Christ vs. Messiah

[jeffreyclong]

I understand that Christ is the Greek translation of Messiah. I am wondering if its usage changed from the expected prophecied king, the Messiah, that the Jews were awaiting. it seems that post-easter, the term became Jesus' last name and it lost its messianic prophetic meaning. Is this the case? Isn't this a mistake. Dropping the messianic role of Jesus loses the entrance of the kingdom of God as an upside down kingdom where the outcasts are the recipients of the message instead of the ruling class.

Thanks for your help.

[steve]

Hi Jeff,

You seem to be observing a phenomenon in the popular mind. Most people who say "Jesus Christ" treat the second word like a last name, without considering its meaning. In the English-speaking world this will probably never change, since "chest" or "christos" has no independent meaning in the English language, except as a word affixed to the name Jesus. In the Greek-speaking world, the mistake was probably less common. We could, of course, start calling Him "Jesus Messiah," but, in less than a generation, "Messiah" would have fallen into the same hole with "Christ"—uninstructed people would simply become accustomed to saying it as if it were Jesus' last name.

[TK]

One thing that has helped me to remember the meaning of Christ is "Crisco" oil, which is derived (I am told) from the greek word for oil, and is the same greek word where "Christ" comes from.

Christ= Crisco= oil= anointed one

Convoluted I know.

TK

[Paidion]

Instead of calling Him "Jesus Christ" or "Jesus Messiah", what if we were to call Him "Messiah Jesus". In that way, "Messiah" would seem to be adjectival, and might less likely to be taken either as a given name or a surname. It might rather be descriptive of whom He is.

[steve]

Good suggestion!