Jesus The Christ

A young religious education teacher was giving his first communion class a tour of the parish church explaining the different symbols in the stained glass windows. As he was pointing out a statue of Our Lady, a girl raised her hand and asked him, “Why don’t we call Our Lady, ‘Mary Christ’?”

The teacher was puzzled and asked her what she meant.

She replied, “Well, we call Jesus, ‘Jesus Christ’. If Mary is His mother, why don’t they have the same last name?”

The teacher laughed to himself and explained that “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name but His title. Just as  “Queen” is not Queen Elizabeth’s first name but her office as queen of England, just so “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name but His title as Messiah.

In today’s gospel, Saint Peter proclaims Jesus to be “...the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The word “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah” which means “anointed one”. So, the titles “Christ” and “Messiah” mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably.

Why does Jesus praise Saint Peter for calling Him “the Christ”? What does it mean when we profess Jesus to be “the Messiah”? We can find the answers to these questions by looking at the Old Testament.

As we mentioned before, the word “messiah” means “anointed one”. Early on, it referred to anyone who was anointed with oil for some type of service on behalf of the people of Israel. Oil was used throughout the Middle East to initiate people into the offices of priest, prophet and king. When God selects David to be king of Israel, the prophet Samuel anoints him with oil (1 Sam 16). The prophet Elijah anoints his successor, Elisha, with oil to make him a prophet (1 Kings 19:16).  The book of Leviticus also calls for priests to be consecrated to God’s service through anointing with oil (Lev 16:32). Any priest, prophet or king who was anointed with oil could be called an “anointed one” or “messiah”.

However, as the kingdom of Israel began to suffer defeat at the hands of her enemies and as the people were taken away in exile, the title “Messiah” came to take on a new meaning. Rather than just anyone who is anointed, it came to mean the future king promised by God who would restore Israel to her former glory. The Messiah would be the one to restore the dynasty of King David and bring peace to the land. Through this promised one, God would work out His plan for His chosen people to be a “light to the nations” (Is 49:6-8).

It is the prophet Isaiah, whom we hear in today’s first reading, who fleshes out this idea of the Messiah. His prophecies should be familiar to us because we read them frequently during the weeks of Advent as we prepare for the celebration of Christmas.

Isaiah prophecies that the Messiah will be called “Emmanuel” meaning “God is with us” (Is 7:14). This future king will be a spiritual leader who will make God present to His people. He goes on to teach us that he will be anointed not with oil but with the Holy Spirit (Is 61:1). Furthermore, the Messiah will not save the people through violence but through suffering (Is 53:10).

We see all these prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. He is the Son of God who makes God present to us in His flesh. We see the Holy Spirit descend upon Him at His baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist. And He accomplishes our salvation by suffering on the cross.

However, Jesus Christ also far exceeds the wildest expectations that Israel had for a Messiah because He conquered humanity’s greatest enemy - sin and death. Jesus is a King who never dies and whose authority lasts forever. No one can unseat Him from His throne at the right hand of God.

And so, when Saint Peter professes Jesus to be “The Christ”, He is calling Him “The Messiah”, the long awaited King of Israel and Son of God. He is more than a prophet and even more than a king. He is the One who will save Israel - and the whole world - once and for all.

No doubt, all of us would be quick to stand up with Saint Peter to profess Jesus to be the Messiah. However, do our choices and actions also profess that Jesus is the Christ? Is Jesus the One we look to for salvation or do we look to wealth, pleasure or success to fulfill us? Do we even know that we need to be saved?

Jesus established the Church on Saint Peter’s profession of faith in Him as the Christ. Our mission as Church, then,  is to profess to the world that Jesus is the Messiah, the One sent to save us. We accomplish this mission by proposing to the world that the solution to our problems is found not in politics or economics but in Jesus. In imitation of our master, we seek to serve not the rich and powerful but the poor and weak. And we live the good news not by our own power but by the anointing of the Spirit that comes to us through baptism, confirmation and faith. Our feet stand firmly on the rock of Saint Peter’s profession of faith and our eyes look to heaven as we await Jesus’ return in glory when “every knee shall bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11).