Messiah means annointed one.
Hebrew:1 מָשִׁיחַ mâshîyach, maw-shee’-akh; from H4886; anointed; usually a consecrated person (as a king, priest, or saint); specifically, the Messiah:—anointed, Messiah.
Greek:2 Χριστός Christós, khris-tos’; from G5548; anointed, i.e. the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus:—Christ.
To anoint means to smear with oil.
Oil penetrates, softens, moisturizes, restores, and protects.
Oil is able to penetrate the skin, and can be moisturizing and healing. Oil is also used as a protective and restorative agent, particularly for wooden objects - such as tables, metal objects - such as shields, or leather objects - such as shoes.
For those who are sick, anointing is the means by which the body and soul are to be softened and made penetrable to the Holy Spirit. But oil also has its own medicinal properties, such as being anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, cleansing, and rich in anti-oxidants.
For objects, anointing is the covering that purifies and makes holy for use in God’s presence.
Anointing with oil is spiritually symbolic of God’s Spirit penetrating and covering a person or object.3
The tradition of anointing is ancient, and was used for the appointment of officials into highly trusted roles, such as priests and kings, in many cultures throughout time.4 Even today there are still countries and cultures that anoint their monarch when they first take the throne.
Anointing is a spiritual practice that is meant to signify divine blessing, and transformation.
In the Bible the Hebrew word for messiah appears 39 times (NASB95), and is most often translated as annointed. There are only two places that I found that it is translated otherwise. In Daniel 9:25-26 it is translated as the title Messiah.
The Greek word for messiah appears 529 times in the New Testament (NASB95). It is translated as the title Messiah in a few places, but is most commonly translated as the title Christ.
Throughout the Bible the title forms, Messiah and Christ, refer exclusively to Jesus, but the other forms of annointed apply to a whole range of things from kings to temple utensils.
You cannot understand the meaning of messiah to simply mean one who has been smeared with oil. It is a deeply symbolic and meaningful thing. If you look at it as a simple ritualistic gesture you will not understand its significance. One who has been anointed has been set apart for God’s purposes. They are protected by God, they are transformed into a servant of God, and they are given authority - and great responsiblity - from God.
One who has been anointed is to be softened - mind, body, and spirit - and prepared for the penetration of the Holy Spirit, by which he shall be restored, protected, and set apart for God’s holy purposes.
Jesus consistently identified Himself, and was identified by others, as the Messiah - the Son of God.
It’s interesting to note that in ancient times when a man became king he was usually only annointed if he was the first in his bloodline to take the throne. If his sons and ancestors took the throne after him, they were believed to have inherited the annointing of their father, and were only annointed if their kingship was challenged in any way. 3 4
So, what is the significance of Jesus being called the Messiah - the Son of God? I believe it has to do with that idea of inheritance. Jesus inherits His annointing from God, His Father. And this means that Jesus isn’t just ceremonially annointed, but that He is the source of everything meaningful about the practice of anointing because He inherits it from, or shares it with, God the Father.
Jesus is the Messiah.
He is not simply an anointed one. He is the Anointed One.
He is not a man with a hardened heart that needs to be softened. He is not a sick man that needs to be restored. He is not a weak man that needs protection.
His heart is the heart of God. His spirit is the Holy Spirit. He is the healer of the sick. He is the protector of God’s people.
He is the one who makes anointing significant to us. Without Him our practices of anointing would be meaningless and ineffective. But by Him, and through Him, all the significance and effectiveness of all anointing is fulfilled.
His love penetrates through your sinful nature and into your heart. His wisdom penetrates through your foolishness and ignorance and into your mind. His strength penetrates through your weakness and sickness and into your body.
His anointing restores you through the re-birth of your spirit. His anointing protects you by the power of His blood and His victory over sin and death. His anointing transforms you as you no longer live for yourself, but you live for Him.
He is the Messiah. He is the Christ. He is the Anointed One.
Daniel 9:24-27 (NASB95) “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
Matthew 1:1 (NASB95) The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Mark 8:28-30 (NLT)Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”
Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”
But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
John 1:41 (NASB95) He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).