Why is Jesus called “the Messiah, the crucified King”?

The word “Messiah” is the spine that supports Jewish tradition. It is no exaggeration to say that it occupied the minds of the godly before the coming of the Lord Christ and continues to occupy the minds of many who are spiritual till our present day. It was the chief preoccupation of the Jewish leaders; whenever they saw someone stand out in his service, they would inquire, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another?” A Jewish scholar wrote the following regarding the Jewish idea of the Messiah: “But the definition of belief in the Messiah is: The prophetic hope for the end of this age, in which a strong redeemer, by his power and his spirit, will bring complete redemption, political and spiritual,

703 St. Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Book of Psalms 86.23 (NPNF I/8:419) amended.

704 St. Gregory of Nyssa, On Perfection (FOTC 58:103).

705 Origen, Homilies on Luke 14.2 (FOTC 94:57).

to the people Israel, and along with this, earthly bliss and moral perfection to the entire human race … to redeem Israel from its servitude and from all its tribulations and to bring salvation to all humanity through the salvation of Israel, which should precede and make straight the highway before it.”⁷⁰⁶

The Lord Christ wanted to raise the level of thinking of His disciples above the merely material, so He asked them, “‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (Matt. 16:15–16; Mark 7:29; Luke 9:20). In another conversation with the Pharisees about their idea of the Messiah, their answer to His question was “the Son of David.” Again, He tried to elevate their thoughts to comprehend the truth about the Messiah and said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool?”’ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” (Matt. 22:41– 44).

The psalmist says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions . All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia” (Ps. 45:6–8). The psalmist here refers to the Messiah, the King who is victorious through the cross; who offers His precious blood as a ransom for the sins of the world and as a dowry for His bride, the heavenly queen. The psalmist praises, saying, “ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever .” In the Coptic rite, these words became the well-known hymn commonly known as Pek-thronos (i.e., “Your Throne”) with a duration of about twenty minutes, during which the believer is elevated to contemplate the throne of the crucified King. It is chanted it on the Tuesday of the Holy Passion week and on Good Friday before the burial. Thus, in the eyes of the believer, the crucifixion and burial become a proclamation of the throne of the everlasting King.

In the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with holy oil as a sign of the descent of the Spirit upon them and of the consecration of their lives to God’s work. It was not possible in the Old Testament for one person to be anointed both as king and priest at the same time, for the priests were of the tribe of Levi while the kings were of the tribe of Judah. But the Word of God, incarnate and crucified, came to sanctify all humanity. His anointing is unique, for He is the Lord of the priests, prophets, and kings, and He is the creator of sacrifices. Of His own will and pleasure, He accepted to be the Priest, the Prophet, the King, and the Sacrifice.

The Lord Christ was anointed as being the stone the builders rejected, and which became the chief cornerstone (Ps. 118:22). As the apostle Peter says, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones,

706 Joseph Klausner, The Messianic Idea In Israel From Its Beginning To The Completion Of The Mishnab (New York: MacMillan, 1955): p. 9, 12. Cf. Michael O’Carroll, Verb um Caro: An Encyclopedia on Jesus, the Christ (The Liturgical Press, 1992): pp. 112–114.

are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:4–5).

Justin Martyr says, “For indeed all kings and anointed persons obtained from Him their share in the names of kings and anointed: just as He Himself received from the Father the titles of King, and Christ, and Priest, and Angel, and such like other titles which He bears or did bear.”⁷⁰⁷

St. Athanasius the Apostolic says, “For when the Lord, as man, was baptized in the Jordan, it was we who were washed in Him and by Him. And when He received the Spirit, it was we who by Him were made recipients of It. And moreover for this reason, He not was anointed with oil as Aaron or David or the rest, but in another way above all His fellows, ‘with the oil of gladness,’ which He Himself interprets to be the Spirit, saying by the Prophet, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me’ (Isa. 61:1); as also the Apostle has said, ‘How God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 10:38).”⁷⁰⁸