Apologeticae sive Theologiae Fundamentalis, Tomus I: Demonstratio Christiana

Indeed, in the course of his Galilean sojourn Jesus manifested his messiahship ever more clearly day by day: by attributing to himself the privileges of the Messiah, by performing the works of the Messiah, by claiming for himself the name of Messiah.

1. By attributing to himself the privileges of the Messiah. With the apostles chosen, Jesus traverses all of Galilee, preaching the gospel of the messianic kingdom.¹

But the greatest part of this gospel consisted in this, that the Son of man attributed to himself the excellent endowments and offices which pertain to the Messiah. The Son of man descended from heaven and will return to heaven.² The Son of man was sent and anointed by God.³ The Son of man calls all to the messianic kingdom and saves all sinners.⁴ The Son of man teaches with divine authority.⁵ The Son of man by his own power adds the New Testament to the Old.⁶ The Son of man will come again at the end of time as the glorious prince of the kingdom of God and the judge of the whole world.⁷ Hearing these things, no one could doubt that Jesus ascribed to himself messiahship taken in the strictest and most sublime sense.

2. By performing the works of the Messiah. To win for himself the faith of Jewish witnesses, Jesus continually strengthens and confirms the gospel of the Son of man with miracles. He works almost innumerable signs upon the elements, the sick, the possessed, and the dead. For Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would perform very many and very great miracles.⁸ The Jews knew this prophecy very well; as the Gospel testifies, they said: “When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than this man does?”⁹ But Jesus himself also continually appeals to his miracles as the criteria of his messianic mission.¹⁰

He invokes these criteria more solemnly when John inquires through envoys about the messiahship of Jesus. For the Forerunner, “when he had heard in prison of the works of Christ, sending two of his disciples,¹¹ he said to him: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”¹² But Jesus, multiplying miracles before the eyes of the two envoys, answers: “Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who is not scandalized in me.”¹³

3. By claiming for himself the name of Messiah. Indeed, the Jews were still scandalized at him because he refused to play the role of the political Messiah expected by them. Therefore, having seen and experienced his miracles, very many indeed recognized him as a great prophet, but not as the Messiah.¹⁴ The few, however, who seemed to believe for the moment, believed only on this condition, that they would forthwith make Jesus the Messiah-King by stirring up an insurrection against the Romans.¹⁵ For this reason Jesus did not yet dare to bear the name of Messiah publicly before the Jews.¹⁶

With the Samaritans he could converse more openly, because they did not know the political-national Messiah of the Jews. Hence also before the Samaritan woman he declares in express words that he is the Messiah. After he had first shown himself to her as a “prophet” by revealing her hidden life, the woman said: “I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when therefore he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus says to her: “I am he, who am speaking to you.” And from that city many of the Samaritans believed in him and said: “For we ourselves have heard and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”¹⁷ Behold true faith in a spiritual Messiah!

Before the apostles too (who were gradually educated in the faith by divine patience¹⁸), Jesus claims for himself the name of Messiah. For when they had come to Caesarea Philippi toward the end of the Galilean sojourn, Jesus asks them: “But who do you say that I am?” Answering, Simon Peter said: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” But Jesus, praising and extolling the messianic confession of Peter, said: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah: because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”¹⁹