Christ Is Not His Last Name!

MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER PP# 397 RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

SCRIPTURES: Matt. 6:33, 11:28, 16:15-16, 20:28; Luke 11:9; John 1:41, 10:10-11, 14:1-3, 20:30-31; Acts 10:38-39; Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 3:20

When you hear the words, ”Jesus Christ" do you realize that “Christ” is the English form of the Greek “Christos” that itself is a translation of the Hebrew word which in English is pronounced “Messiah”?

Both Christ & Messiah mean “the Anointed One,” or ‘the Chosen One.” And whenever Jews talked about Messiah, the one that God had promised to send, they always said “The” Messiah.

For example, when Jesus asked His disciples, “What about you? Who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah (the Christ). You are the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16:15-16)

Most of you here have heard & said those same words again & again. We often call it the “Good Confession.” “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

So if Christ is not His last name, what is it? It is a descriptive title & it tells us WHO Jesus is. And for us to understand what that means is very important because it can make a lot of difference in our lives.

I. THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE WERE ANOINTED

In Old Testament times, prophets, priests, & kings were anointed by oil when they were set apart for these positions of responsibility. The anointing was a sign that God had chosen them for the work He had given them to do.

When Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist, met Jesus, the first thing he did was to find his brother, Simon Peter, & tell him about his exciting discovery. He told his brother, “’We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought Peter to Jesus” (John 1:41).

What did Andrew mean when he said, “We have found the Messiah?” When Jesus came to earth to live with us & be our Savior, the Jewish people were looking for God to send the Messiah - the anointed, chosen one.

II. THEY MISUNDERSTOOD WHAT THE MESSIAH WOULD DO

Unfortunately, the Jewish people & their leaders misunderstood what the Messiah would do. They had read the Old Testament prophecies (Isaiah 42:1; 61:1-3; Psalm 16, 22, Daniel 9, etc.) that promised God would send a deliverer to save His people.

They read the prophecies of how the Messiah would overcome God’s enemies - & they understood this to mean that he would deliver them from their Roman masters. They expected him to set up a kingdom on earth - a kingdom in which they would be the rulers, not the ruled.

They overlooked the Messiah’s spiritual role as a deliverer from sin and Satan. They didn’t understand that His kingdom was spiritual, not political.

As a result, few of them were prepared to accept Jesus as the promised Messiah. He didn’t fit their ideas of what the Messiah would do.

III. SOME DID RECOGNIZE JESUS AS THE MESSIAH

Some, however, saw beneath the surface & recognized Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah – God’s anointed, chosen one to save them from their sin. It became their purpose to share this wonderful news with others. As he closed his Gospel, the apostle John summarized the message he had been trying to get across.

He wrote, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of God, & that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30-31)

The Gospels repeatedly declare that Jesus is the Messiah – the One chosen by God & anointed by Him to save His people from their sins (Matthew 16:16; Luke 4:17-212; John 1:40-49; 4:25-26).

After Jesus’ resurrection, the apostle Peter proclaimed “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did” (Acts 10:38-39).

Jesus Himself claimed to be the promised Messiah. When He talked with a woman at a well in Samaria, she said, “‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He’“

IV. WHAT ABOUT TODAY?

But what about today? What do people expect the promised Messiah, Jesus, to be?

ILL. Kevin DeYoung, in his Restless and Reformed blog, describes what people say about Jesus today.

"There's the Conservative Jesus - who is against tax increases & activist judges, for family values & owning firearms.

“There's the Liberal Jesus - who is against Wall Street & Wal-Mart, & for reducing our carbon footprint & for printing more money.