The Greek term christos occurs more than 500 times in the New Testament, and is used directly to Jesus of Nazareth. While many Christians today think “Christ” is the family part of Jesus’ name, it is a title, meaning “anointed one” as is reflected in the New Testament where the titles iēsous christos and christos iēsous occur 139 and 88 times respectively.

But the title Messiah was rarely applied to Jesus prior to his death, as it is used only seven times in Mark’s account of the life of Jesus, unlike 65 times in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.

Thus anointing is one of the most significant concepts associated with Jesus in the New Testament where the title Anointed/Christ/Messiah is strongly linked to the religious concept of a spiritual human kingship, an association that has a long history in Jewish tradition.

The book of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible records how Kings Saul and David were anointed with oil by Prophet Samuel to signify their divine appointment to rule over the Israelites (1 Samuel 9:16; 10:1; 16:3, 6, 12-13). Mostly the Hebrew term māšîaḥ “anointed” denotes a human Jewish King or High Priest religious role. The title thus comes to expresses the expectation that God will send a human future king or religious leader, linked to the Davidic dynasty and its High Priests, to fulfill God’s redemptive purposes for the People of Israel and the whole world.

The prophecy in Ezekiel 38–39, which describes a vast coalition, including Persia—modern-day Iran—will rise against Israel. This future war is often called the battle of Gog and Magog. While the New Testament writers affirm that Jesus was the Anointed/Christ/Messiah, the four Gospels are consistent in observing that Jesus himself avoided using the title mešîḥā’/christos “anointed one” of himself. Jesus himself preferred to use the general term “son of man” which in Hebrew means a human being. The term “son of man” occurs 70 times in the three Synoptic Gospels, plus 12 times more in John’s Gospel, and every time “son of man” appears, it comes in words attributed to Jesus himself.

That a human being could be a Jewish Messiah and simultaneously be a God is totally foreign to the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an. As Qur’an 5:72 states: “They blaspheme who say: “Allah is Christ [Greek for Messiah] the son of Mary.” But said [Messiah] Christ: “O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden [of Eden], and the Fire [of Hell] will be his abode.”

And as Allah says: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Did you say to people, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah’?” He will say: “Glory to You; never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, you would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart . . .” (Qur’an. 5:116) Jews are in full accord with this.

In the Hebrew Bible the primary cause of the Messianic Age is God. That a specific human being would play an important role in ushering in the Messianic Age, is a concept that only became defined during the post Biblical second century BCE.

For Jews, one of the most important events of the Messianic Age is the ingathering of those Jews still living in exile. “The Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you”. (Deuteronomy 30:3)

“He shall gather the lost ones of Israel, and the scattered ones of Judah He shall gather [them] from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:12) and “I will return your captivity and gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will return you to the place from where I........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)