know for sure. However, Yeshua, knowing John, also adds a small detail he knew maybe only John would catch. In his quote of Isaiah 61:1, Yeshua adds “the dead are being raised,” a detail not actually in Isaiah 61:1. The only other place this particular phrasing of Isaiah 61:1 has ever been found with the added words “the dead are being raised” is in the Dead Sea Scrolls (in scroll 4Q521). In my opinion this was a sort of personal nod or wink to John, adding even greater emphasis to his response.

An exiled High Priest?

And why was he wandering around in the desert? There are some authorities who believe John was sent (or maybe even exiled) from Jerusalem because he was to be the next legitimate High Priest, for the High Priesthood during this time had become corrupt and was controlled by the Romans, who appointed the position based on bribes. If John were to be the legitimate High Priest, it would also make even greater sense why Yeshua had to go to John to be immersed prior to beginning his public work - in order to fulfill “everything righteousness requires (Mt. 3:15).” Yeshua was going to John because of his priestly role.

Although this aspect of John is speculative, what is true is that John was the perfect candidate to be a forerunner for Messiah. John was indeed this Elijah type figure who would usher in Yeshua’s time on earth. As John himself says, “the reason I came immersing with water was so that [Messiah] might be made known to Israel” (John 1:31).

Each of us has a role similar to John. We too are to be preparers for Mashiach. We need to prepare the world for Messiah’s return, and become participants in ushering in the Messianic Age. It is a great task. However, our role has also been divinely selected. G-d has chosen each of us in this particular time for a certain reason. G-d needs you. G-d needs me. Only when working together can we experience the long awaited return of our beloved Messiah Yeshua – may it be soon!