TUESDAY August 16, 2022

The Anointing of Christ

“...how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem...”
Acts 10:38-39

Notice the Trinity in Acts 10:38. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. Jesus is the Messiah, a name that literally means “the Anointed One,” a name that relates Him to be Christ. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill all that was written in the Scriptures about Him––the divine plan of salvation.

In the synagogue, on the Sabbath day, Jesus stood to read the Scriptures. He placed Himself in the position to fulfill Isaiah 61:1-2.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Luke 4:18-19).

Can you imagine the look on the faces of all those who heard Him? Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, but the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him (Luke 4:20).

Consider the next revelation Jesus gave to them: And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). They could not grasp who it was who stood before them––Christ. Yet they bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. In unbelief, they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22).

It is the Holy Spirit who anoints our lives so that we can proclaim the fulfillment of Scripture––the Gospel of salvation––and actually do the works Jesus did: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12). Again, why is this possible? We have an anointing given to us by God––the Holy Spirit.

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
~1 John 2:20~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!