Chrism, Baptism, and the Messiah

From: Timothy Bratton (bratton@acc.jc.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 12 1996 - 06:20:20 EST


On 27 Dec 95 Mikael <etxroan@flipper.ericsson.se> wrote:

< I do agree that Jesus couldn't have become Christ without
< being born here on earth as a human. He actually came here to
< earth to preach and to become Christ, specifically. But he
< always had the option not to obey God. Why else did Satan try
< to seduce him? Why even mention that he kept his integrity, if
< that was all he COULD do? We're most thankful that he did keep
< his integrity. And from the prophecies and the rest of the
< Bible it's obvious that God never doubted that he would. It's
< even spoken of as a fact before it happened! (his integrity-
< keeping) And, being on the B-GREEK list, you should know that
< the greek word for Christ means anointed; as does the hebrew
< word for Messiah. So -- maybe I'm a bit picky -- he couldn't be
< called Christ until he de facto was anointed, which happened
< when the holy spirit descended in the form of a dove after his
< baptism. Regards, Mikael!

     I think that the semantic problem is caused here by several
uses of the word "chrism." Yes, it can refer to the mixture of
holy oil and balsam used on various sacramental occasions,
including baptism; however, it was used also for the coronation
of _monarchs_. Since the Hebrew interpretation of the Messiah
was originally that he would be an earthly ruler who would
restore the Davidic kingdom, he would be the rightful "anointed"
monarch of Israel. Only later did Christians realize that
Jesus's kingdom was not of this world. You are interpreting
"Christ" to mean literally that Jesus could not have become the
Messiah until he was baptized with chrism, while I would maintain
that it refers to the _kingship_ of the Messiah. How do the
other members of this list interpret this?
     Incidentally, in running a check for "anoint," "anointed,"
"oil," and "chrism" in *On-Line Bible,* I found no references at
all to any of these being used at Jesus's baptism; John the
Baptist would appear to have used water only. While _epichrio_
and _aleipho_ would refer to applying "chrism" in your sense,
Strong's interpretation of _chrio_ (especially in Luke 4:18,
where Jesus talks about how "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me
because He has anointed me") is "consecrating Jesus to the
Messianic office, and furnishing him with the necessary powers
for its administration."
     Well, we shall wait for the other members of the list to
weigh in -- after all, "oil's well that ends well"!

Dr. Timothy L. Bratton bratton@acc.jc.edu
Department of History/Pol. Science work: 1-701-252-3467, ext. 2022
6006 Jamestown College home: 1-701-252-8895
Jamestown, ND 58405 home phone/fax: 1-701-252-7507

        "All ignorance is dangerous, and most errors must be dearly
paid. And good luck must he have that carries unchastised an error in
his head unto his death." -- Arthur Schopenhauer.



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:37:35 EDT