It is because Messiahship is itself in question throughout the gospel story, and the task of the historian is to see things as far as possible through the eyes of the people of the time. In particular, it may serve as a reminder that ‘Christ’ is a title with a specific, and quite limited, meaning (see the discussions in volumes 2 and 3). It was not of itself a ‘divine’ title, however much it has been used as such in Christian circles, and was not in earliest Christianity reducible to a mere proper name.
