Jesus the Christ
A proper understanding of the
meaning of the term ‘Christ’ will give insight both into the nature and work of
Christ as well as his relationship to God the Father
First off it’s important to know
that Christ is not Jesus’ surname. It is a title.
In order to convey this, it is better to interpose the definite article and
call him ‘Jesus the Christ’.
This is the way believing Jews describe him: “Y’shua ha Mashiach”
Ha
is the Hebrew definite article, or ‘the’.
To say Jesus is the Christ is like saying Jesus the King, Jesus the Judge
or Jesus the Prophet.
It describes his office or position.
So what does the title mean?
Literally translated it means ‘The Anointed One’
Anointing in the Old Testament was
when oil was literally poured over someone
symbolising 2 things:
God’s appointment of them to a position of his choosing
God’s empowerment of them to fulfil that purpose by his Spirit
The anointing of Jesus took place
immediately after his baptism by John in the river Jordan:
John 1:32
And John bare record, saying, I saw the
Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water,
the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and
remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record
that this is the Son of God.
John had been told by God that he
would show him who the Son of God or Christ was
and that the evidence would be the Holy Spirit coming upon him.
The anointing that made Jesus of
Nazareth into the Christ was the anointing of the Holy Spirit he received from
God.
Acts 10:38
How God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Ghost and with power:
who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil;
for God was with him.
Note- 'for God was with him’, not 'for he was God'.
So to call Jesus the Christ- the
anointed one -speaks not of what Jesus did,
so much as what was done to him by God.
Jesus made this absolutely clear. He operated not under his own power, but by the empowerment he had received from the Father by the anointing of the Holy Spirit which came upon him at his baptism.
After this event he explained:
Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable
year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book,
and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them
that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto
them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
The fact that Jesus was anointed
makes the one who anointed him
Superior in position- since he makes the appointment and does the choosing
Superior in power- because it is he that empowers
The fact that Jesus received the
anointing from God leads us to the inescapable conclusion that
The Father is the God of the Son!
As the scripture clearly states,
speaking to Christ:
Psalms 45:7
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest
wickedness:
therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Hebrews 1:9
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated
iniquity;
therefore God, even thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
So to acknowledge Jesus as the
Christ is to acknowledge two important facts about him:
1
That he needed and received
empowerment from God
2
That he did nothing by virtue
of his own power, but it was God working through him
Neither would apply to him were he
God Almighty
|
1. Introduction |
|||||
|
10. Seen! |
|||||
|
17. Jesus- a Godsend |
18. 1 Creator |
||||
|
20. The firstborn |
21. The name of God |
|
|
|