Skip to main content

Yeshua Another Christ

(The following is from our upcoming book.)

Guide #1:        Two terms used to describe Yeshua have been completely misunderstood by Gentiles from the beginning of Christianity – Christ and Son of God. In Gentile minds, these terms are exclusive titles that apply to no other person than Yeshua (Jesus). He, they believed and taught, was the only “Christ” and “Son of God.” As time passed, the titles also became linked to deity – Christ and Son of God were titles of God.

Dr. Tennison: A common assumption among people is that “Christ” was the last name of
Jesus.  There is good reason for this assumption, since he was called “Jesus Christ” in the New Testament itself.  The more accurate phrase, however, is “Yeshua the Christ”, because “Christ” is a title and not a name. Christ is the English transliteration of the Greek word christos, a form of the Greek verb chrio that means "to pour." In Yeshua’s world he would have been called the mashiach, a Hebrew word instead of the Greek word. Both words -- christos and mashiach –are translated “anointed.” As a title, the translation would be “anointed one.” Therefore, the correct translation is “Yeshua the Anointed One.”

Guide #2:        Something that most people do not know is that there have been many “Christs” in the history of the Jewish people. The first Christ of the Hebrew Scriptures was Aaron, the brother of Moses, who was anointed as a priest (Exodus 29:7).  Another Christ, a priest, appears in Leviticus 4:5.  The first king to be a Christ was Saul (I Samuel 9:16).  There was even a Persian Gentile that is one of the most interesting of the Christs: In Isaiah 45:1 we read -- Cyrus the King of the Persians!  

Guide #1:        The anointing of persons and objects with oil was widespread in ancient Israel and its environment for both practical and symbolic reasons.  Anointing was used to inaugurate kings, consecrate priests, and for the rehabilitation of lepers.  The Hebrew root word for anointing is MShCh, and throughout the Bible it implies that the anointment came from God.  The attribute MAShIACh ("anointed") came to designate the king and high priest and, by extension, other divinely appointed functionaries who were not anointed at all (e.g., prophets, the patriarchs, and even foreign kings). 

Guide #2:        In Israel, anointment conferred upon the king the "RU'ACH of YHVH" ("the spirit of Yahweh"), i.e., his support, strength, and wisdom.  The king absorbed divine attributes through unction, a phenomenon attested nowhere else. On the other hand, the anointment of the high priest served an entirely different function.  It conferred neither RU'ACH nor any other divine attribute.

Guide #1:        Now let’s read the following verse from Mark 1 – It came to pass in those days that Yeshua came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, `You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” (Mark 1:9-11)

Guide #2:        Notice that when Yeshua was baptized two things happened: (1) the RU’ACH (Spirit) descended upon him; and (2) God called Yeshua “My Son.” In the Jewish culture, those two things would have been understood to mean that Yeshua became the Anointed One and the adopted Son of God at the moment he was baptized.

Guide #1:        In Israel, a king was the adopted “Son of God” – a human who absorbed divine attributes through unction, a phenomenon attested nowhere else. It didn’t mean the king was another God, a “little” God and neither did the title “Anointed One.” The question this would have raised in the mind of the Jewish people of the first century is this – What was Yeshua anointed to do?

Shalom,
Jim Myers


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It’s a Yod -- NOT a Jot and Tittle!

Not only did Yeshua read and speak Hebrew, so did his followers and disciples! Two very well known, but not accurately understood words in the Gospel of Matthew prove it – jot and tittle . For some reason jot and tittle stick in the minds of Christian Bible readers. But when you ask them what jot or tittle mean, you get a lot of conflicting and some really weird answers. Today, you are going to get the facts about what Yeshua originally said and how they ended up in English translations of the Bible as jot and tittle . Let’s begin by reading Matthew 5:18 from the King James translation: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. If you have not read the article “ From Yeshua to Jesus ” in Yeshua’s Kingdom Handbook please take a moment to read it online by clicking here before you continue. In it you will see how we began with the name “ Jesus ” and traced it through Lati

Do Not Say RAQA! - Yeshua on Anger (Part 2)

In the last blog, we covered the first part of Yeshua’s lesson on Anger -- An Angry Person Should be Tried in Court like a Murderer – keep in mind that “anger” is the focus of Yeshua’s lesson. “Whoever says to a brother, ‘ RAKA ,’ shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin.” [i] Yeshua reveals that the seriousness of the offense has become greater by elevating the crime to the next highest court – the Sanhedrin . It is the highest court in the nation and would be the equivalent of our Supreme Court. What makes this offense more serious than murder, to keep things in the context established by Yeshua? It is because of what the angry person said out of anger – “ RAKA !” RAKA is the English transliteration of the Greek word found in the ancient manuscripts of Matthew. Interestingly, the Greek word is also a transliteration of a Hebrew word into Greek. Keep in mind that when a translator working on a translation of a Greek manuscript transliterates a Greek word, he only finds the

The Prayer Yeshua Prayed Twice Every Day

One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an