Most people think that Jesus was His first name and Christ was His last name. It means Messiah . Therefore, when people use the phrase Jesus Christ , they really are saying Jesus the Messiah . The term Messiah is a translation of the Hebrew word mashiach , a verbal noun meaning anointed one . The Greek translation of the word, utilized in both the Septuagint and the New Testament, is christos , from which comes the English word Christ .
Some critical scholars deny that mashiach is ever used in the Old Testament for a personal messiah.
The doctrine of a promised messiah, however, is not limited simply to the term itself. Regarding the specific number of promises about the Messiah, there is a wide divergence of opinion. The differences are due to the ways in which the New Testament refers to the Old Testament promises. If we limit ourselves to the direct messianic prophecies just mentioned, a conservative number would be approximately 65. The key to understanding the role of the promised Messiah and the main difference between traditional Jewish and Christian messianic views is His dual role of suffering and reigning.