Messiah

The anointed one

‘Messiah’ comes from the Hebrew mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ), ‘anointed one’. The New Testament spells it in Greek letters as Messias (Μεσσίας), and translates it as Christos (Χριστός), our ‘Christ’:

He first found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ).

John 1:41

So ‘Jesus Christ’ is not a first name and a surname but a confession: Jesus is the Messiah. In the Old Testament anointing set a person apart for an office, most often a king. When Samuel anointed David, "the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward" (1 Samuel 16:13). Priests were anointed too, and God even called the Persian king Cyrus "His anointed" (Isaiah 45:1). God promised David, "I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Samuel 7:13), and the prophets sang of a shoot from the stump of Jesse on whom the Spirit would rest (Isaiah 11:1–2). So hope grew for the Anointed One to come. By Jesus' day that hope took many forms, and many longed for a king like David who would free the nation from Rome.

A suffering Messiah

In the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus read from Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me" (Isaiah 61:1), and said, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). Peter confessed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). But Jesus then began to teach that "the Son of Man must suffer many things" and be killed and rise again (Mark 8:31), and Peter would not have it. He expected a Messiah who conquers; a cross made no sense. After the resurrection the apostles proclaimed that "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!" (Acts 2:36).

The church has read in the Messiah's anointing the three offices of prophet, priest and king (see the threefold office). He is the king, but he came first as the suffering servant, and in him the kingdom of God has already begun.

What is still awaited

A main reason many Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah is that the peace promised for the messianic age has not yet come. It is a weighty objection. Christians answer that the Messiah comes twice: first to bear sin, and then "He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him" (Hebrews 9:28). The church's long history of contempt for and persecution of Jews is a shameful one, and this conversation calls for humility.

Evangelicals also read differently how the promises about David's throne and Israel will be fulfilled. Dispensationalists (see dispensationalism) and many premillennialists expect them to be fulfilled literally when, after his return, the Messiah reigns on earth with a restored Israel. The tradition of covenant theology holds that they are already being fulfilled in Christ's reign from the heavenly throne and will be completed in the new heavens and new earth. Both confess that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that his kingdom will have no end. See also Is Jesus the Messiah? and the lesson Prophet, priest and king.