The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed.
Psalms 2:2
…The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor;
Luke 4:18
This title is a “threefer.” The one original Hebrew word is translated three different ways into English. The base word is “anointed,” but it is also translated as “Messiah” or “Christ,” depending on the context.
To be anointed means to have oil poured on one’s head in a public ceremony. This was done to ordain priests, coronate kings, and designate prophets. Christ was anointed by God for all of these positions; “Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions” (Hebrews 1:9).
The Hebrew word for “anointed” or “anointed one” is “Mashiach,” which is written as “Messiah” in English. This was God’s special chosen one who wasn’t anointed with oil, but with the Holy Spirit. Every prophet, priest, and king in the Old Testament was a mashiach. However, God’s special One was the Mashiach, the Messiah.
When 70 Hebrew scholars translated the Old Testament into Greek, the word “mashiach” became “christos,” and then “Christ” in English. The dispersed Jewish people built their synagogues all around the Greek-speaking world and taught interested Gentiles about the God of the universe and His promised Christ who was to come.
In our day and age we really don’t get the concept of anointing. We think, “Yuck! Who would want to get all greasy like that?” But in the Middle East, oil was also used as a part of a healing process. In a land that is hot and dry, skin and hair become dull and scaly; oil poured out is refreshing and gives the body softness and shine.
Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament and the Christ of the New because, for us, He became God’s Anointed.
March 13
