Jesus the Anointed One

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me. (Luke 4:18)

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. (Acts 10:38)

In the West, we often tend to think of “Jesus” as His first name and “Christ” as His last, but that is not accurate. “Christ” is not His surname; it is His title, and speaks of His office and function. Our English word “Christ” is an anglicized version of the Greek word Christos, which translates the Hebrew word Messiah, which literally means “Anointed One.” That is, Jesus Christ is actually Jesus the Anointed One.

In the Old Testament, kings and priests were anointed to show that they were authorized and empowered by God to operate in those offices. The title “Anointed One” shows that Jesus is authorized and empowered by God to rule over His people as His perfect and final King. It also reveals that Jesus is the true and ultimate intermediary between God and His people. All other kings and priests in the Old Testament were merely types and foreshadows of Jesus the Anointed One.

What is the function or purpose of His anointing? First, let’s look in Isaiah 10:27, where we see a description of the anointing:

It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

The anointing is for removing all burdens from the people of God and destroying all the yokes of the oppressor. That is exactly what Jesus came to do — to remove the burdens and destroy the yoke of the oppressor. Jesus said,

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

The Bible teaches us that Jesus not only came to remove our burdens but also to destroy the yoke, or works of the devil:

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. (Hebrews 2:14)

Even the name “Jesus” speaks of this. In Hebrew, it is Yeshua, which literally means “salvation,” and speaks of deliverance, healing, and restoration to prosperity and well-being. We find all this in the anointing. One day, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue and He read from the scroll of Isaiah (at 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)

Then He sat down, indicating that He was about to comment on that passage, and said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). The gospel of Jesus the Anointed One lifts the burden and breaks the yoke of poverty, sickness, blindness and oppression, bringing prosperity, freedom and wholeness in their place. Because He is anointed with the Spirit of the LORD, all these things are fulfilled in Him and are available to all those who believe Him. Peter summarized it this way:

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. (Acts 10:38)

Remember that Jesus is the Christ, the One Anointed by God to lift every burden and destroy every demonic bondage in your life, and restore you to wholeness in every way.