Megan asks Bart:

-What did the word “messiah” mean?

-Did it mean different things to different Jewish groups in antiquity?

-Do we know of any Jewish groups that thought the future messiah would die for the sins of others, and be raised from the dead?

-We’ve covered several times on the podcast that Jesus definitely did not fit the expected role, so most people didn’t think he was the messiah…did his followers view him as the messiah during his lifetime, or simply a particularly convincing prophet?

-Are the OT passages used to talk about a suffering and dying messiah actually talking about the messiah, or are they being taken out of conte-t?

-Why would their understanding of a “messiah” change so radically after his death?

-Did the followers of Jesus invent the idea of a suffering messiah?

-How do we begin to find out how Jesus saw himself? Does Jesus ever self-identify as a messiah in the gospels?

-When Jesus talks about being a messiah, is he being depicted as meaning a suffering messiah, or was he anticipating leading a military revolution?

-If Jesus thought he was the messiah…did he also think he was the son of god?