12/01/2025
HC Q. 31. Why is He called Christ, that is, Anointed?
A. Because He has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of His body has redeemed us, and who continually intercedes for us with the Father; and our eternal King, who governs us by His Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us.
In short:
Jesus is called Christ (which means “Anointed One,” from the Greek Christos, translating the Hebrew Messiah) because God officially set Him apart and equipped Him with the Holy Spirit to fulfill the three great offices of the Old Testament:
✅ Prophet – speaks on behalf of God (greater than Moses).
✅ Priest – the final and perfect High Priest who offered Himself once for all (greater than Aaron).
✅ King – the eternal ruler of God’s people and the whole creation (greater than David).
In the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with oil as a sign of their calling. Jesus, as the true Anointed One, was anointed with the Holy Spirit Himself at His baptism (Acts 10:38; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18).
So when we call Jesus “Christ,” we are confessing that He is the long-promised Messiah who perfectly fulfills all three offices for our salvation.