s Cf. Dalman {Words, 303): "In Mt zj'^'^^-- Pilate uses the ex- pression "Irjffoug 6 Xeyo/isvo? Xpcffrog. That is not intended to mean * Jesus, who is supposed to be the Messiah,' but with the usual sense of this idiom, ' Jesus surnamed Christ.' " The same form is seen in Mt i^^, and in Zifxiov 6 Xeyoiievoq IHrpog 4^^ lo^. Cf. Meyer's note on 1^^, where he remarks that 6 XeySfxevog expresses neither doubt, nor assurance, but means simply " nnho bears the name of Christ (4^^ lo^ 27^''') ; for this name, which became His from the official designation, was the distinctive name of this Jesus." Exact parallels to " Jesus sur- named Christ" (Mt i^s 2717,22) occur in N. T. only at Mt 4I8 io2, " Si- mon surnamed Peter"; Jno ii^^ 20^* ai^, "Thomas surnamed Didy- mus"; Col 4I1, "Jesus surnamed Justus." Its equivalent in such forms as "a man named" (Mt 9^ 263.1* 27I6, Mk i^^, Lk 22*'^), or a "city called" (Mt 223^ jno 4^ nS* 15,13)^ or "a place called" (Mt 2636 2733^ Jno 5-, Acts 32 6^) are not infrequent.
62 Tlie Designations of Our Lord
ticular Jesus in question;^ and the employment of " Christ " instead of " Jesus " in the subsequent sum- mary (verse 17) is perhaps best explained in the in- terests of this clearness of designation, the article accompanying it having the force of " the aforesaid Christ."
Matthew thus notifies us at the beginning of his
narrative that the ' Jesus ' with whom he is to deal
has another name, to wit, ' Christ '
Seldom Used ^^'').' ^"^ ^^ prepares the way for an occasional employment of this other name (i^' ii~). Our only surprise is that he employs it so seldom. The account to be given of this is prob- ably that, after all, in the circles for which Matthew wrote, this ' Jesus ' had become so unapproachably the only ' Jesus ' who would come to mind on the mention of the name, that the more distinctive surname ' Christ ' was not needed in speaking of Him to secure His identification; it is employed, therefore, only when some suggestion of His Messiahship was intruding Itself upon the mind, as is the case certainly at ii"'' and no doubt also at i^"; and we may add equally so
^ So also Fritzsche, in loc, who translates : " Jesus, whose cognomen is Christ." " Thus," he continues, " Jesus is by these words discrimi- nated from other men of the same name, and JCpctrro^ does not declare Him Messiah, but as in verse i^ is His name." According to this in- terpretation, he would have passages of similar character explained, e.g. Mt 27!'^ [^""^ --^ " Jesus quern Christi nomine ornant " — and so Mk 157, Mt 26I* 99 263.36 2733, Jno 1913,17, Acts 3-, Eph 2". Simi- larly Keil, on i^^.
■^ Cf. Zahn, in loc: "That Matthew, who elsewhere in the narra- tive statedly speaks of Jesus by His proper name, writes too Xptaroo here instead, is explained just as in i^* from his purpose to give brief and emphatic expression to the fact that the deeds which are spoken of indicate Him as the Messiah."
The Designations in Matthew 63
In i^ (cf. "the Son of David"), i^« and 16-^ (cf. v. 20), where the compound ' Jesus Christ ' occurs. This is to recognize, of course, that the surname 'Christ' was the name of dignity as distinguished from the simple name of designation, and preserved, even when employed as a proper name. Its Implications of Mes- slahshlp; but this is in any event a matter of course and should not be confounded with the question of Its appellative use. The employment of the term ' Christ ' as a proper name of Jesus so far from losing sight of His claim to Messiahship, accordingly, bears witness to so complete an acquiescence In that claim on the part of the community in which this usage of the term was cur- rent, that the very official designation was conceived as His peculiar property and His proper designation (cf. 2yiT-22^_8 "YYiQ sparingness of Matthew's employment of it, on the other hand, manifests how little our Lord's dignity as Messiah needed to be Insisted on In the circles for which Matthew wrote, and how fully the simple name ' Jesus ' could convey to the readers all that was wrapped up in His personality.
Besides this sparing use of ' Jesus Christ ' and * Christ,' then, Matthew makes use In his own person
Jesus' of no other designation In speaking of
Popular our Lord than the simple ' Jesus,' al-
Name though on three occasions he adduces
with reference to Film designations which he finds In the prophets: ' Immanuel ' (i^^), 'Lord' (3^), 'the Nazarene ' (2-^). The Implications of the first two
* The climax of this development was reached, of course, when the followers of Jesus were called simply " Christians " — which occurred first, we are told, at Antioch (Acts ii^e). Cf. art. "Christian" in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible,
64 The Designations of Our Lord