Paul’s Christ was a cosmic salvific figure. A spirit destined to appear on a cloud similar to the one like a son-of man in Daniel (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and Daniel 7:13). According to Paul, his Christ was coming in the very near future --- in the end --- to gather the living and the dead believers and sweep them to heaven to join all-in-all with god. (1Corinthians 15:22-28).
Who needs an earthly priest or a warrior-liberator when those in Christ will soon be whooshed-off to heaven?
Paul’s Christ humbled himself and died for the sake of mankind.
“… he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death …” (Philippians 2:8)
“… Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures …” (1 Corinthians 15:3)
To play the oft-dangerous name game, one might speculate on Paul’s choice. In his extant letters, Paul used the moniker, Jesus Christ. Likely Jesus/Joshua did refer, as generally suggested, to some form of “salvation”. And “Christ/Christos” was likely meant as “one anointed”. So Paul’s intended meaning may have been “anointed savior” and "the anointed"."… And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? … This one bears our sins and suffers pain for us … he was wounded because of our acts of lawlessness … by his bruise we were healed … and the Lord gave him over to our sins … like a sheep he was led to the slaughter … and he bore the sins of many, and because of their sins he was given over." (Isaiah, chapter 53, NETS).
I think that Paul promoted a pre-existent cosmic spirit, now the heavenly spirit Jesus Christ, that had assumed the form of a man (Philippians 2:7) and suffered and died at the hands of ancient Jews in the distant past --- a mystery recently revealed by means of fresh and creative readings of the Jewish scriptures (as briefly described in the misplaced and often mistranslated doxology of Romans 16:25-27).
Paul’s Christ was the lord (Greek: kyrios), a sovereign, the heavenly ruler and master. It was the author of Mark that brought Paul’s cosmic spirit down to earth as he created his tale and placed the events in recent times in the Galilee and Judea.
The messianic label became even more specific in John with the use of the Greek transliteration “messias” in John 1:41 and 4:25. The tales in both Mark and John are generally considered to have been written primarily for Gentile audiences.“… who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, "You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29).
In the very wide and diverse world of second-temple Judaism, there were precedents of those suffering or dying for their own salvation and for the benefit of a people or nation --- in both the Jewish scriptures and the Apocrypha. Here are a couple of examples in addition to the important passages from Isaiah chapter 53 cited above.
Neil Gillman argues that the following well-known passage in Daniel was intended as reassurance that those “pious Jews” that had “been martyred precisely because they were loyal to God and Torah” in the tumultuous events and persecutions of the author’s time had not died in vain (The Death of Death, 1997, pp. 86-89).
In 2 and 4 Maccabees, the martyred brothers brought redemption to the nation in the 2nd-century BC revolt. The consensus dating for 4 Maccabees is from the turn of the Common Era (or earlier) to sometime prior to the destruction of the temple. And 4 Maccabees is dependent upon an earlier 2 Maccabees (or a non-extant document on which 2 Maccabees was dependent). The legends and thoughts in these documents were contemporary with the development of early Christian thought.“And many of the ones sleeping in the dust of the earth shall arise, some into eternal life and others unto reproach and eternal shame” (Daniel 12:2, LXX).
Mysticism, soteriology, eschatology, and messianic expectations are often intertwined. Paul’s mystical sharing with his Christ --- and the salvation provided by the belief in his Christ spirit when the end comes and that spirit descends and sweeps the faithful to heaven --- differs significantly from the traditional view held by many today of Jewish expectations of a human messiah.
In a world where the Jewish people were awash in Hellenistic influences, their homelands dominated by foreigners, and no priestly or warrior liberators had successfully restored the Israel of God --- someone found a spiritual salvation in the sacred scrolls. But ironically, the widest trail left from the spread of this "good news" was among the Gentiles.
robert j.