I Know that Messias Cometh (John 4:25)

2022-04-23

What does the word Messiah mean? The Bible tells us:

We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. (John 1:41)

I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. (John 4:25)

Messiah means Christ. The second term is Greek for the first term, which is Hebrew. If Messiah means Christ, what does Christ mean?

The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. (Acts 4:26)

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed (Psalms 2:2)

Acts 4:26 quotes Psalm 2:2, and we find the answer. Christ means anointed. What does this mean? The word is used throughout the Old Testament. The parallelism in this verse gives us the answer:

...the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. (1 Samuel 2:10)

The anointed is God’s appointed king. King Saul was considered God’s anointed, and David respected Saul’s position as the Lord’s king: “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD” (1 Samuel 24:6). Other kings that were called the Lord’s anointed include David (2 Samuel 22:51), Solomon (2 Chronicles 6:42), Cyrus king of the Persians (Isaiah 45:1), and Zedekiah (probably; Lamentations 4:20). The term would apply to any king of the Lord’s people. Cyrus was not a Jewish King of Israel, but he gave the decree for the Jews to rebuild the temple after their captivity (Ezra 1:4).

Jesus Himself is the ultimate fulfillment of this office. He is called Messiah prophetically in Daniel 9:25-26, with His death being specifically foretold in Daniel 9:26: “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.”

Jesus is that king anointed by God to rule over His people for eternity. When the woman at the well saw this tired Man asking for water at the well, she found the One whom all the world had been waiting for since time immemorial. He is the king that would make everything right. He did not come with great pomp as one would expect from a king (Even David started as a shepherd). However, His power in word and deed indicated He was that powerful anointed.

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. (John 4:25-26)