Anointed Ones

Appreciating Jesus’ anointing and our own

08/31/2020

Luke 4:16-30 Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.

One of the most pregnant terms, but also one of the most provocative terms, in the whole Bible is “Anointed One.” We are blessed to have a recently “anointed one” in our midst at Mass this morning, Fr. Daniel Velasco. One of the principal points of priestly ordination is when the bishop anoints the priest’s hands with Sacred Chrism. And to underscore how unbelievably powerful that consecration with Chrism is, the bishop will kiss the new priest’s hands after the bishop receives his blessing. That was my favorite picture from Fr. Daniel’s ordination: the bishop actually kneeling in front of Fr. Daniel and kissing his hands. Don’t get used to that gesture, Fr. Daniel.

In the gospel today, Jesus returns home to Nazareth and quotes the passage in Isaiah 61 that prophesies the coming of the Anointed One. Notice how pregnant and provocative that title is for Jesus among his family and friends. Jesus applies the title for himself and the people want to catapult him off a cliff and kill him. Why did they react so violently and viciously? Well, it helps to know a little Old Testament background. The term “anointed one” is rendered in Hebrew at “meshiach,” and in Greek as “christos” and in English as “Christ.” Furthermore, three classes of people were anointed on the day they were installed in their office: priests (like Aaron in Ex. 28), kings (like David in 1 Sam. 9) and prophets (like Elisha in 1 Kgs. 19). There are 39 instances of the term meshiach, messiah in the Old Testament.

But when Jesus accrues the title Anointed One to himself, he is not say he is only a priest, or only a prophet, or only a king. No, not at all. Instead, he is actually claiming all three categories for himself: his priest, and prophet and king all rolled into one, the ultimate and last Anointed One. The Christos to end all christos’! This ultimately Messiah was what Isaiah was prophesying and predicting and if you read Daniel 9 carefully, the Messiah was scheduled to arrive 490 years after the Babylonian Captivity, which was the exact arrival of Jesus. No wonder the people wanted to put him to death: Jesus’ claim must either be true or false, but his claim cannot be ignored as if irrelevant. C. S. Lewis put it perfectly: Jesus is either the Lord, or a liar or a lunatic, but he cannot be dismissed as a good moral teacher. Can you hear how powerful but also how provocative this little term can be: Anointed One, Messiah, Christ?

Here’s the surplus, practical, take-away value for us Christians today. Did you know that the word “Christ-ian” comes from Christ and therefore you, too, are an anointed one? But do you know when you were anointed? It was at your baptism, when the priest anointed the crown of your head with Sacred Chrism. The exact same sacred oil used to anoint Fr. Daniel on August 15 was poured on your head as a baby. The priest said (as I’m sure you remember): “As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet and King, so you may live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.” In other words, you, too, are to be another anointed one (with a little “a”), another messiah (with a little “m”), and another christ (with a small “c”).

But here’s the rub as well. Just as it was provocative and perilous to be Christ in the first century, so too it will be for us in the 21st century. If we live up to our exalted calling of being another Christ (a true Christian), expect to meet with opposition. Sometimes that opposition will come from the left and liberal ideologies but sometimes that opposition will come from the right and the conservative culture. In other words, Christians cannot be reduced to align 100% with Republicans or 100% with Democrats. Faith transcends politics, so expect to be hated by both sides of the aisle, just like Jesus was.

Listen again to our Lord quoting that passage from Isaiah 61 and try to apply it to yourself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Jesus was either the Lord, or a liar or a lunatic, but he was not a Republican or a Democrat.

Praised be Jesus Christ!