Anointing — explains the words “Messiah” and “Christ.”
About 1000 BC, God told a prophet (Samuel) to designate a young man to be the second King of the Israelites (the first king, Saul, had disobeyed God and so a new one was needed.) Please read 1 Samuel 16:12 – 13. After he was anointed, the Spirit of the LORD came upon whom? (1) ________. In the anointing process, the prophet takes a sheep horn full of oil, and pours the oil onto the head of the person. In the Old Testament, anointing someone meant that person was selected to be a king or other important leader. The Hebrew word that means “anointed one” is the word “messiah.” David was anointed to be king; therefore he could be called an “anointed one,” or a “messiah.”
Please read Psalm 2:1 and 2. Here, the whole earth is portrayed as in rebellion, not only against God, but against whom? God’s (2) ___________. According to the information given above, this word in Hebrew would be the word (3) ____________. The meaning is that when someone messes with God’s anointed one (such as a King of Israel), someone is messing with God himself.
Read what God said to David in 2 Samuel 7:16. Here God promises to David that one of his descendants will be a King who will reign for what duration of time? (4) ___________. Before 500 years had gone by, however, the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed, and the Jews wondered how God could fulfill this promise, since Israel no longer had a descendant of David sitting on the throne. The Jews kept on hoping that God would find a way to give them the “messiah” he had promised. After the Roman Empire started ruling the Jews, they were hoping that this great “Messiah” would soon appear to help them fight the Romans.
In the New Testament, some of the first followers of Jesus had an idea of who Jesus really was. Read Luke 23:2. The Jews knew that when someone claimed to be Christ, he was claiming to be a _____. Read John 1:40-41. Andrew felt that Jesus must be the (5) _________ that the Jews had been waiting for. This verse also tells us that the term (6) __________ has the same meaning as Messiah.
Summary: all four of the following terms refer to the same thing:
Anointed one = Messiah = Christ = King. “Messiah” is the English language attempt to say the Hebrew word that means “anointed one,” and “Christ” is the attempt to say the Greek word that means “anointed one.” When I pray, “Lord Jesus Christ,” I am saying that I believe that Jesus is both my master (Lord) and my king (Christ); therefore I am saying that I am submissive to him.
Read Psalm 2:7. Here, God addresses the anointed one and calls him by what term? _____. Therefore, when Jesus called himself the _____ of God, He was claiming to be the Messiah. Read Matthew 13:16. Peter understood this connection, because he not only called Jesus by the title “Christ,” but also called Jesus the “_______ of God.”
The phrase Son of God had an additional, deep meaning. Read John 5:17-18. By calling God his Father, His listeners also took Jesus to be claiming to be _____ with God.
Teach these concepts through the “Hallelujah Chorus”
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