A TEACHER AND A TEACHING FOR ALL TIMES

BRIAN HALL

THIS WEEK'S Christian Science Bible Lesson on "Christ Jesus" makes clear exactly who Jesus was and what he taught.

The Lesson's second section presents the story of the disciple Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ: "Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:16, citation 5). This declaration has been a source of confusion for many people since Jesus first questioned his disciples in Cæsarea Philippi. A better understanding of the word Christ provides insight as to what the New Testament authors were saying about Jesus.

The Greek word for Christ, Christos, comes from the word chrio, which means "to anoint." This concept of anointing harkens back to the Old Testament and the first kings of Israel, when Samuel anointed Saul and then David, as designated by God. The Old Testament writers also understood the abiding of the Holy Spirit on a prophet as a spiritual anointing. This seems to be what the New Testament writers were conveying about Jesus' nature. Mary Baker Eddy explained that "the term Christ Jesus ... may be rendered 'Jesus the anointed,' Jesus the God-crowned or the divinely royal man ..." (Science and Health, p. 313, Sect. I, cit. 2).