Christ - Background and New Testament References

Background and New Testament References

At the time of Jesus, there was no single, coherent form or order within Second Temple Judaism, and significant political, social and religious differences existed among the Jews. However, for centuries the Jews had used the term "the Anointed" to refer to their expected deliverer. A large number of Old Testament passages were regarded as messianic by the Jews, many more than are commonly considered messianic by Christians, and various groups of Jews assigned varying degrees of significance to them.

The Greek word Messias appears only twice in the Greek Old Testament of the promised prince (Daniel 9:26; Psalm 2:2); yet, when a name was wanted for the promised one, who was to be at once King and Savior, this title was used. The New Testament states that the Messiah, long awaited, had come and describes this savior as The Christ. In Matt 16:16 the apostle Peter, in what has become a famous proclamation of faith among Christians since the first century, said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

The opening words in the Gospel of Mark 1:1, namely "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" also identify Jesus as both Christ and the Son of God. The divinity being again re-affirmed in Mark 1:11. Thereafter Mark never applies Christ to Jesus as a name. Matthew 1:1 uses Christ as a name and Matthew 1:16 explains it again with: "Jesus, who is called Christ". In the Gospel of John, Jesus referred to himself as the Son of God far more frequently than in the Synoptic Gospels.

The use of the definite article before the word "Christ" and its gradual development into a proper name show the Christians identified the bearer with the promised Messiah of the Jews who fulfilled all the Messianic predictions in a fuller and a higher sense than had been given them by the Rabbis. In the New Testament e.g. Matthew 1:1, 1:18; Mark 1:1; John 1:17; 17:3; 9:22; Mark 9:40; Luke 2:11; 22:2, the word Christ is preceded by Jesus.

While the Gospels of Mark and Matthew begin by calling Jesus both Christ and the Son of God, these are two distinct attributions. They develop in the New Testament along separate paths and have distinct theological implications. The development of both titles involves "the precursor", John the Baptist. At the time in Roman Judaea the Jews had been awaiting the "messiah". And many people were wondering who it would be. When John the Baptist appeared and began preaching, he attracted disciples who assumed he would be announced as the Messiah, or "the one" they had been awaiting. But the title Son of God was not attributed to John.

In the Gospel narratives that describe the life of Jesus, the first instance of him being called the Son of God appears during his Baptism by John the Baptist. In the narrative, a voice from heaven called Jesus "My Son". In the Messengers from John the Baptist episode, in Matthew 11:2-6 and Luke 7:18-23. when John the Baptist was in prison two of his disciples asked Jesus a question on his behalf: "Are you the one to come after me or shall we wait for another?" indicating that John doubted the identity of Jesus as Christ at that time, see also Rejection of Jesus.

In John 11:27 Martha told Jesus "you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world", signifying that both titles were generally accepted (yet considered distinct) among the followers of Jesus before the Raising of Lazarus.

Explicit claims of Jesus being the Messiah are found in the Canonical Gospels in the Confession of Peter (e.g. Matthew 16:16) and the words of Jesus before his judges in the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. These incidents involve far more than a mere claim to the Messiahship; taken in their setting, they constitute a claim to be the Son of God.

In the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, it might appear from the narratives of Matthew and Luke that Jesus at first refused a direct reply to the high priest's question: "Art thou the Christ?" Although his answer is given merely as su eipas (thou hast said it), the Gospel of Mark states the answer as ego eimi (I am) and there are instances from Jewish literature in which the expression, "thou hast said it", is equivalent to "you are right". The Messianic claim was less significant than the claim to divinity which caused the high priest's horrified accusation of blasphemy and the subsequent call for the death sentence. Before Pilate on the other hand it was merely the assertion of his royal dignity which gave ground for his condemnation.

In the Pauline Epistles the word Christ is so closely associated with Jesus that it is apparent that for the Early Christians there is no need to claim that Jesus is Christ, for that is considered widely accepted among them. Hence Paul can use the term Christos with no confusion as to who it refers to, and as in 1Corinthians 4:15 and Romans 12:5 he can use expressions such as "in Christ" to refer to the followers of Jesus. Paul proclaimed him as the new Adam, who restored through obedience what Adam lost through disobedience. The Pauline epistles are a source of some key Christological connections, e.g. Ephesians 3:17-19 relates the love of Christ to the knowledge of Christ, and considers the love of Christ as a necessity for knowing him.

There are also implicit claims to being the Christ in the words and actions of Jesus. Episodes in the life of Jesus and statements about what he accomplished during his public ministry are found throughout the New Testament. Although the Bible never says "Jesus is God", trinity based theology summarily claims: "Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man in one person, and will be so forever."