Jesus was not a Christian. Jesus is the Messiah. The first Jewish believers referred to themselves as disciples of Jesus. Others would refer to them as those who belonged to the “Way” as well as the Nazarene sect.
Disciples of Jesus were first referred to as Christians in Antioch. This church had a mixture of both Gentile and Jewish believers.
The word Christian may have been used as a slang word by others as a means of protest and was at some point adopted as a title of acceptable identification. A Christian is simply one who is a adherent to Christ so therefore it could not be applied to Christ Himself.
What is interesting about this word is that the Hebrew equivalent for the Greek word Christ (Christianos) is Messiah. This word today is used in referring to Jewish believers in Jesus as Messianic Jews.
These Messianic Jews are simply using the Hebrew concept to the Greek word. The word itself has Jewish roots that are grounded in Hebrew culture. Since the word has been used to refer to those who are disciples of Jesus or Yeshua as their Messiah then technically this same word could also refer to any group or person who would follow a Messiah figure. So therefore being a Christian by that definition would classify those who are the practitioners of Orthodox Judaism as Messianics likewise since they believe in a potential Messianic figure. Just look at the Lubavitchers who have made recent claims for their Rebbe in applying this title.
You may despise the word because of the association you have given it as being applicable to those who follow Jesus but by merely despising the word or the concept of the word is despising Jewish culture in which the word was derived and birthed.
Is it the gentile association of the word Christian that you hate or is it Yeshua the Jewish Messiah that you reject? Do me a favor and read Isaiah 52:13 – 53 and see if this has been your reaction or your true motive concerning the Jewish Messiah Yeshua.
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