Yesterday, when seeing that the rite of anointing set apart certain people for certain responsibilities (prophet, priest, and king) perhaps you already thought of the One who is the perfect fulfilment of each office, that being Jesus. Jesus said in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news.” In Acts 4:26 he is referred to as the Lord’s Anointed. Acts 10:38 says, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.” His title “the Christ” actually means the Anointed One. No surprise here, but what about us as Christians? In his first letter John writes of deceivers that go out from them, but were never among them. He goes so far as to call them antichrists – against the anointing (1 John 2:18-19). He goes on to say, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One [Jesus], and you all have knowledge. (2:20)” In other words, Christians have an anointing directly from the Anointed One; the Christ has poured upon every Christian something of his own anointing from the Father. You are not anti-Christ, you are for Christ! in your own way, anointed ones. One critical implication of our anointing is that we are anointed to know. John’s Gospel records the anointing of the man born blind who receives his sight (John 9:11). He also writes in Revelation 3:18 of the anointing salve of Jesus who anoints spiritually blind eyes such that they can see.
Something to Praise:
What knowledge does this anointing give to us? We know the truth, the truth that sets us free from the lies of anti-Christs – those who deny the Father and the Son (1 John 2:21-23). This anointing to know changes everything, for those who deny the Anointed Son also deny the Father, but those who confess the Son have also the Father, along with the promise that he made to us – eternal life (vv23-25)!