Messiah pretention

Messiah pretention

Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. (13:6)

The statement on deception of man, briefly highlighted in verse 5, found its full expression of warning in verse 6. Jesus warned that many will come claiming, “I am he,” and deceive many. Here ‘he’ indicates the Messiah. There will be many claiming to be the Messiah at the last. According to the Bible scholars’ explanation, John the Kisala and Tutta were the representatives of those who pretend to be the Messiah. There would be many who would say “I am the Messiah. Follow me.” There are many religious leaders in Korea like them. Park Tae-sun of Jeondokwan and Mun Sun-myung of Tongilkyo (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification)

Messianic pretension occurs not only in religion but also in the spheres of politics and economy. Nazism of Hitler is a sort of Messianic disposition. German people believed Hitler as the savior of their nation. The ex-president of Korea, Park Jung-hee also wanted to play such an influential role. Many Koreans believed him to be the savior of the nation and their dogmatic beliefs have not died down even today. Modern capitalism is also not much different from the doctrine of Messiah. The conventional beliefs rest on the fact that money saves man.

The cause of the emergence of the Messianic pretension does not only rest on the intention of the person concern but it also rests on the interest of the people. In fact, it is the general publics who ignited the fire of this enthusiasm for one to be an influential public figure. As such, tendency of tyranny comes as the consequence of the support of the public. The public always have the strong desire to be in the Messianic rule. They diligently nurse the desire to give ceaseless support to such public figure. A false religious leader or a politician or entertainer or sports star can be the object of public adoration. They are all false Messiah.

It is not easy for one to escape from the grip of a false Messiah. It is a sort of addiction to gambling. The particular gambling enslaves one’s soul. Does Korean church pretend to be the Messiah today? In the same manner, does the church enslave its believers?