“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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John ended his Gospel by informing the reader that the New Testament writers had an infinite amount of material to choose from. John 21:25 says, “Jesus did many other things as well. If everyone one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
How did John choose from all of that material? He reveals his method in John 20: 30-31, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” In John 17:3, Jesus defined eternal life: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Messiah, whom you have sent.”
With life and eternal life at stake, it makes sense that the most important question in the world might be the one Jesus asked Peter in Matthew 16:15-17, “Who do you say I am?” According to Jesus, the correct God
