From the earliest times, Christian scribes—and by that I mean people that copied New Testament manuscripts or wrote about Christ very early on in the Greek language—loved to abbreviate Christ's name, his title, Christ, with an X. If you see here, here's the Greek word for Christ, Christos, and you see that first letter there is a chi or an X. And when the scribes were translating, not translating, but copying rather, one Greek manuscript to another, they loved these, what they call nomina sacras, they were abbreviations of the sacred name.
And depending on the case ending on the noun, they would put another letter next to it. But usually, and if it sometimes would stand alone, just chi would stand alone and that was representative of Christ. So most, and by the way, if you want proof of that, you can look in books like this that have the texts of the earliest Greek manuscripts. There's 107 of the earliest manuscripts, and it's replete, full, of nomina sacras, which are abbreviations of Christ's name with a chi. So it's very common. I know from the time I was in Bible school in the early days, we always abbreviated Christ with a chi, and Christmas, I remember my earliest notes preaching about Christmas, always put chi-MAS, chi-MAS.
So while some see it as a X-ing out of Christ, it's certainly not how it was intended. And those who wrote it initially in Christian shorthand, if you will, would use it, and I don't mean in the early manuscripts, but today when people talk about Christmas or my professors writing it on the board that way, it's just the way we talked about Christmas in an abbreviated format. So chi stands for Christ. It's the Greek letter that begins the name Christos, and it's not of pagan or atheist derivation, doesn't come from atheists trying to X Christ out of Christmas. So you can use that abbreviation without guilt if you'd like to.
(First Published December 24, 2010)
What Does It Mean that Jesus Was the Christ?
The word Christ is from the similar-sounding Greek word “Christos,” which describes the divine Son of God, the Anointed King, and the “Messiah” who is positioned and purposed by God to be the Deliverer of all people in a way that no regular person, prophet, judge, or ruler could be (2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7).
This is made clear in John 1:41 when Andrew invited his brother, Simon Peter, to follow Jesus by saying, “‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ).” The people and Rabbis of Jesus’ time would have been looking for the Christ to come and righteously rule God’s people because of the Old Testament prophecies they were taught (2 Samuel 7:11-16). The elderly Simeon and Anna, as well as the king-making Magi, recognized young Jesus for who he was and worshiped him for it.
There have been many great leaders throughout history. Some were prophets, priests, or kings that were anointed with authority from God, but none were ever called “the Messiah.” Other leaders even considered themselves to be a god (such as the Pharaohs or Caesars) or made bizarre claims about themselves (like in Acts 5). But only Jesus fulfilled about 300 centuries-old prophecies about the Christ.
These prophecies were so miraculous (such as a virgin birth), descriptive (such as riding on a colt), or specific (such as being a descendent of King David) that it would have been a statistical impossibility for even a few of them to be true about the same person. But they were all fulfilled in Jesus.
In fact, he fulfilled ten unique messianic prophecies just in the final 24 hours of his life on earth. In addition, the name “Jesus” is actually the historically common Hebraic “Joshua” or “Yeshua,” which means “God saves” (Nehemiah 7:7; Matthew 1:21).
The genealogy of Jesus also points to the fact that he was the prophesied Christ or Messiah. While we tend to skip over the lists of names in Mary and Joseph’s family trees at the beginning of the Books of Matthew and Luke, the Jewish culture kept extensive genealogies to establish a person’s heritage, inheritance, legitimacy, and rights. Jesus’ lineage shows how his life was intertwined with God’s covenant with his chosen people as well as his legal claim to the throne of David.
The stories of the people in those lists reveal that Jesus’ lineage itself was miraculous because of how many different routes the Messianic prophecies had to take because of the sinfulness of mankind. For example, in Genesis 49, a dying Jacob passed over three of his sons (including his rightful firstborn) to bless Judah and prophecy that it would be only through him that a lion-like leader would come and bring peace, joy, and prosperity (which is where the nickname “Lion of Judah” comes from, as we see in Revelation 5:5).
So, while we may never get too excited about reading the genealogies in our Bible reading plans, it is important to understand their purpose and implications.
(Excerpted from "What Does Christ Mean?" by Robert Hampshire)
Does the Bible Call Jesus Anything Other than Christ?
Christ is one of Jesus’ many names used throughout the Bible. Some scholars estimate that Jesus has over 200 names or titles across the Bible. Here are 10 of the frequently mentioned names of Jesus:
1. Bread of Life: Jesus uses this term in John 6:35 to describe himself, comparing himself to the manna God provided the Israelites. Like manna, he came from God and is necessary for survival, but so much more so than manna. Only by Jesus sustaining us can we be saved and find the reunion with God we crave.
2. Good Shepherd: Jesus uses this term in John 10:11, explaining that, unlike a hired hand, he will not only protect his sheep but lay down his life for them. Jesus not only guides his followers but chooses of his own accord to die for them (John 10:18).
3. Wonderful Counselor: taken from Isaiah 9:6, which prophecies Jesus’ birth, this name highlights a particular aspect of Jesus. He is not only a ruler and savior (as shown by the other terms in Isaiah 9) but also a teacher who guides his followers to wisdom.
4. The Light of the World: Jesus uses this term in John 8:12 while visiting Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Part of the feast was lighting large lamps that symbolized God’s glory, the pillar of fire from Exodus 13. By calling himself the light of the world, Jesus declared he was the Messiah, the only true means of guidance and salvation.
5. Immanuel: taken from Isaiah 7:14, a passage that prophesied that Jesus would be born to a virgin mother. Matthew 1:23 clarifies that Immanuel means “God with us.” The term not only signifies that God had come to earth but that he had come in the flesh.
6. The Son of Man: taken from Daniel 7:13-14, this term signifies Jesus’ status as the person ordained by God to rule the earth, setting up an everlasting kingdom. This is the title Jesus most frequently uses and communicates that Jesus was bringing forth his kingdom.
7. Prince of Peace: taken from Isaiah 9:6, this term emphasizes that only in Jesus do we find peace with God. Without him, sin cannot be wiped away, and we continue to live in a state of rebellion against God.
8. I AM: a two-word title that God used when he spoke to Moses through the burning bush: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). This name was so sacred that Jews wouldn’t say it, even avoiding using the related title Yahweh (originally YHWH). For Jesus to use this phrase for himself, as he did in the Garden of Gethsemane, would have been shocking.
9. Lamb of God: John the Baptist uses this term when he sees Jesus, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). This term signifies that Jesus was, like a sacrificial lamb, without defect and sacrificed for sin.
10. The Word: taken from John 1:1, where John uses it to describe Jesus’ attributes. John uses the Greek word logos, which Greek philosophers used to describe the divine reason underpinning the cosmos. By calling Jesus the Logos, the Word, John emphasizes that Jesus is an uncreated being, equal with God, who goes beyond Greek philosophy’s understanding of God to something more monumental. Jesus was the Logos who was also God, yet he became a human being.
(Excerpted from "Is There a Difference in Meaning Between Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus?" by G. Connor Salter)
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