Our 66th Word is Christ
The simple definition is the Anointed One of God who is the true Savior and King.
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
The story never gets old, no matter how many times we hear it each Christmas.
Some shepherds keeping a sleepy eye on a snoozing flock. A night that probably was silent, at least until it was shattered by an explosion of divine glory.
An angelic announcement from on high. A message too good to be true, or too good not to be true, Christ was born today in Bethlehem, followed by a few instructions on how to find Him and a heavenly flash mob appearing out of nowhere to to praise God.
Awestruck shepherds dashing, likely through mud, not snow, to Bethlehem to gawk at a newborn Jewish boy lying in a makeshift crib.
Christ, which is actually a title, not a surname, is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah (mashiach). Messiah means “anointed one” and comes from the verb masach, which was used to describe the Jewish ritual of pouring oil on the head of a God-appointed prophet (1 Kings 19:16), priest (Exodus 29:7), or king (2 Samuel 12:7)
Over the years, many of those anointed servants of God, prophets like Isaiah and kings like David, wrote of a coming day when the Lord would finally anoint Israel’s greatest Prophet, Priest, and King (John 1:41), all rolled into one! He would be the Savior Israel and the entire world, had spent centuries praying and waiting for.
It’s staggering to think that when Christ finally came, the first people alerted were some lowly shepherds camped in a nearby field. Of course, who better to welcome “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) than a group of shepherds?
Most Bible teachers point to the baptism of Jesus, some thirty years after His birth, as His anointing. There the Spirit descended on Him like a dove and a voice from heaven declared this Nazarene carpenter-turned rabbi “my Son, whom I love” (Matthew 3:17).
With that, this Savior-King we know as Jesus Christ officially began His ministry of seeking and saving the lost.
The Gospels record an incident in which Jesus surveyed His disciples, “Who do people say I am?” (Mark 8:27). After they shared some of the things they’d been hearing on the old grapevine, Jesus changed the question, “But what about you?…Who do you say I am?” Peter shot back, “You are the Messiah”. Jesus blessed Peter for giving the correct answer (Matthew 16:17), and later gave it himself to some people who didn’t exactly share Peter’s fervent belief (Matthew 26: 63-64).
Questions to Ponder
- Who do you say Jesus is?
- Do you believe He is the Christ, the Son of the living God?
- Can you explain what the term Christ means?
No Thought Police 