What Are You Looking For? Part 1: The Nicene Creed

Christ

Christ

            One of the things you will discover about me as we go through these writings is that I have some weird random musings.  This is one of those times.  Why is it that when someone drops something on their foot, they don’t say, “Jones, that hurt!”  Or “Sam Jones, that hurt!”?  Why is that?  We all know what people do say in such a circumstance. 

            Contrary to common usage, Christ isn’t a swear word.  Nor is it Jesus last name.  First name: Jesus.  Last name: Christ.  Nope, not that either.  “Christ” is actually Jesus’ title.  Correctly rendered, his name would be Jesus, son of Joseph (earthly) or son of God (divinely) the Christ.

            In Old Testament the title actually occurs fairly often.  In Hebrew, we know it as “Messiah”.  “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew.  The meaning is simple.  It means “anointed”.  The Messiah, or the Christ, was foretold to be the specially anointed one of God.  But no one knew who that would be.

            In the New Testament, the identity of the Christ is first announced by the angel Gabriel to the shepherds in Luke 2:11  Those humble shepherds were the first people outside of Mary and Joseph (who knew Mary’s child was the anointed Son of God) to be told that long anticipated event had finally happened.  The Messiah, the Christ, had been born.  I wonder, did the shepherds hold that memory while Jesus was growing up?  Were, perhaps, some of them there at the Jordan river, at Jesus’ baptism when God made known to all present that the 30-year-old carpenter was really his son? 

            It was at Jesus’ baptism where his anointing was declared by the Father to all the people present.  The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) all include an account of those gathered hearing the voice of the Father announcing that Jesus was his beloved son.  They also tell of the descent of the Spirit of God like a dove.

            Jesus didn’t need to see the Spirit of God descend.  He knew who he was.  He knew he was the Only Son of the Father.  The people needed to see it.  They needed to see the Holy Spirit anoint Jesus in order to understand that all he did and said was done to prove he was indeed, the Holy One of God. 

            Part of the problem Jesus encountered during his earthly ministry was that the people had a misunderstanding of the mission of the Messiah, the Christ.  They thought he would be, in essence, a politician.  Or the head of the armies of Israel.  Or, ideally, both.  By his teachings, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead, Jesus began to change the expectation of what the Messiah would do and who he would be.  Those who had ears to hear and eyes to see came to know and understand that the Messiah was much more than a political figure.  Everyone expected the Messiah to be their earthly king, born in a palace.  The king of heaven and earth was born in a stable.  They expected him to conquer Rome.  He died on a Roman cross.  They expected him to establish the kingdom of Israel once again.  He established the kingdom of God and opened the kingdom to all who would believe.

            What about us today?  Are we really so different?  Are we trying to make the Christ fit our expectations, or do we accept him and allow him to be what he truly is, the anointed Only Son of the Father.