When our Lord was born, He was given the name “Jesus” as directed by the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation. But, during His three-year ministry, He was known as “Christ.” Is “Christ” Hebrew meaning Savior? If not, how and by whom was he designated as “Christ?”

– Karin in La Place

In Hebrew culture, a name was a highly significant thing. It was much more than just a placeholder, as it often invoked on some level the deeper identity of the person thus named, or else had some connection to the circumstances of the person’s birth, a personal attribute, or his or her divinely appointed mission (see for example the naming of Esau and Jacob in Genesis 25 or the naming of Moses in Exodus 2). This was never truer than when a person’s name was of divine origin, given by God Himself. Here, we might think of the importance of Abram’s name being changed to Abraham in Genesis 17, or how God changed Jacob’s name to Israel in Genesis 32, or even why such a big deal was made of the naming of John the Baptist in Luke 1. In the Jewish mind, there was something revelatoryabout a name, which is why it was of momentous importance that God revealed His own name (YHWH) to Moses from the burning bush.

That Gabriel instructs Mary to name the child conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit “Jesus” is therefore telling. “Jesus” is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Yeshua, meaning “salvation” or “God saves” (this is also where we get the name Joshua in English). Thus, even before a single miracle is performed or a word uttered by Jesus in the Gospels, we are given a clue as to who the Son of God is and what His role is to be: one who brings salvation, i.e. a savior.

But contrary to what it sounds like to our modern ears, “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. “Christ” (lit. christos)is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning “anointed.” As you indicate in your question, this title comes to be applied to Jesus even in His lifetime. Peter’s great confession of faith in Mark 8 is precisely to call Jesus “the Christ.” The Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 utters the hope that Jesus would be this awaited Messiah (or Christ), to which Jesus responds: “I who speak to you am he.” Thus, we see that this designation was not just something applied to Jesus against His will; Jesus even takes to Himselfthis role. As if to reinforce the importance of this identity of Jesus, as He is hanging on the cross, Luke tells us that the bystanders and one of the criminals mock Jesus with the title of Christ, implying that if He were truly so, He would be able to save Himself from His impending death. What seems to be on trial is not just Jesus qua religious leader, but His very identity as the Christ.

But why was this Christ-title so important, and why does it matter that it came to be applied to Jesus? In the Hebrew Scriptures, many important figures received an anointing before they took up their offices, especially priests, prophets, and kings. It should come as no surprise, then, that the Hebrew expectation of a deliverer — someone who would take up these offices of priest, prophet, and king in their fullest senses, someone who the Scriptures pointed to as a new Moses, a new Elijah, a new David — would come to be associated with this term “anointed” or Messiah: the Christ. Thus, in appending the name Christ to Jesus, a statement of faith was being made: This Savior truly is the one who was promised of God for centuries, the one anointed by God to bring final deliverance to God’s chosen people.

Now we, as disciples of this Christ, are called Christians — and more than just a share in the name or the title, we are given a share in the very life and inheritance of Jesus our Christ, anointed as we are in our baptism as priests, prophets, and kings. We are anointed for the same purpose: to draw all creatures back to their Creator. Our calling as Christians is a high one, and our responsibility in bearing the name is great. Would that we all lived up to the name and responded to our baptismal call, so that everyone might come to the salvation Jesus won for us and know Him as our Christ and our Savior!

• Father Michael Friedel is pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Springfield.