What is the Christ?
In one sentence: Christ is not Jesus’ last name, but His title as the promised Anointed One who fulfills the whole Bible as Prophet, Priest, and King.
Many people hear the name “Jesus Christ” and assume that “Christ” is Jesus’ last name. But Christ is not a family name. It is a title. It tells us who Jesus is and what He came to do.
The word Christ means “Anointed One.” It is the same basic idea as the word Messiah. In the Bible, someone could be anointed with oil as a way of being set apart for a special task. Kings were anointed. Priests were anointed. Sometimes prophets were anointed. The act of anointing showed that this person had been chosen and set apart for God’s purpose. So when the Bible calls Jesus “the Christ,” it is saying something massive. Jesus is the One God promised. He is the One the whole Bible has been preparing us to see. He is the One anointed by God to save His people and bring God’s kingdom.
The promise of Christ begins much earlier than we might expect. In the garden, after Adam and Eve sinned, God promised that a son of the woman would come and crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). From the very beginning, humanity needed rescue. Sin had entered the world. Death had entered the world. Shame, blame, fear, and rebellion had entered the world. But God did not leave His creation without hope. That hope continues to grow throughout the Old Testament. God promised Abraham that through his offspring all the families of the earth would be blessed. God promised David that one of his sons would sit on the throne forever. The prophets spoke of a coming servant, king, shepherd, and redeemer who would rescue God’s people and bring light to the nations.
All of these promises point forward to Jesus.
Jesus is the true Prophet. A prophet speaks God’s word to the people. Jesus does not merely bring a message from God. He is the Word who became flesh. He perfectly reveals God to us. If we want to know what God is like, we look to Jesus.
Jesus is the true Priest. A priest represents the people before God. Priests offered sacrifices for sin and prayed for the people. But those sacrifices had to be offered again and again. Jesus offered Himself once for all. He did not bring the blood of bulls and goats. He gave His own life to bring sinners back to God.
Jesus is the true King. A king rules and protects his people. Israel’s kings often failed. Some were wicked. Even the best kings were still sinners. But Jesus is the righteous King. He rules with perfect wisdom, justice, mercy, and truth. His kingdom is not fragile, corrupt, or temporary. His kingdom will never end.
This means that the title “Christ” gathers up the hopes of the whole Bible. It reminds us that Jesus did not appear out of nowhere. He did not come as plan B. He came as the fulfillment of God’s promise. When Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” he was not giving Jesus a compliment. He was confessing that Jesus is the promised Savior and King. He was saying, “You are the One we have been waiting for.”
But Jesus also had to correct people’s expectations. Many expected the Christ to overthrow Rome, restore Israel’s national power, and bring immediate political victory. Jesus came to bring a greater rescue. He came to defeat sin, Satan, and death. He came to lay down His life. He came not only to wear a crown, but first to bear a cross. That is why we must let the Bible define what “Christ” means. Jesus is not the Savior we would have invented for ourselves. He is better. He does not merely fix our circumstances. He deals with our deepest problem. He does not merely defeat enemies around us. He defeats the sin within us. He does not merely bring temporary relief. He brings eternal life.
To call Jesus the Christ is to say that He is God’s promised King, God’s perfect Son, and God’s appointed Savior. He is the One who reveals God, brings us to God, and rules over us for our good.
Why does this matter?
This matters because we do not get to define Jesus for ourselves. Many people are comfortable with Jesus as a teacher, example, religious leader, or inspiring figure. But the Bible presents Him as the Christ, and if Jesus is the Christ, then He is not simply someone to admire. He is someone to trust, worship, follow, and obey.
This also helps us read the Bible better. The Bible is not a random collection of disconnected stories. It is one great story that leads us to Jesus. The promises, sacrifices, kings, prophets, priests, and covenants all prepare us to recognize Him. And this gives us confidence. God keeps His promises. The Christ did come. The Savior was born. The King has arrived. The cross was not failure. The resurrection was not an afterthought. Jesus is the One God promised from the beginning.
If we belong to Christ, then our hope rests on something much stronger than our feelings, efforts, or circumstances. Our hope rests on God’s promised Savior.
For Further Thought
These questions are not meant to create arguments, but to encourage careful, charitable, Bible-shaped conversation. I’d love to hear your thoughts/answers to any/all of these questions in the comments.
- Before reading this, how did you usually understand the word “Christ”?
- Why is it important to know that Christ is a title and not Jesus’ last name?
- How does the Old Testament prepare us to understand who Jesus is?
- What does it mean that Jesus is the true Prophet, Priest, and King?
- Why is it dangerous to define Jesus according to our own expectations?
- How does knowing Jesus as the Christ strengthen your trust in God’s promises?