1 Peter 1:10-12, One Messiah or Two?

Peter expresses the struggle of the prophets of the OT time.  They struggled to understand their own prophecies, since they prophesied both of the suffering and glory of the Messiah.  They could not put it together.  Buksbazen gives a short overview of how many have sought to resolve this issue today.

Many of the ancient rabbis were aware of the seemingly divergent elements in the Messianic prophecies.  One stream of thought spoke of the suffering Messiah (Isa. 50:5-7 and 53).  The other described a triumphant Messiah who will subdue the rebellious nations and establish His kingdom (Psa. 2 and 110).  To resolve this problem the rabbis have resorted to the theory of the two Messiahs, the suffering one, called Messiah ben Joseph, who dies in battle against Edom (Rome).  He is followed by the triumphant Messiah, Messiah ben David, who established His kingdom of righteousness after defeating the Gentile nations. (Sukkah 246, Soncino Edition.) 

Another attempt to resolve the seeming contradiction of a suffering and triumphant Messiah is mentioned in Pesikta Rabbathi.  According to this the Messiah ben David suffers in every generation for the sins of each generation.  Other rabbinical authorities sought to find a solution to this puzzle in various ingenious ways, which however did not commend themselves to most Jewish people. 

Some rabbinical authorities have postponed the solution of this and of all other perplexing questions to the coming of the prophet Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah who will make all things clear. (Baba Metzia 6.)

Here is one other thing you might find interesting, again from Buksbazen, showing us the struggle the Jewish mind has in accepting Christ as Messiah.

Here are some typical Jewish arguments against the divine nature of Christ. 

1. Behold my servant, 52:13.  If Christ is God, how can he also be called a servant? 

2. He shall be exalted, 52:13.  How can it be said of God that He will be exalted (future tense)?  Is not God always exalted? 

3. Smitten of God and afflicted, 53:4.  If Christ is God, how can be be smitten and afflicted of God? 

4. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, 53:6.  If the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all, then Jesus must be inferior to the LORD. 

5. And he made his grave with the wicked, 53:9.  How can God die and be buried? 

6. And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, 53:10.  If Jesus is God, how can it be said of him, ‘the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand?’

These and many more objections completely ignore the basic New Testament view of the Incarnation, expressed so poignantly by the apostle Paul: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:5-8).

What we have in Jesus the Messiah is not a well-thought-out figure who meets all the intricate details of prophecy.  What we have is God’s provision of the Savior He promised in the Garden (Gen. 3:15).  The reality of who He is, what He is like, and what He does, is known beforehand by God who then puts it in the minds of His prophets to give us so much to anticipate, that we must say it seems very hard not to see that Jesus of Nazareth is, truly, Israel’s Messiah, the Savior of the world!