What does "Christ" mean?
Names in the Bible carry meaning, and "Christ" is not a surname — it is a word with a definite sense that the first readers of the New Testament would have caught at once. Understanding it opens up who Jesus is, what He was appointed to do, and why those who belong to Him are called Christians.
The word itself
Both the Greek word "Christ" and the Hebrew word "Messiah" carry one plain meaning, and the New Testament often puts the article in front of it — the Christ.
Morrish Bible DictionaryAn official title of the Lord Jesus, which became used as a name. In John 1:41 and John 4:25 this title is linked with the Messiah of the Old Testament. The Jews and Samaritans were expecting THE MESSIAH, "who is called Christ." … The Hebrew word is mashiach and means 'anointed.' … The same word is used of the high priest and the king as God's anointed; but the Lord Jesus is emphatically 'the Anointed,' which is the meaning of the word 'the Christ.'
Office, not surname
Because the word slid into everyday use as a plain name, translators have had to work to keep its original force visible.
J. N. DarbyThe somewhat strange-sounding expression we use, "The Christ," instead of "Christ," has been chosen on purpose, to mark the difference between the office and the name of the Lord. "Christ" has become in today's speech a simple name; in earlier days this was not the case. "Christ" (Greek), or "Messiah" (Hebrew), means "the Anointed," the One expected according to God's promise.
Jesus is the Christ
Keeping the two words distinct matters, but so does keeping them joined to one Person. Some have split them apart, treating "the Christ" as an idea and Jesus as merely an example of it.
F. B. HoleJesus is His personal name as a Man born in this world. Christ, meaning the Anointed One, is rather descriptive of an office He fills. But Jesus is the Christ (see Acts 17:3), and there is no other Christ but He. … "The Christ" is turned by them into an empty ideal, and "the historic Jesus" is treated as one of the Christ order, showing us how we too may become "Christs."
Anointed for three offices
In Israel, anointing with oil marked a person out for a particular service, and three kinds of people received it.
A. J. PollockIn the Old Testament we get three classes of persons anointed: the king for the kingly office; the priest for the priestly office; and the prophet for the prophetic office. The Lord was THE Anointed, to carry out the will of God … All that the world will ever know of blessing flows from THE Anointed One. The precious ointment was poured on Aaron's head, ran down to his beard, and descended to the skirts of his garments (Psalm 133:2); so all blessing flows from the position our Lord has as THE Messiah or Christ, THE Anointed.
Commentators differ on how much weight this three-fold framework should carry. Darby warns against "speaking of Christ as prophet, priest, and king, and reducing all saving grace to these offices," calling it "a very poor and confused way of considering the Lord's grace."
Anointed with the Spirit
The anointing that made Him the Christ was not a ceremony with oil.
Morrish Bible DictionaryIn the New Testament the title is restricted to the Lord Jesus — the Christ — as the One anointed, not with oil, but with the Holy Spirit by God the Father. This had been predicted in Psalm 45:7, of which John the Baptist was the witness.
Publicly installed after the resurrection
Peter told the crowd at Pentecost that God had made Jesus both Lord and Christ. That does not mean He became something He had not been.
F. B. HoleBeing "made" Lord and Christ is quite consistent with His having been both during His time on earth. These things were always His, but now He was officially installed as such, as the risen and glorified Man. Wonderful news for us; but terrible news for those who had been guilty of His crucifixion.
Why believers are called Christians
The name carried by His people comes from the same root as His title.
Greg QuailThe words "unction" (chrisma), "Christ" and "Christian" all have the same root. "Christ" means "anointed." As one body formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the assembly is called "the Christ" in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. Having an anointing from the Holy One, the little children were inwardly marked out as belonging to the Christian company.
Summary
- The word. Christ is Greek, Messiah is Hebrew, and both mean the Anointed — a title that turned into a name.
- The offices. Anointing in the Old Testament set apart prophets, priests and kings; He is the Anointed One who fills all three, though writers differ over how much of His grace that framework can hold.
- The oil. His anointing was not oil but the Holy Spirit, given by the Father and witnessed by John the Baptist.
- The installation. He was always Lord and Christ; at the resurrection He was publicly installed as such, as the risen and glorified Man.
- The overflow. Like the ointment running down from Aaron's head to the edge of his robes, blessing flows from the Anointed to those anointed with Him — which is why they are called Christians.