But Jesus held his peace.
And the high priest answered and said unto him,
I adjure thee by the living God,
that thou tell us whether thou be
the Christ, the Son of God. Matt 26:63
Is there a difference? Usually these names are used interchangeably, as if there is no difference between them. We know Jesus. He is our Savior, our Redeemer. We know that he is the Christ. So why does he have two names? People then usually had only one name, and if it was a common name, they might add “the son of John”, or “the one from Galilee”. But we aren’t confused about which Jesus we’re talking about, are we?
“Christ” is used only in the New Testament, and is a Greek word. “Messiah” is a Hebrew word, and is used in the Old Testament. It means “Anointed One”. It appears twice in the Gospel of John, but is a Hebrew word carried over into the Greek text. The Old Testament is full of prophecies about “the Messiah”. The Messiah is someone who would come to redeem the people of Israel, the promised King, but no one knew who or when he would come. Christ, or Messiah, is a title, like “King” or “President”.
“Jesus” is just a name. Through the centuries it has been spelled and pronounced differently, just as the modern name “John” is “Ivan” in Russian and “Jean” in French today. In the Old Testament, it was “Yesua” and “Joshua”, but still a name that any boy might be given.
Put the two together, and we have a man’s name: Jesus; and a title: Christ, Anointed One. During Jesus’ lifetime, he was not referred to as Christ Jesus. At most, he was called, “Jesus, who will be the Christ”. That is because he was not completely “the Christ” until his resurrection. Only then did he become the King. “Jesus Christ” is the man Jesus who would become the Christ. Christ Jesus is the risen Lord, the Anointed King.
But these are written,
that ye might believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God;
and that believing ye might have life
through his name. John 20:31
And the high priest answered and said unto him,
I adjure thee by the living God,
that thou tell us whether thou be
the Christ, the Son of God. Matt 26:63
Is there a difference? Usually these names are used interchangeably, as if there is no difference between them. We know Jesus. He is our Savior, our Redeemer. We know that he is the Christ. So why does he have two names? People then usually had only one name, and if it was a common name, they might add “the son of John”, or “the one from Galilee”. But we aren’t confused about which Jesus we’re talking about, are we?
“Christ” is used only in the New Testament, and is a Greek word. “Messiah” is a Hebrew word, and is used in the Old Testament. It means “Anointed One”. It appears twice in the Gospel of John, but is a Hebrew word carried over into the Greek text. The Old Testament is full of prophecies about “the Messiah”. The Messiah is someone who would come to redeem the people of Israel, the promised King, but no one knew who or when he would come. Christ, or Messiah, is a title, like “King” or “President”.
“Jesus” is just a name. Through the centuries it has been spelled and pronounced differently, just as the modern name “John” is “Ivan” in Russian and “Jean” in French today. In the Old Testament, it was “Yesua” and “Joshua”, but still a name that any boy might be given.
Put the two together, and we have a man’s name: Jesus; and a title: Christ, Anointed One. During Jesus’ lifetime, he was not referred to as Christ Jesus. At most, he was called, “Jesus, who will be the Christ”. That is because he was not completely “the Christ” until his resurrection. Only then did he become the King. “Jesus Christ” is the man Jesus who would become the Christ. Christ Jesus is the risen Lord, the Anointed King.
But these are written,
that ye might believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God;
and that believing ye might have life
through his name. John 20:31
3 comments:
Alice and Mark
I would like to thank you for all your prayers for my sister Katie.She has done well enough that they sent her home and can now care for herself.I know that without all of everyones prayers I don't think she would be with us today. So thank you very much. Your Friend Linda
There was no "comment" link for "adopted". But wanted to say that I too, am glad to be adopted. A reminder of the only One who will not reject us is needed.
Thank you.
The "comment" link is supposed to be an automatic feature of Blogger, but it didn't seem to work for this post - maybe because it was posted around the time Blogger was shutting down for some maintenance. It should reappear for future posts.
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