The Meaning of “Messiah”
February 20, 2025 - Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 8:27-33
Today, Peter proclaims Jesus to be the Messiah. The word Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah, which means “anointed.” But in Jesus’ time, Messiah meant much more than simply being anointed—it was a political title, equivalent to “king.” Scholars remind us that Jesus’ disciples were not expecting a divine Savior of the world. Like all Jews of their time, they longed for a messianic king who would set them free from Roman rule and restore Israel’s former glory, like in the days of David.
When Peter declared, “You are the Christ,” he was essentially saying, “You are the King of Israel.” This was an extremely dangerous statement. If Herod Antipas or the Roman authorities heard that the people were calling Jesus the long-awaited Messiah—the liberator of their nation—it could have led to immediate persecution.
But while Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Messiah, the true King of Israel, he is more than that, and so is his mission. Peter’s understanding of Messiah was too narrow, too political. Jesus had to teach his disciples the true meaning of this title. To do so, he introduced another term—the Son of Adam—which more accurately expressed his mission. By the way, "Adam" is not just a proper name; it means “human being.” While we often call Jesus the Son of God to emphasize his divine nature, he also called himself the Son of Adam—a truly human being. This title reveals his purpose: the first human being brought sin and death upon humanity; Jesus comes to free us from both. But he will do so through suffering and a shameful death on the cross.
Peter could not accept this, and many of us still struggle with it today. In China and elsewhere, people ask, “Why did the Son of God have to die on the cross? Couldn’t God simply declare an amnesty and forget about sin?” But this is what Jesus calls “human thinking”—a mindset that not only misunderstands but actually opposes God’s plan of salvation. Like Peter, we often focus more on political freedom or earthly concerns than on the deeper problem of sin that has plagued humanity from the beginning. Like Peter, we sometimes "rebuke" God for having the “wrong” ideas about salvation. And like Peter, we hear Jesus’ strong response: “Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
By opposing Jesus, even if we have good intentions, we align ourselves with the enemy of God and of ours. To follow Christ means to think as he does—to embrace the cross rather than resist it. Only then do we truly understand what it means to call Jesus the Messiah.