“Anointed One” is translated as “Messiah” in Hebrew and “Christ” in Greek. Since the New Testament is written in Greek, “Christ” is almost always the term used. However, Jesus and his apostles primarily spoke in Hebrew (or the related language Aramaic) so they would have used the term “Messiah.” You can see this in action in John 1:41 and 4:25, where John explains that the term “Christ” is the same as “Messiah.”
The terms “Messiah” would have probably been the term used until about 50 AD when virtually all Christians were Jews who spoke Hebrew. From about 50 AD to 70 AD, the term “Messiah” would have been used by the Jewish Christians and the term “Christ” would have been used by the Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians. During that time period, the terms would have been synonymous. That is also the time period when virtually all of the New Testament was written in Greek, except for the books by John.
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One of the most controversial Scriptures in history has been Matthew 16:18. After Peter makes the Great Confession, Jesus says, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” The point for this lesson is solely this: Jesus intends for his followers to be a church, an assembly, a community. A community so strong that the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
One of the first observations God made about mankind is found in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” Historically, people knew it was better, both physically and emotionally, to be part of a community. People wanted to be part of a family, a clan, a tribe, a village, a city, or any other kind of binding community. It was considered a little suspect to be a loner, a hermit, or any person who wanted to be alone. In fact, one of God’s first punishments was not sending Cain to hell, but sending him out to be a restless wanderer.
Americans have always been individualistic but the desire to be that way seems to have started increasing in the 1950’s as indicated by movies such as “Rebel Without a Cause” and books such as “Bowling Alone.” The internet and smartphones enabled the rise of so-called “social media” such as Facebook and Instagram. These have had a tendency to develop relationships described as “a mile wide and an inch deep.”
