Luke 4:16–21 (ESV)
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
The passage is from Isaiah 61, which begins with “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me.” Jesus is announcing that He is the anointed one of Isaiah 61. Everyone in the synagogue knows exactly what that means (or so they think). The anointed one is the Messiah.
But notice that Jesus is saying that He’s the anointed one because The Spirit of the Lord anointed Him. This happened when John baptized Him and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” — Luke 3:22 (ESV)
He’s announcing that He’s the anointed one, but His anointing includes incarnation.
The people in the synagogue don’t know that.
Also notice what He’s anointed to do.
“He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus passed on this aspect of His anointing to His followers. We are anointed to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
“Time out,” you might say, “that isn’t an anointing, but a command. We Christians are tasked with these things, but calling it an anointing is a bit of a stretch, right?”
Nope. Okay, then who does the anointing?
The Holy Spirit. So, are we anointed? Yup.
