In their August 2017 edition, National Geographic published an article reporting on five of seven men who, at the time, claimed to be the resurrected Jesus Christ.
- In Eshowe, South Africa, Moses Hlongwane says that God identified him as the Messiah during a dream in 1992.
- In an off-the-grid Russian village, Vissarion, born Sergei Torop, claims he had a revelation, around the time the Soviet Union collapsed, that he was Jesus Christ reborn.
- Bupete Chibwe Chishimba goes by several names, but his disciples refer to him simply as Jesus.
- INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum) lives in a compound outside Brasília, Brazil.
- Tokyo – Known as The Only God, Jesus Matayoshi. His scripture is titled How the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the One True God, Jesus Matayoshi Will Change Japan and the World.
The other two are:
- Alan John Miller (born 1962) – founder of Divine Truth, based in Australia, who claims to be Jesus of Nazareth through reincarnation.
- David Shayler (born 1965)– former MI5 agent and whistleblower who declared himself the Messiah in 7 July 2007.[1]
They are not the only ones alive in 2018 making such a claim:
- Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (born 25 November 1941)– is a spiritual leader and the founder of the spiritual movements Messiah Foundation International(MFI) and Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam. He is controversial for being declared the Mehdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar by the MFI.
- Wayne Bent (born 1941)– also known as Michael Travesser of the Lord Our Righteousness Church, also known as the “Strong City Cult”, convicted December 15, 2008 of one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2008.
- Iesu Matayoshi (born 1944) – in 1997 he established the World Economic Community Party based on his conviction that he is God and the Christ.
- “RAEL”– a Frenchman formerly named Claude Vorilhon who claims to have been visited by aliens. He founded the “Raelian Movement” which is a mix of new age UFO, pseudo Christian / Judaic faith interspersed with a lot of science fiction.
- “Lord Rayel”– an American who goes by the name Raymond Elwood. Claimed to have been hit in the chest by lightening in January 2011, at which point he became the reincarnated Jesus Christ.
- Jung Myung Seok (born 1945) – a South Korean who founded Providence Church in 1980. He also considers himself the Second Coming of Christ, but not Jesus himself. He believes he has come to finish the incomplete message and mission of Jesus Christ, asserting that he is the Messiah and has the responsibility to save all mankind. He claims that the Christian doctrine of resurrection is false but that people can be saved through him.
- Apollo Quiboloy (born 1950) – founder and leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christreligious group, who claims that Jesus Christ is the “Almighty Father,” that Quiboloy is “His Appointed Son,” and that salvation is now completed.
- David Icke (born 1952) – of Great Britain, has described himself as “the son of God”, and a “channel for the Christ spirit”.
- Brian David Mitchell, October 18, 1953 – in Salt Lake City, Utah, he believed himself the fore-ordainedangel born on earth to be the Davidic “servant” prepared by God as a type of Messiah who would restore the divinely led kingdom of Israel to the world in preparation for Christ’s second coming.
- Ryuho Okawa (born 7 July 1956)– is the founder of Happy Science in Japan. Okawa claims to channel the spirits of Muhammad, Christ, Buddha and Confucius and claims to be the incarnation of the supreme spiritual being called El Cantare.
- Maria Devi Christos (born 1960)– founder of the Great White Brotherhood.
- World Teacher (Unknown) – claimed to be the Theosophical Maitreya and the Messiah (promised one) of all religions. He is said to have descended from the higher planes and manifested a physical body in early 1977 in the Himalayas, then on 19 July 1977 he is rumoured to have taken a commercial airplane flight from Pakistan to England. He is currently said to be living in secret in London; promoted by New Age activist Benjamin Creme and his organization, Share International (See Maitreya (Benjamin Creme)).
History shows others have made claims to be the Messiah in the past;[2]
1AD – 1,000AD – Five known claims to be the Messiah.
1,001AD – 1,500AD – Five known claims to be the Messiah.
1,501 – 1,800AD – Six known claims to be the Messiah.
1,801AD – 1,900AD – Thirteen known claims to be the Messiah.
1,901AD – 2,000 – Thirteen known claims to be the Messiah.
What does this mean?
Why so many, especially more recently, and why is there an increasing number making such claims across religions today?
Matthew 24: 4 – 11– Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come…. and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
Matthew 24: 23 – 25– At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.
1 John 2: 18– Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
What else does the Bible tell us?– The Future
What does that mean for you?– Good News
[1]NZHerald – 25thDecember 2017
[2]Wikipedia