The term “messiah” is something of a transliteration of the Hebrew term “meshiach” and means “anointed one.” In the history of Israel, the anointed one could be a prophet, priest, or king. The one anointed had olive oil poured over their head, representing the spirit of God coming upon them. With the advent of King David and the Davidic covenant that God made with him, the term came to be applied in a very particular way to the king, the son of David. Thus, as the anointed one was king, a shorthand for “messiah” could very well be “king.” The greatest of the Hebrew kings is arguably King David, as much of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament attests.

King David established a rule in the kingdom of Israel that brought about unity and warded off oppressors and enemies. While his son, Solomon, was the wise king of peace, King David established the foundation for a unified nation as well as creating his own standing army, which increased royal authority and might. Additionally, prophetic messages and oracles declared that David and his line would be established forever, that one like David would rule and reign over not only Israel but all the world. This would be a kind of divine messiah, a king who would not only be established by God as his very own son, but would, it seems, also possibly be literally understood as God’s Son.

Throughout the history of Israel, the messiah has been anticipated–even today, some Jews await their coming messiah, who will fulfill the messianic promises of God to his people. Some believed that by the messiah God would reestablish David’s kingdom and empower his people to rule with him in might over all the nations. The messiah, as king, would be a military leader. He would oust the enemies of Israel with mighty warfare and victory. He would destroy all the evil nations of the world. Others believed that the messiah would be a mighty prophet of God, calling all people back to faithful covenant devotion to the Law of Moses, establishing God’s kingdom in covenantal righteousness. Others believed that the messiah would be a priest of the Levitical line of Aaron, establishing ritual righteousness and holiness. Still others believed that the messiah would encompass all these roles or that there would be various messiahs for each of these roles.

As messiah, this Hebrew leader or these leaders would restore the nation of Israel in justice, peace, and with a rod of iron, while also establishing the rule of God in righteousness over all other nations. As king, the messiah would bring about universal peace and all bloodshed would cease under his rule and reign. His kingdom would be from everlasting to everlasting, that is, never-ending and eternal. His kingdom rule would also bring about the righteous rightness of God’s Law, as given by Moses; he would establish righteousness like the floodwaters of the sea cover the earth. It would be a glorious, utopian kingdom of heaven on earth.

When the traditional canon of the Hebrew Bible closes, it ends with 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, which denotes that the king of Persia, King Cyrus, permits the Jews to return to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild the temple, the place of worship of the Jews. With this temple rebuilding project, the Jews anticipated the coming of the king of kings, the son of David, who would come to not only rule as a possible priestly king but also, by divine right, as the king of all Jerusalem, Judah, and the ends of the earth. Then, in 70 CE, the second temple of Jerusalem in Judah was destroyed by the Romans, never to be rebuilt.

Prior to the destruction of the second temple of Jerusalem, Jesus entered the scene, claiming to be a messiah of sorts. While many messiah claimants have come on the scene since David’s day till today, in Jesus’ day, it was no different. Throughout the history of Israel, many messiah claimants sought to overthrow their overlords and establish the kingdom of God–seeking to oust the Macedonians, the Ptolemies, the Seleucids, and finally the Romans. One Simon of Perea, who had been a servant of Herod the Great circa 4 BCE, led a revolt after the death of Herod. During the political instability following Herod’s death, Simon proclaimed himself king and led an uprising against the Herodian authority, which resulted in Rome squelching his uprising and putting Simon to death.

When Jesus accepted acknowledgements that affirmed him as messiah, he often qualified the claim, indicating that he was not a military leader, ready to oust the Romans and ruling elite. He often spoke of his death and resurrection. He spoke of his kingdom as a present and spiritual, relational kingdom that lies within or among us, not something around us, like a building, a castle, or a wall (although such ideas of the kingdom do have earthly implications, such as those of social justice.) When questioned by the High Priest, Jesus cited Daniel’s prophecy of the Son of Man coming on the clouds to the Almighty One. When questioned by Pilate, he spoke of his kingship as being not of this world but originating in another. Jesus did appear to believe that he was king of Israel and king of kings, etc., but he did not appear to believe it in the way that many of his day and before believed it to be.

In fact, Jesus was no successful military messiah–in the terms of many of the Jewish messianic expectations; indeed, he was a failed, if not, the failed messiah on a number of those counts: he did not establish a physical, earthly kingdom, as the son of David was supposed to do. He did not kill, overthrow, and oust the enemies of Israel, namely, the Romans. He did not establish Israel as a hegemony over Rome and all the world of Gentiles. He does not come in the New Testament as anything like this until Revelation 19, where he rides the white horse of a mighty warrior king and a sword proceeds from his mouth, as he wears a robe dipped in blood.

At first glance, it seems that the blood on Jesus’ robe is that of his vanquished enemies. However, Jesus never killed anyone, but himself was killed, offered as the sacrificial lamb of God to atone for the sins of mankind. Even citing Isaiah 63, wherein a divine warrior treads the winepress of God’s wrath and the blood of those whom the divine warrior treads bespatters his garments, does not necessarily indicate (1) that the warrior is Jesus or (2) that the blood on the warrior’s garments is from crushing every human being on the face of the earth all throughout history; indeed, it could be that the blood represents blood that has been shed, which now falls upon Jesus in his sacrifice, namely, the warrior’s own blood.

As the king of a spiritual kingdom, residing among us, then, the stark question remains: is Jesus king of my life, residing within me? Am I living in accordance with the principles of the king? Am I walking in step with his spirit? Or is he simply a failed messiah, whom I pretend to follow?