Growing up I was a fan of reading comic books. They allowed an escape and were just fun to read. Many of them had the same advertisement on the insider back cover.
A scrawny looking guy was on the beach. A large, muscular bully proceeded to kick sand in his face and take his girl. Not sure what the ad was selling, but after the pills, or workouts, or whatever was being sold he was able reclaim his rightful place.
I did not go to the beach or have a girlfriend at that age, but I did identify with the victim. My nickname at that was “Mr. Bones.” Those that know me now would laugh at that, but it was true. I often wish I could be the second character.
As Christians we do not need a pill or a program to gain the upper hand. We have a person, the powerful Holy Spirit. His anointing in our lives makes all the difference.
Anointing means to smear or rub with oil or perfume. It was done in a private and religious setting. The Hebrew term for “anoint,” has secular connotations, such as rubbing a shield with oil (Isa. 21:5), smearing paint on a house (Jer. 22:14), or anointing the body with oil (Amos 6:6).
The act of anointing was significant of consecration to a holy or sacred use; hence the anointing of the high priest (Ex 29:29; Lev 4:3) and of the sacred vessels (Ex 30:26). The high priest and the king are thus called "the anointed" (Lev 4:3,5,16; 6:20; Ps 132:10). Anointing a king was equivalent to crowning him (1 Sam 16:13; 2 Sam 2:4, etc.). Prophets were also anointed (1 Kings 19:16; 1 Chron 16:22; Ps 105:15).
The Hebrew term is mashach and means Messiah. The Greek term is chrio and is translated christos, or Christ. The anointing is manifested in the person of Jesus. It speaks of power. One who was anointed received the power for their role.
Today we learn about the power Jesus gives to His people to complete our mission. We will allow God’s word to speak to our needs. We will also see how the passage finds fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry. We will also understand how our ministry continues through the power of the Spirit’s anointing.
You have the power. Before ascending to heaven Jesus said to the disciples, “As the Father sent me, I also send you.” (John 20:21) You have the powerful Holy Spirit abiding on you.
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The setting of this passage is significant. It occurred in a Jewish synagogue. This small gathering of men would have heard about Jesus. As an honored guest Jesus would have been given the chance to read.
The scroll was made of papyrus sown together into a long strip wound around sticks at each end. A wealthy synagogue may have had several scrolls containing books from the Old Testament. A smaller synagogue might only have had a few scrolls.
As they hand the scroll to Jesus it is exactly at Isaiah 61:1-2. Luke quotes those words. This was not some happenstance or stroke of luck. In His sovereignty God allowed this to be the passage Jesus read before the Sanhedrin.
After finishing the reading Jesus handed the scroll back and sat down. As would have been normal, they looked to Jesus for the interpretation. He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Today, that very day, Jesus fulfilled the passage. It defined His ministry. For the next three years Jesus walked these verses, demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit.
Examine each part of this powerful promise. Begin with a simple truth. Everything in Jesus’ ministry depended on the Holy Spirit. The Spirit chose Jesus for ministry. The language in the first phrase of this passage is in the perfect tense. He is saying that the Spirit always stayed on Him.
Like Jesus, we rely on the Spirit to do any work of ministry. In our own power we are unable to do anything. With the Anointing of the Spirit, we have power for ministry.
The Spirit Ministers to the Poor.
Jesus demonstrated a passion for ministry to the poor. He cared for those who were on the bottom rung of society. The word speaks of one who crouches, cowers, or hides in fear. They were powerless to enrich themselves. The poor were so neglected in their day, but Jesus welcomed them, fed them, and gave them value.
The poor in our world need the ministry of the Spirit. We need to know the Spirit’s filling to perform this ministry.
The Spirit’s Anointing Enabled Ministry to the Brokenhearted.
The word broken means to break into pieces, broken in heart, and often in body as well. The result was a person torn apart by their pain.
Jesus encountered those who were broken. He met Mary and Martha at the point of their pain. He wept with them. He responded to the pain of Jairus’ whose daughter was desperately ill. He met a grieving mother whose son had just died.
Jesus still meets us in our brokenness. No pain escapes His notice. He brings relief to those who struggle with the pain of life.
He calls us to enter the pain of the brokenhearted as well. Through the anointing of the Spirit, we can bring comfort. You do not have to know what to say or what to do. We can rely on Him to lead us.
The Anointing Allows Inspires Ministry to the Spiritual Captives.
Those who were captives needed to be released from bondage and imprisonment. They desperately needed liberation from captivity. The idea of captivity was a military term meaning “one captured by the spear.”
Deliverance is available. Release and freedom are waiting. Through Jesus those who are bound by the bonds of guilt and shame can be free. The corruption of sin is washed away.
Jesus lived this ministry of the Spirit. A man who is deaf and nonspeaking was brought to Jesus. He opened the man’s ears and loosed his tongue. A woman trapped in her sin found Jesus’ powerful freedom when He said that He would not condemn her.
Jesus continues His ministry to release the bound through the anointing placed on believers. People who live right around us are bound. They are enslaved by sin. We deliver the message of deliverance and freedom.
The Spirit Anoints Ministry to the Spiritually Blind.
The concept of spiritual blindness is simple to understand. Physical blindness describes someone who cannot see. Spiritual blindness is equally easy to understand. It describes dull spiritual perception.
Jesus was able to address physical blindness. A blind man of Bethsaida was brought to Jesus, He begged Jesus to touch him, and Jesus did, restoring his sight. As Jesus walked through the streets of Jericho, blind Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” In response to his faith, Jesus healed the man, Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Jesus came by the word of his gospel, to bring light to those that sat in the dark, and by the power of his grace, to give sight to those that were blind. Nicodemus should have been able to see but he was spiritually blind.
We minister by the power of the Spirit to those who cannot see the truth. The enemy blinds them. We can shine the light into the darkness. Through the Spirit they will see the truth.
The Spirit’s Anointing Brings Ministry to the Oppressed and Abused.
Jesus is also concerned with those who were shattered and broken into pieces by calamity. He made a person with leprosy clean and sent him home.
A Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter. When this happened, Jesus saw her great faith and set her daughter free.
Four friends brought a paralytic to Jesus and lowered him through the roof in front of Jesus. Jesus not only set him free of the paralysis, but He also forgave his sins and set him free from the guilt.
We continue Jesus’ ministry through the Spirit to bring life, liberty, peace, and joy to the redeemed soul. We declare healing and freedom.
Finally, the Spirit’s Anointing Ministers to the Outsiders.
The message to all is clear. The Lord will Accept You! This is the year. This is the time that the Lord will accept you. The Messianic age has come.
Jesus notoriously went to the outsiders. The woman of Samaria had three strikes against her, but Jesus went to her. He had to go. Jesus touched people with leprosy! No one touched lepers. He welcomed tax collectors and ate with sinners. His ministry proclaimed the door open to all.
We continue this ministry by the Holy Spirit. We let people know that they are welcome in the kingdom. He said to those rejected, “God loves you.”
RESPONDING TO THE SPIRIT
These ministries in Jesus’ life were done through the filling of the Holy Spirit. Now we are sent on the same mission. Again, I remind you of Jesus’ words, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21)
If we are in Christ we are sent on mission with Christ. He calls you to serve Him in the same way He called for Barnabas and Saul to be sent. (Acts 13:2)
He commissions us to go. The Great Commission is well known, “Go, therefore, and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19-20). We make a grave mistake when we quote this passage in that manner. We must see what the “therefore” is there for.
Jesus began the commission in Matthew 28:18. “All authority has been given to me, therefore go…” He has the authority to extend the mission to us. He had the anointing, now it is passed on to it.
We stand before every prison house where souls are enslaved, commissioned to open the eyes of the prisoners that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Christ. We must continue the ministry of Christ to the needy people of our world. Jesus dealt with needs, so must we!
How do we go in this authority? Again, we follow Jesus’ example. Three conditions affect your experience of the anointing.
First, we must practice obedience to God’s Word. Jesus did that when he told John to baptize Him. He declared, “it is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.” We cannot have the full anointing if we are walking in disobedience.
Second, we must surrender to God’s hand and plan. Jesus yielded to God’s command to be baptized. God gives the Holy Spirit in fulness to those who surrender to Him. (Acts 5:32)
Finally, we must pray for God’s anointing to be full. Jesus prayed and then went forward to be baptized. Hearing His prayer and seeing His obedience God sent the Holy Spirit as a dove upon Him. Likewise, Jesus sends the Spirit in Anointing when we are prayerful, surrendered, and obedient. (Luke 11:13)
