Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and many people came to the understanding that Jesus is the Christ during His earthly ministry. [The word "Christ" comes from the Greek language and means the same thing as "Messiah" in Hebrew and "anointed" in English.] Some who study the Bible understand that Jesus Christ will return to set up His Kingdom on the earth, and that once He does, everyone will know that Jesus is the Christ.

However, it may be surprising to some that during Christ's earthly ministry, Jesus did not say that He was the Christ. He demonstrated that He was the Christ with a multitude of miracles and healings. He implied that He was the Christ. He conveyed that He was the Christ using other words. But He avoided directly saying the words that He was the Christ. Jesus, John the Baptist, and the disciples were not preaching that Jesus was the Christ. Still, many people who heard them and saw the miracles correctly came to the understanding that Jesus was the Christ.

And since the future seven years of tribulation will be picking right back up where that dispensation of the law of Moses in Christ's earthly ministry left off, no one will be preaching that Jesus is the Christ during the future seven-year tribulation either. This may sound puzzling, but we will see this in the scriptures in detail below.

Background

Some readers of this article have already learned to rightly divide Law from Grace and understand Paul's role as the apostle of the Gentiles for this present dispensation of Grace. Such readers likely already know that in the early chapters of Acts, Peter and the other apostles from Christ's earthly ministry were not yet aware that the reason for Christ's death on the cross was to pay for our sins, a fact that our risen Lord Jesus Christ would later reveal to Paul. The twelve apostles were not preaching that Christ died for all our sins. They were telling Israel to repent for having killed their Messiah.

Readers already familiar with these things may also know that throughout Christ's earthly ministry, the disciples did not yet know that Jesus Christ would die on the cross or rise from the dead. Even though Jesus specifically told them these things, that information was hidden from their understanding.

In Luke 18:33, Jesus Christ, referring to himself as the Son of man, told His disciples, "And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again." But even though he told them plainly, "... they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things that were spoken" (Luke 18:34). And after the Lord's resurrection, Peter and John only went to the tomb when Mary Magdalene told them that someone had stolen Jesus Christ's body. "For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead" (John 20:9).

So during Christ's earthly ministry, the gospel message being preached did not include Christ's death and resurrection. That information was still secret, hidden by God. [This is covered in detail in the article, Israel's Kingdom Gospel and Our Grace Gospel .]

Jesus Not Saying that He was the Christ

In His earthly ministry, Jesus did not go around saying that He was the Christ. Quite the opposite, He specifically avoided doing that. He even told His disciples not to tell people that He was the Christ. The gospel of the kingdom preached by John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and the disciples was "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand", but did not contain the further information that Jesus was the Christ. Matthew 3:1-2 introduces John the Baptist saying, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Likewise, a little later, Jesus Christ began to preach in Matthew 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." So in this gospel of the kingdom, neither John the Baptist nor Jesus was identifying the name of the Christ.

Still, Jesus wanted His sheep to know that He was the Christ, and He often did and said things that conveyed that He was the Christ. He did the things that the Christ was prophesied to do, working many miracles, including healings and casting out demons, demonstrating that He was the Christ. He often implied that He was the Christ in different ways. He never disagreed with anyone who came to understand that He was the Christ. When anyone asked Him if He was the Christ, He never told them “no”. Because of all the things He did, many people asked one another if Jesus was the Christ or told one another that they believed Jesus was the Christ. But He never actually said the words that He was the Christ.

When studying Matthew-John, notice that many of the references to Jesus being the Christ are people asking each other if He is the Christ. Most of the other statements that Jesus is the Christ are statements by the writers of Matthew-John rather than by the people who were quoted in the accounts at that time. But Jesus does not directly state that He is the Christ.

Matthew 11:2-3 says, "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" Jesus answered John's two disciples in Matthew 11:4-6, "… Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." Jesus pointed to the miracles and the gospel as evidence without directly saying that He was the Christ.

Jesus asked His disciples, “whom say ye that I am?” Matthew 16:16-17, "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Notice that the way Jesus phrased His reply implied that Peter was correct without stating directly that He was the Christ. Then just three verses later in Matthew 16:20, "Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ." Once again, He did not directly say that He was the Christ, but He commanded the disciples not to tell people that He was.

Matthew 26:63-65, "... the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy." Here again, Jesus did not directly answer the question, but the high priest still understood that Jesus was implying that He was the Christ.

John 4:25-26, "The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he." Here Jesus is very clear that He is the Christ, yet still without using the word. The woman said in John 4:29 "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" The Samaritans said to the woman in John 4:42, "... Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." Thus more and more people were becoming convinced that Jesus was the Christ, without Him having directly said so.

Jesus was speaking with Martha in John 11:23-27. “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” Here Jesus says He is the resurrection, yet does not call Himself Christ. But Martha rightly believed that He was the Christ nonetheless.

In John 14:6-9, Jesus was speaking with Thomas, followed by Philip, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father ….” Here again, Jesus calls Himself “the way, the truth, and the life” and says “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father”. Yet He does this without saying that He is the Christ.

Jesus shut the mouth of an unclean spirit that said who He was. Mark 1:23-25, “And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.” Not only did Jesus command His disciples not to tell people that He was the Messiah, but Jesus commanded the unclean spirit that was saying who He was to be quiet.

Occurrences of "Jesus Christ", "Christ Jesus", and "Jesus the Christ"

For the most part, the words "Jesus Christ", "Christ Jesus", and "Jesus the Christ" are conspicuously absent from people's statements in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Few people would be surprised that the words "Jesus Christ" occur very often in the New Testament, 196 times in fact. But how many would be surprised to know that the words "Jesus Christ" only occur a total of five times in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Even more surprising is that in Matthew-John, the words "Jesus Christ" are never spoken to any person. Of the five occurrences, four are statements by the writers that were not quotes by anyone present or to anyone present and the other was when Jesus was praying to the Father. I don't know about you, but I was amazed to find that no one is quoted as saying the words "Jesus Christ" to any other person in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. The other 191 occurrences of "Jesus Christ" in the New Testament are 16 times in Acts, 131 times in Paul's epistles of Romans-Philemon, 37 times in Jewish epistles of Hebrews-Jude, and 7 times in Revelation.

The reverse ordering of the words, "Christ Jesus", does not appear at all in Matthew-John. It occurs 58 times in the New Testament, including 54 times in Romans-Philemon, once in Acts, once in Hebrews, and twice in first Peter.

The phrase "Jesus the Christ" occurs only once in the New Testament, and was located in a passage mentioned earlier, spoken by Christ to the disciples. And look at how it is mentioned, Matthew 16:20, "Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ."

So in all, there are 255 occurrences of the phrases, "Jesus Christ", "Christ Jesus", and "Jesus the Christ" in the New Testament. Of these, 185 are in Paul's epistles to the Gentiles (Romans-Philemon), 40 are in Hebrews-Jude, 17 are in Acts, and 7 are in Revelation. There are only 6 in Matthew-John, with none in Luke. And as mentioned above, the only time that one of these was spoken to people, was when Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

This is further evidence that while many rightly came to believe that Jesus was the Christ prior to the cross, those words were not included in the messages that Jesus and His disciples were preaching.

On the other hand, we see in Matthew-John that in the future, some people will be saying, “I am Christ.” But who are they? Not Jesus. Jesus said in Luke 21:8, “... Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.” Similarly, He says in Matthew 24:5 and Mark 13:6, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” These are the only 3 occurrences of the words “I am Christ” in the Bible, and all are spoken by false christs attempting to deceive.

Absence of the Words “Jesus Christ” in the Tribulation Chapters

The first words in the book of Revelation are, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ ....” So from the beginning, and also in several other places, the book of Revelation makes it clear that Jesus is the Christ. The name “Jesus” is mentioned most in Revelation 1 and also in Revelation 20-22, after He returns to the earth at the end of the tribulation.

Yet, the words "Jesus Christ" occur only once in Revelation chapters 2-19, which begins with the letters to the seven Jewish assemblies in chapters 2-3 and continues with a detailed prophecy of the events of the tribulation, with the Lord returning to earth in chapter 19.

The reasons that I refer to the seven assemblies in Revelation chapters 2-3 as Jewish are detailed in the article, The Seven Churches of Revelation . But for the purpose of this article, I will briefly explain that these seven assemblies of Jews were in the Roman Empire's province of Asia (now western Turkey) when the book of Revelation was written. The messages that Jesus Christ gave to them are also for the assemblies of Jews, and perhaps also scattered families or individual Jews, during the future tribulation, after the rapture of the church at the end of this present grace age. The Jewish assemblies at the time Revelation was written were under the dispensation of the Law of Moses and the teaching of the twelve apostles and other disciples of the circumcision. They are not churches in this present grace dispensation under the teaching of our Apostle Paul. The Jewish assemblies back then knew that Jesus was the Messiah, but those during the future tribulation will not know the name of the Messiah that is coming, until He returns.

Now let's look at the one place in Revelation 2-19 where “Jesus Christ” is written. Revelation 12:17 says, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." And what was “the testimony of Jesus Christ”? Did Jesus go around saying “I am the Christ”? No. As we covered above, Jesus specifically avoided saying that and told His disciples not to tell people that. His testimony was “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. So those in Revelation 12:17 can “have the testimony of Jesus Christ" without knowing that the Christ's name is Jesus. They just need to preach, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. The words “Christ Jesus” and “Jesus the Christ” do not appear in Revelation.

In Revelation 14:12 and 19:10, we read where the name “Jesus” is spoken in heaven. In Revelation 17:6, the woman sitting on the beast is said to be, “... drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus ….” But in chapters 2-19 of Revelation, there is no mention of the name Jesus being spoken on earth to anyone by anyone.

But look at all the different ways He is referred to other than “Jesus Christ”:

To the Jewish assembly at Ephesus, in Revelation 2:1 Jesus is called, “... he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ….”

To the Jewish assembly at Smyrna, in Revelation 2:8 Jesus is called, “... the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive ….”

To the Jewish assembly at Pergamos, in Revelation 2:12 Jesus is called, “... he which hath the sharp sword with two edges ….”

To the Jewish assembly at Thyatira, in Revelation 2:18 Jesus is called, “... the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass ….”

To the Jewish assembly at Sardis, in Revelation 3:1 Jesus is called, “... he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars ….”

To the Jewish assembly at Philadelphia, in Revelation 3:7 Jesus is called, “... he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth ….”

To the Jewish assembly at Laodecia, in Revelation 3:14 Jesus is called, “... the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God ….”

So to none of these seven assemblies is His name provided. Nor was His name, “Jesus”, mentioned in any of the references to Him below:

In Revelation 5:5, one of the elders in heaven calls Jesus, “... the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David ….”

In Revelation 5:6, Jesus is described as, “... a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. …..” And in many other places in chapters 5-7 and elsewhere, Jesus is referred to as “the Lamb” or by a pronoun.

Jesus is called “our Lord” in Revelation 11:8 and 15, “Christ” in Revelation 11:15 and 12:10, “child” and “man child” in Revelation 12:3-4 and 13, “Lord of lords, and King of kings” in Revelation 17:14 (also see Revelation 19:16), “Faithful and True” in Revelation 19:11, and “The Word of God” in Revelation 19:13, all without mentioning the name “Jesus”.

False Christs in the Tribulation

Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." What do they mean by "in thy name"? Do they mean in the name of “Jesus”? Note that they do not call Him "Jesus".

Now consider Matthew 24:5 in light of this. Jesus said, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." Look closely. Did Jesus say "... many shall come in my name, saying, I am Jesus?” No, that's not what He said is it? He said they will say "I am Christ". So Jesus is counting one saying "I am Christ (Messiah)" as coming "in my name", even though they don't say that they are “Jesus”.

And look at what these false Christs are doing. Matthew 24:23-24 "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." They will have been performing “great signs and wonders” in His name "Christ" (not acknowledging the name "Jesus") just as those in Matthew 7:21-23, performed "many wonderful works" in His name "Christ", without saying the name "Jesus".

Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 24:5 & 23-24 are talking about people who use the Lord's name "Christ" (Messiah) but do not realize or acknowledge that the real Christ is Jesus. If one were trying to deceive many unbelieving Jews during the tribulation, as these will be trying to do, one would not go around saying "I am Jesus". That's because unbelieving Jews have no respect for Jesus. They would not listen to anyone saying, "I am Jesus". They believe the Messiah is someone else, and are looking for someone saying "I am Messiah" (Christ), but they are definitely not looking for someone saying “I am Jesus”.

During Christ's earthly ministry and during the future tribulation, no one was or will be preaching that Jesus is the Christ. This fact goes right along with the prophesies of Zechariah, that we will look at below, revealing that Israel will not realize that Jesus is their Messiah until after He returns to earth.

Jesus is your Messiah!

Zechariah 13:8-9 reveals that only one third of the nation of Israel will survive the tribulation, "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land saith the LORD, two parts (2/3) therein shall be cut off and die; but the third (1/3) shall be left therein. And I will bring the third (1/3) part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." That refinement will happen during the second half of the seven-year tribulation.

The one third mentioned in Zechariah 13:8-9 will have had the gospel of the kingdom, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" preached to them. And God will purify them in the hiding place in the wilderness. Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-16, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains ….” This is in the middle of the tribulation, where Revelation 12:14 says, “And to the woman (symbolizing Israel) were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time (three and a half years), from the face of the serpent.” When Jesus Christ returns to earth, Zechariah 13:6 says, "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." The Jews will ask this question of the Messiah who has just returned, because they will not yet know that the Messiah is Jesus who was crucified long ago in Israel.

Therefore in Zechariah 12:10 we see, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." When Israel realizes what their nation has done to their Messiah, they will be so greatly saddened. There are other aspects of sadness that such a realization could bring on, but this appears to be the main one. They will realize that:

• They had lived their lives despising Jesus, their Messiah.

• Their ancestors crucified their Messiah, Jesus.

• So many of their family and fellow Israelites before them that they had thought were saved were actually lost, because they did not believe in Jesus.

• All of the hardships and persecutions that Israel has gone through over the many centuries could have been avoided if Israel, as a nation, had believed in Jesus, their Messiah.

When Joseph was young and with his brothers, they knew he was Joseph, but did not know he would be their savior. Years later when Joseph ruled Egypt, it was the other way around. His brothers knew he was the one who could save them, but they did not know his name was Joseph. Likewise, Israel did not accept Jesus as Messiah, and Israel will not know their Messiah is Jesus until He comes to them for the second time.

Jesus the Messiah is Jehovah your God!

Look at what Revelation says about Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:7-8 says, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." In Revelation 22:13, Jesus Christ says, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."

Compare this with the Old Testament prophets. "The LORD" (Jehovah) says in Isaiah 48:12, "Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last." That's what Jesus calls Himself in the book of Revelation in the verses above. Remember that when you see "the LORD" in all capital letters in the King James translation of the Old Testament, it is almost always the Hebrew word "Jehovah", God's proper name.

Also Isaiah 44:6 says, "Thus saith the LORD (Jehovah) the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." And in Isaiah 41:4, "Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he." So, when Jesus Christ keeps proclaiming that He is, "the first and the last", He wants all to know that He is the God written about in the Old Testament, the Alpha and Omega, the Creator, the LORD, Jehovah!

[For more detail on the deity of Jesus, see the article, Jesus Christ: Almighty God .]

Summary

In Christ's earthly ministry, Jesus avoided directly saying that He was the Christ. He demonstrated that He was the Christ with miracles and healings. He implied that He was the Christ. He conveyed that He was the Christ using other words. Jesus, John the Baptist, and the disciples were not preaching that Jesus was the Christ. Still, many people who heard them and saw the miracles correctly came to that understanding, that Jesus was the Christ.

Since the future seven years of tribulation, the seventieth week of the Daniel 9 prophecy, will be picking right back up where the sixty-ninth week ended at the end of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, no one will be preaching that Jesus is the Christ during the tribulation either. Thus, the elect in Israel will be shocked when Christ returns at the end of the tribulation to learn that their Messiah is none other than Jesus! And furthermore, He is God Almighty!