Archive for December, 2003

Matthew 16:16 – Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

The most common name for Jesus in the Bible, besides “Jesus” itself, is “Christ.”  In fact, the New Testament letters from Paul and Peter use this name much more often than they use “Jesus.”  Many people today think that “Christ” was Jesus’ last name, but it was not.  “Christ” was not a last name at that time.  It was a title.  Jesus would have been called “Jesus Bar-Joseph” by others around him.

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Haggai 2:7 – “I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Haggai, like many of the prophets, gave wonderful revelations about the Messiah who would come later.  This was the Lord Jesus, of course.  In this passage, Haggai points to the last days, when God’s judgment is poured out in full measure on the world, as described in the Book of Revelation.  This warning of judgment, though, contains a precious promise of grace and redemption: at the time that all nations are being shaken, the Lord Jesus will return, who is the fulfillment of every heart’s longing.

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John 1:41 – “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).”

In the Old Testament period, the ancient Israelites had a word with the same meaning, pronounced “meshiach,” from which we derive our word “Messiah.”  Just like the word “Christos” in Greek, “meshiach” comes from the Hebrew word for anointing or pouring oil on someone. 

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