September 1, 2025 - Daniel 9:25-27 - "Christ the Messiah"

Daniel 9:25-27

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."

Here Daniel is told of the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One. Five hundred years before Christ walked this earth, God revealed that His Son, the Savior, would come—and not only come, but be “cut off, but not for Himself.” The Messiah would lay down His life, not for His own sin, but for His people. This is the meaning of Christ’s title—Messiah. In Hebrew, Mashiach means “the Anointed One.” In Greek, Christos. Jesus the Christ is Jesus the Anointed One—anointed as Prophet to reveal God’s Word, as Priest to offer Himself as the Sacrifice to God, and as King to rule forever.

Notice in verse 25, Daniel is told: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince…” The Messiah is revealed as a Prince. Not just any prince, but the Prince of Life, the Prince of Glory. And Daniel is told that in the midst of His coming, the Messiah would be “cut off.” That is the cross. Christ crucified.

But verse 27 says: “He shall confirm the covenant with many.” Through His death, He sealed the everlasting covenant in His own blood. He brought reconciliation for iniquity, and He made an end of sins. What no priest in the temple could do by endless sacrifices, Christ accomplished once for all by His own offering.

This is why the woman at the well in John 4 could say: “I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” And Jesus answered her, “I that speak unto thee am He.” The Messiah foretold in Daniel was standing right before her. And He still comes near to us today, not waiting for us to climb up to Him, but meeting us where we are, revealing Himself as the great I AM.

So when we read Daniel 9, we see God’s providence working from eternity. The cross was no accident, no tragic twist in history. It was the very heart of God’s purpose. Christ was cut off—but not for Himself. He was cut off for that people that God the Father had chosen before time and who, in the fulness of the time, God the Father sent forth to be His Sacrifice for the sins of elect sinners from every tribe, nation and tongue.

Let us take comfort in this: our sins are finished, reconciliation has been made, everlasting righteousness has been brought in. This is the Messiah’s work. And so we bow before Him—Prophet, Priest, and King—and say with joy, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Let us honor Christ the Messiah: the One promised, the One revealed, the One crucified and risen, the One wWo will return to bring all things to their consummation. All Scripture points to Him. All of God’s promises are Yea and Amen in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).