Why do we often speak about ‘Christ’ rather than Jesus?
Question 03003
When people say “Jesus Christ,” they are almost always using a familiar phrase without pausing to ask what “Christ” actually means. Most assume it functions something like a surname, in the way we would say “John Smith.” It is not. The word carries a specific theological meaning that, once understood, changes how Christians hear and use it.
A Title, Not a Surname
“Christ” comes from the Greek Christos, which translates the Hebrew Mashiach (Messiah), meaning “anointed one.” In the Old Testament, anointing with oil was the formal act of commissioning for office. Prophets were anointed (1 Kings 19:16), priests were anointed (Exodus 29:7), and kings were anointed (1 Samuel 16:13). To say that Jesus is the Christ is to say that He is the one towards whom all of those anointed offices pointed and in whom they find their fulfilment. He is the Prophet who speaks God’s final word (Hebrews 1:2), the Priest who offers the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 7:26-27), and the King whose kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:33). “Christ” is not incidental to His identity; it is a confession about His office and His mission.
In the New Testament, the distinction between name and title is still fully operative. When Peter declares “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), he is not using a family name. He is making a theological confession about who Jesus is. When John states the purpose of his Gospel as encouraging belief “that Jesus is the Christ” (John 20:31), that formulation assumes the title carries its full theological weight. The name identifies the person; the title declares His office.
How the Title Became a Name
The shift towards “Christ” functioning as a personal name happened early. As the gospel spread through the Greek-speaking world, “Messiah” carried less immediate cultural resonance than it did for Jewish audiences steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures. Paul, writing to largely Gentile congregations, uses “Christ” alone more than any other designation for Jesus, and in many of those instances it clearly functions as a proper name rather than a formal title. “Jesus Christ” and “Christ Jesus” became fixed formulations in the earliest Christian documents, and by the time those documents were being widely circulated, the title had begun to function almost as a surname in everyday speech.
This was not necessarily a loss. When a title becomes a name through constant use, it can mean that the confession embedded in the title has been so thoroughly absorbed that it no longer needs to be stated explicitly. Every time a Christian says “Christ,” they are, whether consciously or not, affirming that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised, divinely anointed one of Israel’s Scriptures. That confession is present even when the speaker is unaware of it.
What the Name “Jesus” Carries
“Jesus” is the Anglicised form of the Greek Iēsous, which renders the Hebrew Yeshua (Joshua), meaning “the LORD saves.” The name was given by the angel before His birth with an explicit explanation: “you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). It is a personal name, not a title, and it carries an intimacy that “Christ” alone does not communicate. The disciples during His earthly ministry addressed Him as Jesus. The risen Lord identifies Himself as “Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 22:8). When Paul is confronted on the Damascus road and asks who is speaking to him, the answer is simply “I am Jesus” (Acts 9:5).
There is a personal reality in the name worth preserving. “Christ” declares His office and mission. “Jesus” declares His personal identity, His genuine humanity, and His historical particularity. He was born in a specific place, at a specific time, into a specific family, within a specific people. The name keeps all of that concrete and prevents the title from floating free of the person.
So, now what?
Using both the name and the title together, as the New Testament does consistently, holds two essential truths in tension: that this is a real person with a name who walked in history, and that this particular person is the long-promised, divinely anointed Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world. Neither truth should be allowed to eclipse the other. The next time you say “Jesus Christ,” let both words do their full work.
“But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:31
