Question about Ben-Hur?

When I watch "Ben-Hur" (the 1959 version) every time the main title comes in another title follows with the text "A tale of the Christ". But the question is, why does the article "the" appear there if we don't say "the" Jesus Christ, just Jesus Christ? I mean, we do say "the Lord" but never "the Jesus Christ" or "the Christ", just Jesus Christ or Christ.