Rethinking Bible Language: Christ

"It is God who establishes us with you in Christ (the anointed), and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." - 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

Few biblical terms are more misunderstood than the word "Christ". Once we have passed the initial realization that Christ is not Jesus' last name, there is still a deep history and etymology that must be explored before we can capture the full meaning of this title.

"Christ" is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for "Messiah". Both Christ and Messiah mean "anointed". In the Hebrew Bible prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with oil to signify their divine calling. The oil symbolized the presence of God's Spirit to consecrate and empower humans to these divinely appointed vocations. Although priests and kings developed into separate roles, they were originally intended to be a unified role, a royal priesthood in which humanity serves as God's representatives to care for the earth and all its creatures.

The Genesis story tells of humanity's calling to co-rule with God as royal priests who embody God on the earth, to bear God's image. Those who realize this calling are said to be filled with God's own Spirit. This unity between humanity and divinity is captured in the concept of Messiah and Christ. As divine representatives on earth, humans becomes conduits of peace, justice, and mercy. In doing so, the kingdom of heaven is revealed on Earth.

Christ has both a universal and a particular aspect. The New Testament authors frequently describe the entire cosmos existing in and through Christ. To be "in Christ" is to be one with Christ - to recognize that the entire material world is anointed with God's Spirit (Psalm 139). It is all "Christ". As Richard Rohr says, Christ is another name for everything. But these universal truths are hard to wrap our minds around. This is why we need particulars - something singular that represents the whole of reality. Fortunately, this is exactly how the biblical narrative is shaped.

It may be helpful to picture the biblical narrative like a sideways hourglass. The story begins with a universal scope towards a cosmic kingdom, then narrows down to one anointed group (12 tribes of Israel), then to one anointed person (King David). After humanity failed to live up to its calling as royal priests, God chose a particular group through Abraham's descendants to fulfill that purpose. When Israel fails to live up to the task and demands a king to represent them, King David emerges as the closest example of a true royal priest. God promises to make this kingdom endure forever. The kings that succeed David, however, quickly destroy those hopes. The kingdom fractures and its people find themselves exiled under oppressive foreign kingdoms. The hope for a new messiah grows as Israel awaits their liberation through an anointed royal priest like David.

When Jesus arrives on the scene, messianic hopes are high. Roman oppressors rule the land and the Jews long for their own king to restore them to their former glory. The New Testament authors identify Jesus as the anointed one, the new messiah, the Christ - although a very different king and kingdom than they were expecting. With Jesus, the story begins to expand outward again. Jesus gathers twelve disciples who will then go into the world and call people back to a royal priesthood. In this way, all people become anointed ones (Christs) as they recognize their role as divine image-bearers to co-rule with God as they bring peace on earth - a path of non-violence, humility, and justice for those without power.

Both David and Jesus reveal in particular humans what is true of the cosmic kingdom of God. These royal priests are a microcosm of the royal priesthood in which everyone is called to participate collectively. What Jesus reveals as the Christ, the anointed one, the holy one of Israel - is that the entire cosmos is anointed with God's Spirit. Humanity and divinity are being reunited as one. All things are being rescued from exile and reconciled - and it is happening through us.

The truth that we, as humans, bear the image of God within ourselves, that divinity and humanity are inseparably united within our being, is perhaps too difficult to comprehend on its own. So we see this union of heaven and earth modeled for us - in the Jewish temple, in the dreams and visions of Hebrew prophets, and ultimately in Jesus. The particular person of Christ awakens the cosmic Christ within us. The anointed one shows us that we are all anointed by the same divine Spirit - unified in the royal and priestly task of bringing heaven to earth.

"The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one." - From Jesus' royal priest prayer in John 17