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The Anointed One

Moved by the spirit of God, Luke thought it proper to record in his gospel the commencement of Jesus’ three and a half years of ministry. The first words the people heard Jesus speak, as they are recorded in the New Testament scriptures, are critical to fully understanding the ministry of Jesus. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me.”[1] The significance of Luke’s account is not to be underestimated.

Jesus, being thirty years of age,[2] having been baptized by John and coming out from the wilderness temptation experience,[3] went to his home “town synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to declare the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of recompense;[4] to comfort all that mourn.”[5]

In the relatively short ministry of Jesus, Luke’s account stands chronologically as the first words publicly spoken, the first words from God's newly anointed one spoken to the people.

 

If what Jesus spoke as he read from the scroll of Isaiah were, indeed, the first words recorded, then those words have significant meaning, especially in light of the reaction of those hearing him. As the account is given, it was not long before the neighbors and friends Jesus grew up with wanted him dead. The people’s determination to kill Jesus early in his ministry is amply demonstrated by their attempt to throw Jesus off a cliff. [6]

Everybody in the synagogue knew Jesus, and until that day had no misgivings about his identity; he was the carpenter's son.[7] Before the day was over, the people who had known Jesus all his life tried to kill him.

Everything changed because of what Jesus said in the Synagogue. Who was this man who by words alone could cause such an intense reaction? However one may interpret Jesus’ intent in going to the synagogue, one thing is clear; it was not exactly a smooth beginning to his ministry. From there on, most of what Jesus did and said was considered highly controversial.

 

God’s public anointing of His chosen strongly impacted many of the people who came into contact with the Nazarene. Many believed God was once again working in their midst.[8] According to the scriptures, there were others, many others, who had been anointed by God. The prophets and priests had been anointed by God, with Moses and Aaron leading the way.[9] Kings of Israel were anointed by God, Saul and David being among them; and, if we understand our translations correctly, even pagan rulers such as Cyrus, King of Persia, were anointed to do the bidding of God.[10] The difference between all those previously anointed by God, and Jesus of Nazareth being endowed with the Spirit of God,[11] is that Jesus’ anointing was without measure.[12]

In the past, in the performance of the works and in the service of God, those who had been anointed with the Spirit of God[13] were limited in their gifts and abilities. Even the revered Moses, as much as has been attributed to him, was limited in his God-given ability to perform miracles. Yet Moses, God’s servant, was able to tell us crucial things regarding the one to follow him, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers, it is to him you shall listen.”[14]

When the expected promised one did arrive, it did not take long for the people to recognize there was a difference in this man. “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.”[15] Moses caused water to come out of the rock by striking it, but this man caused one born blind to see!

To everyone’s amazement, the miracles Jesus performed were proof of his having been anointed with God's Spirit. “Believe me for the works themselves.”[16] Later, the Apostle John would write, “for he whom God sent, the sayings of God he speaks; for not by measure does God give the Spirit (to him).”[17] Ultimately, what the people recognized in Jesus of Nazareth was that God was indeed working through this man, and to the amazement of many, doing works[18] that eclipsed the miracles of all others who came before him.

 

With the anointing of God’s Spirit upon Jesus came the reality of how extraordinary works can affect people. In the case of his hometown, they immediately rejected him and sought to kill him. But many others were drawn to him and sought the mercy of God, believing in and desiring his healing power.

For many who came in contact with Jesus, the anointing with the Spirit of God was revealed to them directly, as they perceived correctly, “that God was with this man.”[19] There were even those of the strict religious class who saw the Spirit of God in Jesus, as was the case with the Pharisee Nicodemus.[20]

For those who are drawn to the truth of the scriptures, one thing should be clear: The anointing of Jesus of Nazareth with the Spirit of God was not a secret or done in a corner. As the son of a carpenter, Jesus wanted everyone to understand that he was commissioned by the heavenly Father to speak His words and work the works given him. In other words, the anointing of Jesus, as it pertained to his mission, was to be understood as separate from the revelation he was the Christ of God! Jesus was emphatic that he did not want it to be announced that he was God’s Christ. In fact, “he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.”[21]

For Jesus there was something more important than his identity as God’s Christ. The appropriate time would come later, he instructed his disciples, when Jesus had fulfilled his mission of preaching the good news of God’s reign on earth. It would take the fulfillment of certain events to herald before the world that Jesus, the Son of man, is the Christ of God! That truth could only be revealed after God had fulfilled in Jesus all that had been written concerning him,[22] which of necessity would include his resurrection from the dead.[23]

 

In conclusion, the purpose of Jesus was bound in the reality, that he is the anointed one of God of whom the scriptures speak. Being the anointed one of God, Jesus was sent with the word of God, the message that “the kingdom of God’s reign on earth was near at hand.”[24] This was the good news Jesus preached while he traveled through the land, touching and healing people wherever he went.

To accept the gospel he preached is to accept his person as God's anointed prophet. The message and the messenger are inseparable.

 

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