“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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Few Christians have an appreciation of the importance of the Oral Law to many Jews. The Pharisees of Jesus’ time believed Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the written law (Torah) and the Oral Law. The written law was recorded as the first five books of the Bible. The Oral Law was passed down orally from generation to generation. The Oral Law was considered equal in authority to the Torah by the Pharisees.
The Torah was “written in stone,” and did not change over time. However, the Oral Law was mostly a collection of traditions, interpretations and implementations of the Written Torah. It was modified and expanded over time as interpretations of the Torah changed and the needs of the Jews changed. The flexibility of the Oral Law helped the Jews survive as they moved across cultures and lands. Stability through unchanging laws, but opportunities and survival through change.
There is a modern saying, “You will make changes when the pain of same is more than the pain of change.” That makes sense, except you know what circumstances are, while you don’t know the result of making changes. This uncertainty is why people tend to stay with their current circumstances so often.
