Is it true that there were MANY people at the time of Christ who....?

Question

claimed to be the Messiah? How common was this, and how did they settle on Christ being the one?

Answer 1

At about the time of Herod the Great, Messianic expectations were running high. Not only was the nation oppressed by a foreign power, but according to Abba Hillel Silver, there was a widely held belief that the days of Messiah were at hand. [Silver , p. 9] Silver reports that, according to the popular chronology of that time, the world had attained the age of 5,000 years. As it was also widely believed the world would last only 6,000 years (1,000 years for each day of creation), and that the Messiah would reign for 1,000 years before the end of the world, it was evident that he was due at any minute. It was into this Messiah-hungry environment that Yeshua came with his version of Redemption, but before and after him were many others with their own ideas about deliverance. Some seem to have been well-meaning nationalists who were hailed as Messiahs by ardent admirers. Others may have been charlatans, fools, or mentally ill.
http://www.amfi.org/mhope.htm

Answer 2

At that time, the Jewish people were looking for the messiah whom God promised to send. Their version of the messiah was a leader who would militarily overthrow the Romans. So there were others who they thought were messiahs. The Christians regard Christ as the Messiah, because he came along and led them in the true way. The Jews are still waiting for the Messiah.

Answer 3

Yes, there were many people running around who claimed to be or were thought to be "the messiah" and as some responders here have noted, they usually were crucified or otherwise killed and their fan groups dispersed. Certain aspects of Christianity as we know it have parallels with earlier pagan religions, some aspects of pagan religion were incorporated into Christianity, and some aspects of Christianity were simply radical-for-their-time moral teachings that were going around. It is unclear whether the Gospels are very watered down versions of the teaching of the historical Jesus or if he related other, more esoteric teachings that were suppressed and destroyed OR if legends and philosophies that came to be known as Christianity or Christian Gnosticism or Magical Christianity or Western Occultism just spontaneously arose among people and over time were either suppressed, censored, marginalized, or incorporated into the religion we now call Christianity

Whatever it's real origins, the basic message of Christ and Christianity is non the less valuable.

Answer 4

Yes,it true. Many in the Jewish faith were waiting for the Messiah,their deliverer.Pregnant women, thought their soon to be newborn would be the chosen one.
Nobody settled on Jesus at the time. It took centuries and a lot of PR to convince hundreds,thousands,and then millions that he was the "chosen" one. It is a matter of faith The Jews are still waiting.

Answer 5

Yes, ther were a few around the place. But the streets were by no means littered with them. The early followers of Jesus came to the idea that he was the Messiah after they believed they had been visited by him after his death. Several claimed to know, albeit briefly, the Resurrected Jesus. At Pentecost, in Acts of the Apostles, the followers believed they had experienced the Presence of Jesus in spirit form after he had dissapeared (Ascended into Heaven). These two events were so insanely powerful to them that they began to believe that the man they had followed in life was, in fact, the Messiah. Then the more they thought about what he had said during his life, the more they saw everything, for them, fall into place. Even if you don't believe in this, the theological progression makes sense. It is really interesting to trace their understanding as it developed in the ultimate conclusion that, for them, Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ.

Answer 6

I am not sure about how many others were claiming to be Christ, but I do know that "they" did not do any sort of "settling" on him. He was sent by God and WAS/IS the Messiah, it had no bearing on what "they" thought. So there was no "settling."

Answer 7

Yes, and if you watch Monty Python's "Life of Brian" you'll get a hilarious version of the events at the time.

Really, get the movie, you'll laugh your pants off! It is considered by some to be the greatest comedy of all time and it is consistently listed in the top 100 and top 250 movies of all time.

Answer 8

Sure, it was fairly common. Most of them were crucified, too. It was pretty standard procedure for heretics/blasphemers.

Of course, the myth of Horus is almost EXACTLY like the Bible depiction of Jesus's life (and it came several CENTURIES earlier), so one must take the gospels' 're-telling' of the alleged events with many grains of salt...way too many similarities (and very specific ones, at that) for it to be likely to be coincidence.

Answer 9

There are still many people even in this day and age that are claiming to be God and or Christ.... But they all still fail to walk on water... As long as people continue to seek power and control over other people, there will always be plenty of imitators........................

Answer 10

The Scriptures, the Old testament pointed to the Messiah, one needs to study the Bible and understand that it was Jesus they were predicting, was the Messiah to come, and He Jesus is the Savior of the World. Read the New Testament to understand what Jesus has done on the Cross for us.... humanity. I am indeed grateful for my Savior and my salvation. You will be as well when you read and study the Scriptures.