Who Is He? The Christ
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What’s in a name?
What’s in a name?
Perhaps one of, if not the, most recognizable lines from all of William Shakespeare’s works comes from Romeo and Juliet:
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet
Juliet was grieving the fact that Romeo was part of the family he was, and thus they could not be together, so she wished that his name was different so they could be together, because hey, it’s still the same person. What’s in a name?
Sometimes names and titles seem rather unimportant to us. In fact, the more common a name or title is, the less it seems to have special significance.
If everyone had the title “Mayor”, it wouldn’t be helpful to call our local city mayor “Mayor Moore”
If everyone in a company had the title “President and CEO”, at the very least it would create confusion, and at worst it would cause all out chaos.
These titles and names are important, and we recognize them as such.
There is a title that has been given to Jesus of which we can often forget the significance. When we talk about Jesus, what do we often say? Jesus _______. Christ. Christ is on our banner here behind me, we proclaim Christ.
What is Christ? What is that name? What does it mean? What is the significance? In high school youth group someone asked a question if Jesus had a last name. The student sitting next to me and commented “duh, it’s Christ”. You laugh. He was serious. He legitimately thought Jesus’ last name was Christ. Is Christ Jesus’ last name? No. So why is that attached to his name, and why do we not see anyone else bare that title?
Our launching point for this Christmas series is the words of the angels to the shepherds in Luke 2:11 “11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Last week we saw that Jesus is the Savior. Next week we shall discuss Jesus as Lord. Today we see that He is the Christ.
What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ?
The word Christ is the Greek translation of a Hebrew word: Mashiac, which we would say in English “Messiah”. To say that Jesus is the Christ is to say that he is the Messiah.
What does Messiah mean? Why is that title of significance?
The word Messiah means “anointed one”. The idea of anointing carried a very specific purpose and meaning in the Old Testament. Today when people talk about the anointing of the Spirit, they are usually speaking in charismatic terms of speaking in tongues or something of that nature. Such was not the case in biblical terms.
To anoint someone was a physical act of pouring oil on their heads. This signified that God had chosen that person for a specific purpose, and the anointing was symbolic act of installing a individual to an office.
There were three offices that fulfilling those offices required anointing. The office of the prophet. The office of the priest. And the office of the King.
We see some examples of this in well known characters. Elijah anointed Elisha to succeed him as prophet. Aaron the first high priest was anointed to his position. Samuel anointed Saul and later David to be king in Israel and the anointing of David was particularly significant as it did not only signal that David was to be king, but that Saul’s reign would come to an end.
Though we have these examples of men being anointed, all Israel looked forward to the day when God would send THE anointed one to deliver Israel and saved his people from their sins.
Turn with me to Isaiah 61:1-3
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
This is a prophecy about the coming Messiah. The Anointed one. The LORD has anointed me.
We are going to bounce around quite a bit today as we look at various texts. But what I want us to see today is the prophecies in the OT about the Messiah fulfilling the three anointed offices of prophet, priest, and king, and then see how Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, fulfills those roles.
Jesus is The Prophet
Jesus is The Prophet
What is a Prophet?
A prophet is someone who speaks authoritatively for God. When a prophet says “thus says the Lord” what comes out of his mouth is the very word that God desired to communicate.
Turn with me over to Deut 18 where we will see God’s instructions about how to regard prophets.
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
Here is a promise from God, through Moses, arguably the most significant prophet in the OT.
There will come a day when God will raise up a prophet like Moses. God will put his words in the prophets mouth and whoever does not listen to him God will require it from him. Significant.
In this same text there were some problems anticipated and God’s instructions about that:
20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
If a prophet prophesies falsely, then clearly this man was not a true prophet.
This is how you tell the difference. This is how you can still tell the difference today, by the way. Today’s so-called prophets have many numerous prophecies that have been demonstrably proven false. We need not be shy in declaring that these individuals are not true prophets, but false ones “That is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him
This test of a prophet is critical, though!
If Jesus is the Messiah, and if part of being the Messiah means that he is a true prophet, that means that any predictions about the future must be true, or else he is a false prophet.
Did Jesus make an predictions about the future? Yes! In fact, he made specific predictions about his own death.
21 And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
and
43 And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
and Luke 18:31-34
31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
Remarkable detail about his own death! And then we have Jesus’ words in John 14:29
29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.
And did Jesus prove to be a true prophet? He did.
But Jesus not only spoke of future events and accurately predicted them, He also fulfilled the roll of a prophet in that he spoke the very words of God. Moses wrote that God would put his words in the prophets mouth.
The Gospel of John is very concerned about Jesus’ Identity. Turn with me to John 1.
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. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
Not only was Jesus speaking the Word of God, He WAS the word of God incarnate! He was God’s self-revelation! Jesus said “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father”
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Jesus Christ is not only a prophet who speaks for God, He is the self-revelation of God Himself. Full of grace and truth.
Moses spoke of this prophet, and Peter declares to us that this one that Moses spoke of is none other that Jesus:
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
This is our responsibility. God has spoken. Jesus has come. Heed the Word of the Lord.
It’s interesting that many want to regard Jesus as a prophet, and nothing more. But in order to conclude that he was nothing more than a prophet, you must conclude that he was a false prophet. Because if he was a true prophet, then he wasn’t just a prophet, because he claimed to be much more.
Jesus, as the Christ, as the Messiah is THE prophet. But he is also the great High Priest.
Jesus is The Priest
Jesus is The Priest
If the role of the prophet was to be God’s voice to man, the role of the priest was to be man’s voice to God. The priest offered the sacrifices, prayers, and praises of the people to God. He served as the mediator between God and man.
The common man could not approach God or enter into the tabernacle or temple. To enter into the holy place meant death for anyone other than the priest, and only the High Priest could enter the holy of holies, and then only once a year, and then only after an extensive cleansing ritual.
God wanted to communicate to the people that He was infinitely holy and that sin could not abide in his presence. The only way to come before Him was to be holy. Since we are not holy, this posses a significant problem. So God gave the priests as a means to make a way to God.
They would offer sacrifices to atone for sin. They would offer the prayers of the people, and symbolize that in the incense that was burned.
According to the OT, the line of priests were to come from one family: the tribe of Levi, specifically in the lineage of Aaron. However, God had made provision for there to be a priesthood outside the Aaronic line through a man named Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a priest in Abraham’s time, before the law had been given. We know very little about him, but God promised that He would send forth his Messiah, and that Messiah would not only be a prophet, not only a king, but also a priest. Speaking to His MEssiah, we find this in Psalm 110:
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
This theme is not fully developed until the book of Hebrews, so let’s turn there now.
What does it mean that Jesus is a priest?
He offered once for all the perfect and final sacrifice for sins.
Heb 9:23-26
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
b. Jesus not only served as the priest by offering the sacrifice, but he was also the sacrifice! He offered up himself!
c. In so doing, he not only made the full and final sacrifice, but this has opened the way for mankind to draw near to God.
He opens the way for mankind to draw near to God
In the OT, only the high preist could enter into the most holy place in the temple or tabernacle. When Jesus died on the cross the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, signifiying that there is now a way to the Father and that way is through the person and work of Jesus Christ!
We can draw near to God because of what Christ has done!
Heb 4:14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Later in the same book, the author of Hebrews state
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
skip down to verse 19
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
We can draw near to God! Jesus has made that possible to us! When once we were created to be God’s delegation on earth, to be his representatives, to have dominion over the earth…sin messed all that up. No longer could we stand in God’s presence. No longer could we be his perfect representatives. No longer could we draw near to him apart from sacrifice.
But now that sacrifice has been offered and we can come boldly before the throne of grace.
I’m reminded of the lyrics of the song “It was Finished upon that cross”:
“Boldly I approach my Father, clothed In Jesus righteousness. There is no more guilt to carry, it was finished upon that cross.
Because of What Christ did as our great High priest, there is no more guilt to carry. We can boldly approach the Father.
Finally, in regards to His preisthood,
He intercedes for his children
23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
There are many things going on in this passage. Part of the argument here is that Jesus is eternal! The human priests that served the people, they were tainted with sin so they died. They couldn’t continue their office.
But Jesus lives on! He rose from the dead! He holds his priesthood permanently! Therefore, He is able to guarantee salvation because he always lives to make intercession. He won’t let us go. He won’t let us slip. He continually sits in the presence of God as our representative, praying on our behalf.
This is the priestly work of the Christ, the Messiah.
There is one more aspect to this, it being that Christ is King.
I am only going to touch on it briefly because there is significant overlap with what we will cover next week as we consider that Jesus the Christ is Lord.
But the Kingship of Christ is a significant aspect of his Messiahship.
There were many kings in Israel. But Jesus is THE King
Jesus is The King
Jesus is The King
It was promised that the Messiah would be King. Going all the way back to Jacob’s blessings of his sons in Egypt, Jacob prophesied that from the line of Judah would come a king, and the scepter would never depart from his hand.
Later God promises David that his house and kingdom would be established forever.
Psalm 2 has God establishing His King in Zion
Psalm 110 shows us that the Messiah would rule and reign.
When the Angel appeared to Mary and told her would the child would be that was to be born to her, he said Luke 1:31-33 “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.””
Among Jesus’ first words of his public ministry were to repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!
But this is not the kind of king and kingdom we would expect. He would later refuse to be made king by a mob who saw the miracles he could do. He told Pilate His Kingdom was not of this world, meaning it did not have it’s origin or source in this world, nevertheless, he affirmed to Pilate that he was in fact a king. THE King.
Though he did not come to set up an earthly kingdom at his first coming, he did establish his church, and the gates of hades will not prevail against it. Though he has not commanded us to conquer nations with political might, there is a day coming when all the nations will bow before him. Jesus Christ will establish his kingdom and He will reign just as it was promised.
As King he demands our obedience. As King we owe him our allegiance.
Jesus is THE Prophet. THE Priest. THE King.
He is the Christ. The Messiah.
I mentioned earlier that John is particularly concerned with the identify of who Jesus is.
Here is John’s purpose statement for writing his Gospel and I close with it:
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Let’s pray.