Christians affirm that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah foretold by Israel’s prophets in the Old Testament. Some Bible students might find it startling, then, that the word “Messiah” occurs only two times in the New Testament (John 1:41; 4:25). The mystery disappears when we read John 1:41, where Andrew says to his brother Peter: “We have found the Messiah.” The writer, John the apostle, adds immediately after those words, “which means Christ.” John 4:25 makes the same equation. But is that just John’s opinion?
The answer is no. The Hebrew word translated “messiah” is mashiach. It is related to a verb, mashach, which means “to anoint.” Hebrew mashiach therefore means “anointed” or “anointed one.” It is used in the Old Testament to refer to priests (Lev. 4:16; Num. 3:3), kings (1 Sam. 24:6), and, in context, a specially anointed deliverer (Ps. 2:2; Isa. 61:1).
The New Testament was written in Greek, not Hebrew. The Greek word translated “Christ” is christos. It derives from the verb chriō, which means “to anoint, or smear.” Consequently, Greek christos (“Christ”) means “anointed one” just like Hebrew mashiach.
The above explains why the New Testament writers combined the term christos with “Jesus” to produce “Jesus Christ” nearly 140 times (e.g., Matt. 1:1). The reverse order of terms (“Christ Jesus”) is found nearly 90 times (e.g., Rom. 1:1).
The reason for the ordering may be cultural. To a gentile, “Jesus Christ” would have created the impression that “Christ” was the last name of Jesus. The word christos also sounds like chrestos, a fairly common name in the gentile world. By switching from “Jesus Christ” to “Christ Jesus,” christos essentially becomes a title (“Messiah Jesus”), which would have helped a gentile audience see the significance of the term. Interestingly, “Christ Jesus” is found in none of the Gospels, nor is it found in the writings of John. The earliest occurrence is in Acts 24:24, written by Luke, a gentile. All the other occurrences come from the hand of Paul in his letters to gentile churches.
In either case, the theological messaging was the same. The man Jesus of Nazareth is presented as God’s prophesied anointed one (Matt. 2:4) who would heal the nations and save humankind from sin.