John Hagee denies Jesus claimed to be the Messiah by Matt Slick Dr. John Hagee is the founder of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. Cornerstone is a nondenominational church with several thousand members. Dr. John Hagee can be seen on more than 160 television stations and 50 radio stations across America. He is the author of at least 10 books.1 On the surface everything looks good. On his website at jhm.org, Dr. John Hagee affirms the basics of the Christian faith including the deity of Christ, the Trinity, etc. His beliefs page is not very precise, but it appears to be within orthodoxy. The problem, however, is with his new book In Defense of Israel where Dr. Hagee apparently states that Jesus was not the Messiah. If you were to go to youtube2 you can hear where Dr. Hagee speaks regarding his book and says his book, In Defense of Israel, will prove that Jesus did not come to Earth to be the Messiah, (20 seconds in) and that ...since Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered? (32 seconds in). Obviously, this is a huge problem. Hagee defines Messiah as political deliverer So, instead of making my judgment on a one minute sound bite, I bought the book and went through it. I didnt read the whole thing. Instead, I went to the section (Chapter 10, pages 121-169) where he dealt with Jesus as the Messiah. In short, Hagee takes several pages to characterize the Jewish idea of the Messiah as being a political deliverer who was supposed to free Israel from Roman oppression. This is very significant. Hagee defines Messiah not as a spiritual deliverer, but as a political one. To substantiate his position, Hagee calls Moses the messiah of Israel and speaks of the political deliverance of Israel from Egyptian oppression. Note what Hagee says in his book: 1....God gave Moses four signs to convince the children of Israel that he was their messiah... He knew he was anointed of God to overthrow Egypt and lead the Jewish people to the promised land. p. 136. 2.The next two signs God gave Moses were to convince the children of Israel that Moses was their Messiah. p. 136 3.When impetuous Peter could stand it no longer, he blurted out, You are the Christ. Or in other words, You are the anointed one! You are the Messiah who will lead the Jews in their revolt against Rome. p. 140 4.Even after his resurrection and repeated denials that he would not be the Messiah, his disciples were still hanging on to the last thread of hope that he would now smash Rome (Acts 1:6). p. 141 A.For reference, Acts 1:6 says, When they therefore were come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” 5.He refused to be their Messiah, choosing instead to be the Savior of the world. p. 143. Notice that in quote number 1 Hagee cites Moses as the Messiah of Israel who was to overthrow Egypt. In quote 3 Hagee interprets Peters words to again relate the term Messiah as as a political deliverer. In quote 4 Hagee cites Acts 1:6 which is a reference to restoring Israel as a political power. So, we can conclude that Hagee is defining the Messiah as a political deliverer. Therefore, if we were to use this definition, Hagee is correct. Jesus did not come to be a political Messiah. But, Dr. John Hagee has still made a big mistake. He has failed to define his terms adequately and caused an uproar. The term Messiah and John Hagees error Remember, in the video2 John Hagee said his book, In Defense of Israel, will prove that Jesus did not come to Earth to be the Messiah, (20 seconds in) and that ...since Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered? (32 seconds in). He did not clarify what he meant by Messiah - and I think he did it on purpose. Nevertheless, lets take a look at the word as it is used in the New Testament -- something Hagee should have done but didnt do in his chapter. The English word messiah is translated from the greek μeσσίας (messias) and is found only two times in the New Testament: 1.John 1:41, He (Andrew) first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias (Greek word for Messiah) , which is being interpreted, the Christ. 2.John 4:25-26, The woman saith unto Him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. We see that Jesus is called the Messiah in John 1:41 and in John 4:25-26, and Jesus affirms that he is the Messiah. This flatly contradicts Hagees statement on the video that ...Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah. Dr. John Hagee is just plain wrong!
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 04:09:12 +0000
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