Thinking about names and their meaning is fascinating, and deeply instructive; however lest we focus on the terms instead of the person they represent – we’ll now turn our attention to “this Jesus”.

When Paul the apostle wrote to the church in Rome, he uses his opening greeting to summarise some of the most important things about Jesus as regards the Gospel. Let’s look at it together:

¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh ⁴ and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord

Romans 1:1-4

What points does he make? First of all, he confirms what we have already said, that Christ is Jesus, and in him is fulfilled the promise of the Old Testament.

Next however, we are given three very important statements regarding Jesus. First, that he is the Son of God; second, that he is a descendant of man according to ‘the flesh’; and third, that he is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ: man and God

The first two of these points (that Christ is the son of God and that he is descended from man) are probably as confusing as they are important, and the manner in which both are true at the same time is something we’ll need to look at in a little detail. In order to do this, we’ll take a look at the way John starts his Gospel – because amongst the introductions to Jesus the Christ given by the Bible, this stands out, starting before creation rather than with the events of the birth.

John talks about ‘the Word’ which, we’ll read, was in the beginning. In fact, the ‘Word’, John reveals, was not only with God in the beginning, but the Word was God:

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men.⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5

The mysterious ‘Word’ is explained a few verses later, in verse fourteen, where we read that the Word became human (flesh) and lived amongst men. Whilst it takes no great deductive leap to see that the Word is Christ even at this point, and the rest of John’s gospel makes this link indisputable:

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

This then provides us another answer to our question, “who is Christ?” – that Christ is God, that Christ was with God in the beginning, and that all things that were created were created through him. Yet, not only that, but it shows how we arrive at the second point, that he became man by becoming flesh and dwelling among us.

These perspectives present two important ways to describe Christ; that he is both divine and human. As to the nature of this, the scripture as a whole leads us to conclude that he is ‘fully man’ and also ‘fully God’. Try to keep these two distinct but inseparable natures of Christ in mind as we continue to discuss his role in salvation.

Christ is: Jesus, God, and man

Christ the Lord

We noted as our third point that Paul also calls Jesus “Lord” when he greets the Christians in Rome. This can be a helpful term for our understanding of Jesus, and it primarily expresses the concept of master or ruler. This is the title used by the angels who herald the birth of Christ when they greet the shepherds with the wonderful news that “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11), and it’s also the term of choice for his disciples as they speak to him.

The Old Testament also establishes the basis for this term, and contains prophesies directly related to it. For example, Christ explains his role as Lord by using a passage from the Psalms (Psalm 110:1), explaining the way in which whilst he is descended from King David yet he is a greater than him, having a divine rule that makes him Lord even over Kings:

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” ⁴³ He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying:

⁴⁴ “‘The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet’?

⁴⁵ If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

Matthew 22:41-45

So, for Christ to be Lord is an expression of his status as ruler – but not only over his followers, but in an absolute or divine sense. He is not just a king or a lord, but rather “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).

There is also, in some parts of the New Testament, a further significance to the title “Lord” – for the Greek word κύριος (kyrios) we translate “Lord” is used in Greek to translate the Hebrew name for God, יהוה(Yahweh, in some Bibles written Lord). So, to confess that Jesus is Lord in this sense is no less than to confess that he is God – and this is just what we find in places such as Paul’s exhortation to the Romans where he quotes the Old Testament (Hebrew) prophet Joel who wrote of Yahweh as applying to Christ (Joel 2:32):

⁹ … if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (….) ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (originally Yahweh) will be saved.”

Romans 10:9, 13

Christ is Lord

Christ the Son of God

Whilst the title of Lord is founded in the relationship of Christ as ruler and Lord over man, the title of Son of God which we’ve touched on already is based upon the relationship between Christ and God. We’ve already seen in our introduction to Christ that Christ is both God and man; and here we start to see a little of the way in which this divine authority and status rests upon Christ. It is a status and position which is established early in the narrative account, with Luke recording that the very angel who announced the forthcoming birth used such a term:

³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Luke 1:30-32

The same terms are again used at the baptism of Jesus, when the voice of God declares that he is the Son of God. It is already clear that this Jesus is not merely a prophet or holy man – but distinctly and definitely of God.

¹⁶ And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:16-17

Although it would take his disciples some time to really understand his divinity, only really coming to terms with it after he died and had risen again, the demons were aware of it from the beginning – testifying to him as the Son of God.

²⁸ And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

Matthew 8:28-29

By the time Christ had risen and sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples, this title as applied to Christ was well understood and employed in the scripture. We see expressions describing God as the Father of Jesus, and Jesus as the Son of God in many places within the letters of the New Testament – such as this statement from the letter to the Colossians:

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you

Colossians 1:3

Christ is: the Son of God

Christ the Son of Man

Now, in what may initially seem to be a contradiction to the title ‘Son of God’, Christ frequently describes himself as the Son of Man. It is this term by which Jesus often refers to himself, hinting at his fulfilment of the vision of Daniel¹. Likewise, it puts forward his humanity and so contributes to a certain tension as those around him seek to understand just who he is.

A powerful example of this phrase is seen in the so-called account of the healing of the paralytic. Here we meet Jesus who performed two miracles, separated by a teaching about himself.

The first, was to forgive the sins of a paralytic man – an action which is to declare himself to be God who alone can forgive sins. The second, was to heal the man, an action which is explained as being done to show that “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”:

² And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” … ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he rose and went home.

Matthew 9:2-7

Notably, it’s also the way that Christ later refers to himself when he predicts his death and resurrection (e.g. Mark 8:31).

Christ is: the Son of Man

There is so much more that could be said about who the Christ is that it would fill volumes and to cover them all is beyond the scope of this book². However, having set out some of the foundations, we will go on to learn a lot more about Christ in the rest of the book.

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If we are to have any hope of properly assessing the significance of a death, we must first know the significance of the one who died. So, if we are to understand that Christ died for our sins, it is necessary that we know who Christ was, or indeed is. To do this we’ll ask, and try to answer, four questions:

• “What might one mean by ‘Christ’?” starts off our discussion by asking the meaning and significance of ‘Christ’
• “Who is this Jesus, the Christ?” seeks to introduce Jesus as the Bible explains him
• “Was the Christ really promised?” takes a brief look at what scripture had foretold of him
• Finally, “Didn’t Christ die?”, looks at Christ beyond the cross and the grave

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One of the highlights of Matthew’s gospel is the confession given by Peter, one of the disciples:

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”

Matthew 16:16

The word Christ itself literally mean ‘anointed’, but its connotations are larger than that. It’s a word which connects us to the scriptures of the Old Testament – that part of the Bible written long before Jesus¹ was born. In these we learn that ‘the Christ’ refers specifically to ‘the Lord’s anointed’, and fulfils many promises.

It’s actually the same word as ‘Messiah’², which you may have heard before. Messiah is a Hebrew word, whilst ‘Christ’ is derived from the Greek word Christós (Χριστός) used to translate it in the New Testament.

Although the concept of being ‘anointed’ is well established in the old Testament, being characteristic of prophets, priests, and kings³, it is also reserved for a specific Christ, one both promised, and awaited. So, when wise men came to King Herod stating that they’d seen a star signifying the birth of the king of the Jews, it was only natural that he’s respond by trying to find out “where the Christ was to be born” (Matthew 2:4).

Likewise, when a group of angels came to tell shepherds the good news of the promised birth, they announced that “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

The New Testament, and indeed the Bible as a whole teaches us that this Saviour, Christ the Lord, is a specific person, one Jesus of Nazareth.

Through his life, and even after his death, Jesus is shown to be Christ. For example, we read of Andrew, who when he started following Jesus, called his brother saying ‘“We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ)’ (John 1:41). Similarly, when Jesus later met a Samaritan woman at a well she told him “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ)”. Jesus replied to her, saying “I who speak to you am he” (John 4:25-6).

It is a declaration which is at the heart of the message which was preached to Jews by the early church – for example, we read of Paul who reasoned with those in Thessalonica from the scriptures, saying “this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ” (Acts 16:3).

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So far, we have used the word Christ in our miniseries on Christ; and this title in itself bears a meaning. The title Christ refers to the word Messiah, a Hebrew word translated Christ (John 1:41) that means ‘the Lord’s anointed’. It is the way in which the angels describe him to the shepherds, calling out “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). Again, when Simeon is introduced, we are told that “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26).

The concept of being ‘anointed’ is well established in the old Testament, being characteristic of prophets (I Kings 19:16), priests (Exodus 28:41) and kings (I Samuel 15:1). Often it is described as an anointing with oil; however, when Isaiah prophesies of Christ to come, he describes the way in which he is ‘anointed’ by the Spirit of the LORD:

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
Isaiah 11:2

You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah
Habakkuk 3:13

It is this title of Messiah, or Christ, which is mostly widely used by those referring to the expected Christ. When King Herod, who intends to kill him, asks where he can be found, he does so by asking where ‘the Christ’ is to be born. When Andrew started to follow Jesus, he uses the very same words to address his brother, Simon, saying ‘“We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ)’ (John 1:41). Again, when Jesus much later talks to the non-Jewish Samaritan woman he meets at a well she tells him “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things” (John 4:25). Clearly, this expectation was shared widely – not only amongst the religious leaders in Jerusalem but amongst the ordinary Jews, the political leaders, and the surrounding nations.

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