Comma

Occasionally, when logging into to do my weekly Bible reading, the ESV forgets that I haven't purchased the online Greek version of the text. On these rare days, I use my rudimentary understanding of the Greek alphabet, paired with my study of languages, and slowly read through an interlinear version (for FREE!). This is what I do when I am not attending to my responsibilities at home, at work, with relationships, and such. This means rarely do I read the Greek.

Having recently read Romans in my Bible study and through conversations with Noël about her BSF study, I started at the top. "1:1 FROM: Paul, a bond-servant of Jesus, the messiah—named as an apostle, set apart for the proclamation of God’s good news."
I read very slowly and with much help, "Παῦλος δοῦλος χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ . . . "
Παῦλος Pualos, I got this.
δοῦλος Doulos apparently is slave or servant.
χριστοῦ Christou, okay.
Ἰησοῦ Iesou = Jesus, here we go.
Bring it all together, Paul a slave of Jesus, Christ . . . (with special emphasis given to the comma).

Jesus Christ. I figured it was his first and last name. Instead, I realized through translation that Jesus was his name and Christ was his role. He is the anointed one of God who came to establish a righteous rule under God. Christ or χριστοῦ signifies his title and Jesus was what he was called. 'Tis the season to remember the reason, and as I do, with better clarity, I am want to remember that I don't believe in good guy name Jesus (first) Christ (last); rather, I believe in a man name Jesus who is the Christ and the heir to the throne of God under which I am brought to reconciliation to God at the end of time and my time.

A fledgling grammarian I am. I can now add this to my list of hobbies.