Member-only story
The Gospel of Mark
Jesus the Messiah
Mark 8:29
Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” — Mark 8:29
I used to be very uncomfortable with the word ‘Messiah.’ Even before I became a Christian, there was something about it that made me nervously fidget in my seat when I would hear it in Sunday School.
Yet, as I have gotten older and have learned more about the title, I have found that Christian culture can sometimes reduce the importance of this title for Jesus.
In the early years of my faith, I learned that the word Messiah is interchangeable with Christ. They are derivatives of translation. Messiah for Aramaic. Christ for Greek. But the point to the same thing.
Jesus is the Anointed One
If we go back to 1 Samuel, we learn that kings and spiritual leaders were to be anointed with oil as a way to set them apart from everyone else. In the case of a king, this was to show that he would rule over the people and command the armies of that people.
This was the narrative that people were looking for in the first century. They were waiting for the Messiah, the anointed, to come and take over rule of Israel in order to bring God’s Kingdom to earth.
