“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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Jesus was known as a rabbi, which is Hebrew for “my master.” Rabbi’s were supposed to know Scripture, interpret Scripture correctly and live out those interpretations.
A rabbi had students who followed him. In English, these followers are called “disciples.” Rabbi’s had complete authority over their students. Students were obligated to become just like their rabbi. They were supposed to learn to look like them, talk like them, think like them, know their teachings and follow those teachings. In other words, every minute of every day, they were to imitate their master. Students would come to love, trust and obey their rabbi.
The relationship of a rabbi and his students was all encompassing. It was reputed to be even closer than the relationship the students had with their natural fathers. The commitment level was complete between a rabbi and his disciples.
One job of the students was to pass their own learnings down to another generation. Ideally, one disciple would make many more disciples for the rabbi. This is the allusion Jesus makes in Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” The word “nations” alludes to all people groups, not just Jews.
