The December 16, 1997 issue of the tabloid The Sun carried this headline on the front page: New Messiah to Be Born in Holy Land. Inside the story says that on the eve of Christmas and Hanukkah a strange meteor would appear over Bethlehem. (The two festivals coincided in 1997, an event that occurs about once every ten years!) It should be obvious by now that the prophecy failed to come true, but no doubt it sold lots of copies of the Sun.

One has to ask, “What would a new Messiah do that the old Messiah has not already done?” The Messiah we have known lived a sinless life, served in a selfless way, showed uncommon compassion, died a sacrificial death, and came back to life in a triumphant resurrection. What would a new Messiah do that Jesus has not already done?

-Robert Shannon, Preaching March/April 1998

 


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The December 16, 1997 issue of the tabloid The Sun carried this headline on the
front page: New Messiah to Be Born in Holy Land. Inside the story says that on
the eve of Christmas and Hanukkah a strange meteor would appear over Bethlehem.
(The two festivals coincided in 1997, an event that occurs about once every ten
years!) It should be obvious by now that the prophecy failed to come true, but
no doubt it sold lots of copies of The Sun. One has to ask, “What would a
new Messiah do that the old Messiah has not already done?” The Messiah we
have known lived a sinless life, served in a selfless way, showed uncommon
compassion, died a sacrificial death, and came back to life in a triumphant
resurrection. What would a new Messiah do that Jesus has not already done?


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In the village of Blockley in Gloucestershire, England there lived Joanna
Southcott, who won national attention there due to her belief that she would
bear the second Messiah, to be named Shiloh. Through the centuries many have
harbored such delusions. The Shakers believed that as God came once in the
male, Jesus, he later came to earth in the female, Mother Ann Lee. But Jesus is
unique. There was only one Messiah prophesied. Only one Messiah came and lived
a sinless life. Only one Messiah died a sacrificial death. Only one Messiah
rose from the dead. Only one Messiah is coming again. There is no one like the
Lord Jesus, and there never will be.


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