To anoint is to consecrate a person for Holy office for a special service. The
Anointor is God Himself although He normally delegates His servant to
perform the task. It was Moses that God instructed to anoint Aaron and his sons
for priestly office, Exodus, 28:1, 29:5-7. The process involves the pouring of
sacred oil on the head of the person anointed, a symbol of the flow of authority
from the heavenly sanctuary.
In Old Testament Times those who were so anointed were not only Priest but
Kings and Prophets, I Sam. 9:17, 10:1 and 16:12-13. As for Prophets, the
symbol of authority may be a mantle, 2Kings 2:12-13, or a visionary
experience, Isaiah 6:1-8.
No one can heal the sick without the power of God who gives the gifts of
healing to his anointed, 1Cor. 12:4-10. The genuine carriers of the anointing
never make loud claims of their extraordinary powers unlike some pastors,
prophets or evangelists of our time. For His own reason God, the creator of the
heavens and the earth can, reorder them. One of the careers of His anointing,
Elisha, revived the dead womb of the Shunammite Woman and she bore a son,
long after she had accepted barreness as her lot. When the young boy died the
same prophet brought him back to life. Elisha never hired drummers to celebrate
his powers, 2Kings 4:8-37.
Jesus, the Son of God, “Whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom
also he made the worlds…” carried unlimited anointing because He and the
Father are one. So whatever He did He did it on behalf of God, John 14:7-11,
whereas for men or women their anointing varies from one level to another,
Eph. 4:7.
Which is why Jesus performed healing miracles that are extraordinary. The
Woman with the Issue of Blood had suffered for 12 years. She struggle to touch
the helm of His garment from behind, and she was instantly healed, Lk. 8:43-
48. The Madman of Gadara, a carrier of not less than 5000 demons, was so
named because he was truly mad, keeping company with the dead, hiding in the
maintains, cutting himself with stones. His encounter with Jesus returned him
to sanity as his tormentors fled to a herd of swine. He who had previously
avoided the company of fellow men became an evangelist, preaching Christ to
others, Mk. 5:1-20.
The anointing of Jesus was indeed an unlimited one. Not only did He return the
dead to life, as in the case of Jairus daughter, Matt. 9:18, 24-25, He actually
called out the spirit of Lazarus, from beyond the grave, knowing that He had
been dead for 4 days, John 11:43.
He is truly the resurrection and the life, John 11:25. More than that, He sat at
table with the same Lazarus, shortly after, as if He had been alive all along,
John 12:1-2. Surely Jesus had defeated death even before He went to the cross.
He allowed Himself to be crucified in obedience to the Father, and to save
mankind from damnation. Otherwise who is death?
Besides He assembled 12 disciples and then another 70, and gave them the
power to heal and deliver those in satanic bondage, Matt. 10:1, 8, Luke 10:1, 9,
19. His anointing is indeed limitless because He is the author of it - He and the
Father.
Before His departure from the earth Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem
for power, after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, Act 1;8. So on the Day of
Pentecost they received anointing which enabled them to act with boldness, to
preach the word, to heal the sick, to raise the dead and confront satan and his
cohorts, Acts 3:1-8, Acts 9:32-34. Indeed such was the level of anointing in
Peter that His shadow healed the sick, Acts 5:14-16 while Paul healed many
with handkerchiefs, Acts 19:11-12.
Even in our time anointed men and women are still in the business of delivering
the sick in the name of Jesus. Indeed God had earlier put these things in the
mouth of Prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29), Jesus laid the foundation while the
disciples advanced the cause, beyond old Israel to Europe and parts of Asia.
Anointing is ours. It is the power of God to deliver and save.
