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The Messiah

The Old Testament contains numerous prophecies and images indicating that both the Davidic and the Abrahamic Covenants will find their final fulfillment in one man—who is also God’s own Son. The sovereign Son of David, who will restore the kingdom, and the sacrificial Son of Abraham, who will redeem the people, is one and the same!

This one man, foreseen in numerous passages throughout the Old Testament, is known in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament as the Messiah, or literally “Anointed One” (e.g., see Dan. 9:25–26). The New Testament was written in Greek. Thus, when the New Testament writers referred to the Anointed One, they did not use the Hebrew term Messiah, but the equivalent Greek term Christ. Both are accurate. Neither term is more or less accurate or more or less spiritual. The Spirit-inspired word of the New Testament is “the Christ.”

Prophet, Priest, and King

In Bible times, the great leaders of God’s people normally held one of three offices. Three kinds of people were publicly anointed—prophets, priests, and kings. A prophet was one who represented God and spoke his message to the people. A priest, on the other hand, represented the people and brought sacrifices before God on the people’s behalf. Matthew showed that Jesus, as the Christ or “Anointed One,” fulfilled both the priestly and prophetic roles. However, Matthew placed his greatest emphasis on Jesus’ role as the king.^[1]