Titles for Jesus - Messiah/Christ

Titles for Jesus

The three main titles for Jesus are:

1) Christ or Messiah

2) Son of Man

3) Son of God

Christ or Messiah

Christ and Messiah both mean 'the anointed one'. Christ is Greek and Messiah is Hebrew. In the Old Testament, the title was often used for kings. Anointing (pouring oil on someone's head) was a sign that God had chosen them and that they were not an ordinary person.

The prophets (men believed to be chosen by God to declare his will) thought that God would send a King to bring justice and peace and that this king would be descended from King David. King David was seen as a good King who ruled well but most of the kings who followed him did not rule well. Because of this, they often refered to the king that God would send as 'the anointed one' or as the Son of David.

Eventually, the monarchy came to an end and many Jews started to think of the Messiah as a supernatural figure sent by God (rather than the son of David).

Most 1st century Jews also thought that the Messiah would be a warrior who would free Israel from the Romans.

So, in summary, the prophets thought that the Messiah would be 1) the son of David who…