Scriptures that Jesus was Christ."[044] To confess that Jesus was the
Christ was an acknowledgment that in Him were vested all those
attributes and qualities which the Old Testament Scriptures ascribed to
Messiah, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Deliverer of whom the prophets
testified, to whose coming all the holy men of old looked forward, whom
prophets and kings desired to see, and of whom all Scripture bore
witness. It was the acknowledgment by the common people that Jesus was
Messiah that stirred the indignation of the Jewish rulers. They saw
that, if this were conceded, all His claims must be held valid, and
accordingly the Sanhedrim passed a resolution to the effect that, "if
any man did confess that Jesus was Christ, he should be put out of the
synagogue."[045]

The name "Christ" denotes the offices which Jesus executes as our
Redeemer. Three classes were set apart by anointing--the Prophet, who
made known the will of God; the Priest, who confessed sin and offered
sacrifice for the people; and the King, who acted as their leader and
commander. Jesus was consecrated for His work as our Redeemer by
anointing, but not, so far as we know, with material oil. He who
anointed Him was God the Father, and the oil that descended upon Him was
the Holy Ghost, of whose influence oil was the symbol. "God, even thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows."[046] He fulfilled the office of a Prophet by revealing the
Father, and making known the will of God for our salvation; of a Priest
in the sacrifice of Himself which He offered up to God for us, and in
the intercession which He makes on our behalf at His Father's right
hand; of a King in the victory He won over man's enemies, and in the
power He imparts to His people, by which they overcome evil in
themselves and in the world. It was not until after He had finished His
work that His followers so closely associated Him with the Messiahship