How were the messianic prophecies being interpreted in Jesus day?
Having established some proof of the prophecies which are Messianic in nature, we now need to see how they were being interpreted prior to Jesus’ arrival. For we know that when Jesus began his ministry, many people would accept him as the Christ, others would not, and still others would later be swayed one way or another by ensuing events. This mixed manner in which Jesus was received is better understood in light of knowing the expectations in circulation at that time about the coming Messiah. While there was general agreement on which parts of Scripture were speaking of the promised deliverer, as we’ve just reviewed, not everyone was in agreement on the exact nature of that persona. People differed in their answers to the question “How will we know him when he gets here?” Many Jews, and even Roman occupation forces to a lesser extent, had their eyes out for a military conqueror. That is the temporal vision of which Messiah had popularly been cast; someone who might extricate the geop
