The Concept of the Messiah and Historical Sources in First Century Judaism

As we briefly survey 'the Gospel' in the New Testament writings, we find that the phrase imports a body of pre-existing Jewish ideas. We touch on its origins in the prophetic writings and in later Jewish apocalyptic literature to highlight how a Jew in the first century would have heard John the Baptist, Jesus, or one of the Apostles using this Jewish term to refer to their own message.