Christology
Monday, September 11, 2023
5:05 PM
Christology--(1) The Doctrine of Jesus Christ; an understanding of the incarnation, life and ministry, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus; (2) a field of theology devoted to describing and assessing the understanding of Jesus presented in various sources.  
Etymology--The term "Christ" comes from the Greek word for Messiah, Christos.  It refers to the anointed one.  It is one of many titles given to Jesus in the New Testament: Rabbi, Prophet, High Priest, Savior, Lord, Son of God, and Son of Man. However, Christ is the most frequently used title.  It is often combined with Jesus.  And appears to be the essential confession of faith.  
Expectation of a "Messiah"
The term Messiah means "anointed one."  It is used to describe several people in the OT including Saul, David, Zedekiah, and even Cyrus of Persia (Isaiah 45:1).  It generally refers to someone with God-appointed ruling authority over the nation(s) of Israel and/or Judah.  Second Samuel 7 contains the prophecy of Nathan that David's heirs would reign continually over the people of Israel.    Through the historical books, various people emerge as God's chosen leader or deliverer of God's people, a promise that David's line would reign continually is the final affirmation and this promise goes unrealized through the conclusion of the Hebrew Bible.  
Confessing Faith in Christ
The synoptics present a story of Jesus asking the Disciples "who do you say that I am?" and Peter's answer, "You are the Messiah (or Christ)" (Mt 16:13-20; Mk 8:28-30; Lk 9:18-20). Matthew's version of the story also includes Peter's confession that Jesus is "the Son of the living God."  Mathew presents Jesus as emphasizing the importance of acknowledging him before others and a reciprocal acknowledge of Jesus before the Father (Matthew 10:32-33).  Confessing faith--orally declaring one's faith in Jesus Christ--is stressed in Paul's writings (Ro 10:10 ; 15:9; 2 Co 9:13; 1 Tim 6:12-13).  Hebrews makes frequent reference to "our confession" (3:1; 4:14; 10:23) and of the confession of the heroes of faith (11:13), and "the fruit of lips that confess his name" (13:15). 
The New Testament also stresses the importance of confessing particular Titles or aspects of the content of confession.  The Johannine literature describes conflicts around confession of Jesus as the Messiah (John 9:22),  confessing Jesus as the Son or Song of God (1 John 2:23; 4:15), and that Jesus has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2; 2 John 7). Pauline epistles stress the confession of Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9; Philippians 2:11). Thus, while the New Testament applies several titles to Jesus, three seem to be emphasized as central to the content of Christian confession--Jesus as Christ, Son of God, and Lord.  
Person of Jesus--
Christianity begins with Jesus of Nazareth.  About 2000 years ago, 2-4 BC, Jesus was born.  According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a City a little South of Jerusalem.  He was raised in Nazareth near the region of the Sea of Galilee. He was baptized by his cousin John the Baptist, not to be confused with John Jesus’s Disciple.   After John the Baptist’s execution by Herod, Jesus emerged as a leader and religious teacher.  Jesus’s ministry consisted of teaching both in the form of paradoxical stories called Parables and short statements on subjects like prayer, forgiveness, and ethics, healing people, feeding people and shared meals.  Jesus stressed ethical practices like charity, accepting others, and crossing cultural boundaries as being more important than adhering to laws about rituals and practices.  For example, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for humanity and not humanity for the Sabbath” Similarly, when Jesus made reference to the laws expressed in the 10 commandments, he excludes the law about observing the Sabbath even though that is the longest and most detailed commandment in the list.  At about the age of 33, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem at the height of his popularity.   
He was arrested and tried both by religious authorities and Roman secular authorities.  He was executed by crucifixion by the Roman government officials.  He was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem.  He was then placed in a tomb and early on the first day of the week, according to the New Testament, Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God.  According to Luke in the book of Acts, Jesus stayed with his Disciples for 40 days after his resurrection after which point he was taken up into heaven—we call that the Ascension.  We understand this as a symbolic reference to his ongoing authority in our lives more than the placement of his physical body.  Ten days later the Church was born as Peter, the leader of his followers, preached to people in Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit was given to the people who believe.
Works Consulted
Alexander, T. D. "Genesis to Kings," New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, eds. T. Desmond Alexander, Brian Rosner, D. A. Carson, (IVP, 2000). 