Anointing Us with the Oil of Joy

Anointing Us with the Oil of Joy.

“So Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. And when He opened the scroll, He found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ Then He rolled up the scroll, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. ” (Luke 4:16-21, paraphrasing Isaiah 61:1-2).

Jesus the Christ: Jesus (Yeshua) is His name, and Christ is His title. In the New Testament, “Christ” means “Anointed One,” as does “Messiah” in the Hebrew Bible. There were three official biblical roles in the Hebrew Bible that required an anointing with oil… prophet, priest and king. All three were anointed for their godly responsibilities by a sacred oil. In Jesus’ case, He was anointed in the Holy Spirit for all three God-ordained positions, the only person to weave together the roles of prophet, priest and king into one Person’s identity. Jesus was the Anointed One in His heavenly nature as He was conceived in mother Mary. And He was anointed in His humanity by the Father to complete His preparation for God’s mission on earth of redemption and deliverance. All the anointing by oil in the Hebrew Bible anticipates the coming of the Anointed One, the Messiah, who fulfills the prophetic meaning of anointing. Anointing looks like this: The Father poured the oil of the Holy Spirit onto the Anointed One, who in turn anoints with His Spirit all the anointed ones who choose to follow Jesus Messiah.

Mission Defined. Jesus, anointed since before time began, and for a second time on earth, has simply been waiting for the right time for the Father to send Him on His mission. So here we see that the time had come, the year of God’s grace has arrived! Jesus now inaugurates this time period as the one “when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.” (Amplified Bible). This is the time for the spiritual Jubilee. This is the reality of what God hinted at back in Leviticus 25 with the Jubilee year: the time when debts were cancelled and slaves went free. The time when prisoners of war were released and everyone is freed from their oppressive burdens. And now Isaiah’s prophecy has come true, the Messiah has come that the world may begin to experience the spiritual Jubilee, a time when all are set free by a gracious God to start over with Him in the spirit of redemption and blessing.

Jesus told His old friends that the prophet Isaiah had defined His mission well. It’s as if He was exclaiming… I was anointed by the Father for very specific tasks:

1. “To preach the Good News to the poor.” In Isaiah 61:1, “poor” means humble or meek. So I am giving words of hope to the poor in spirit, those who are spiritually bankrupt, hopelessly poverty-stricken in their spirits. In fact, I hereby promise that the poor in spirit, the empty and helpless, will receive the Kingdom of heaven and become spiritually rich. I am here to tell the lowly that they will be held in honor, and will receive all the blessings of God’s new world. I will seek out the humble to tell them that they will be raised up to a new life of fullness and new-found strength.
2. “To proclaim liberty to the captives.” In Isaiah, “captives” referred to prisoners of war, or by extension anyone in bondage to sin because of our ongoing spiritual war. I will minister unto those who are casualties of our war with Satan and with sin. I will release all those who are battling their demons and those who realize they are in bondage to their sinful nature. I will grant a full pardon to all these victims of hidden warfare, to these prisoners held captive by the enemy. During this time of favor and blessing, all prisoners will be liberated from sin and Satan. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” (John 8:32-36). If you are in bondage to sin, you indeed are a slave to sin, you are imprisoned by sin. And in this spiritual Jubilee, I will release the slaves and set the prisoners free.
3. “To heal the brokenhearted.” Some historical manuscripts omit this phrase from the Luke passage. But the original Isaiah 61:1reference includes this phrase, so in keeping with some NT translations and the Isaiah reference, this phrase will be included here. As Messiah, I will heal those who have had their hearts broken by rejection, by loss of loved one, by shame or guilt or failure. I will bind up those who are broken by the state of the world and its presence of sin and wickedness and pain. I will mourn with those who mourn, and my heart will be broken by whatever is breaking your heart as I come alongside you. I will personally bring the Good News of salvation and healing, and so we will mourn as those with hope. My tears will absorb your tears as I offer my comforting and healing presence to your misery.
4. “To proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.” This phrase was added to the passage in Luke, and is in the spirit of the spiritual Jubilee. To all you who are spiritually blind, I will open your eyes to see the truth and goodness of the Lord and His Kingdom. Since you are helpless to take off your blinders by yourselves, I will remove your blinders personally. You simply can’t make yourselves see without my help. I will open your eyes to see the reality of God and His love. And to make sure this important truth is understood, I will heal every physically blind person who comes to me in my ministry. All of these physical healings of the blind will be a sign of what I will do spiritually to those who allow me to do so. I will cure your blindness to the depravity of sin, to the depth of your sinful nature, to the hope of God’s salvation. And then finally, you will truly see and believe. “Everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness.” (John 12:45).
5. “To set free those who are oppressed.” The “oppressed” in Isaiah is intended to include anyone who is downtrodden, burdened by life’s difficulties, bruised by the system, broken down by some calamity. I will deliver you from these spiritual bruises, from whatever may be weighing down your spirit. I will come to encourage you and help you rise above life’s travails. If you feel oppressed in any way, I will deliver you and set your spirit free. “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.” (Matthew 11:28-29). So come to me during this acceptable time of blessing and favor, all you who are oppressed in some way, and I will be your liberator.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because I have been anointed to… provide for those who mourn in Zion, to care for the needs of all who grieve in Israel; to give a crown of beauty to replace their ashes. I will anoint them with the oil of joy and gladness to replace their sorrow and grief. And I will give to them a garment of splendor and praise to replace their spirit of burdened heaviness. Then they will be called magnificent trees of goodness, planted by the Lord to glorify Him.”  (Isaiah 61:3).

Mission Continued. The first verses in Isaiah 61 were quoted by Jesus to clarify His mission and ministry. But His life purpose does not stop with the first couple of verses. His mission continues in verse three. The Holy Spirit is upon Jesus to provide an exchange that is difficult to reject. Beauty for ashes, taken in context, means that the Messiah will take away our ashes of hopeless defeat, of lifelessness, and then provide for us a crown of beauty. Our ashes, symbol of the ugliness of death, is to be exchanged by Jesus with a crown of beauty, something beautiful to replace something dreadful. The Spirit’s anointing oil of gladness and joy will replace the sorrow of our sinful nature. And He will cover us with festal attire, with garments of praise and rejoicing, to replace our fainting spirit of weakness and heaviness.

1. Beauty for Ashes, taken in context, means that the Messiah will take away the lifeless remains of our hopeless defeat, the effects of sin and brokenness that seem to cling to us, the signs in the world of the ugliness of death. And He will replace all that by placing on our heads a crown of glorious beauty, something beautiful to replace something dreadful, something full of splendor that makes us shine.
2. The Oil of Gladness will replace the drenching sorrow of our sinful nature, taking the place of grief and hopelessness in our brokenness. The Lord will anoint us with His sacred oil of joy, and lavishly pour onto us, from head to foot, a blessing of light-heartedness to replace our mourning.
3. Garment of Praise. The Lord will continue His work of consolation and hopefulness by clothing us in a garment of festive praise to replace our spirit of burdened heaviness. He will dress us in splendor, with a spirit of rejoicing and celebration instead of a fainting spirit of weakness and despair.
4. Oaks of Righteousness. The poetic Isaiah chose oak trees here to symbolize the stability, usefulness, and longevity of the person planted in the fertile soil of God. Oaks drop acorns, of course, which grow slowly but surely to produce magnificent trees famous for their massive presence, their long life, and for providing hard wood for ships and farming implements. The mighty oak tree, planted by God to be useful for His Kingdom, to stand up for goodness and saving justice, so that God Himself will be glorified.

Daily Exchange. This is not a one-time offer from Jesus. This process is a vital part of our daily renewal. This is a daily exchange of going to the feet of Jesus every day and giving to Him the ashes in our lives, those parts of us that are broken, or hopeless, or spiritually unhealthy. And He has promised that He will take those ugly ashes that were placed on the heads of those in mourning or despair, and replace them with a beautiful crown to wear on our heads instead. We give to Jesus our hopeless sorrow and He replaces it with joy and gladness. We give to Him our burdened dreariness and He offers us a covering praise and rejoicing. When we come to Him every day and offer to Him our ashes of death, our ointment of hopelessness, our burdens of clothing we wear, He will give us beauty, joy and the spirit of praise as replacements. As we participate in this daily exchange, our inner lives in Christ will continue our daily renewal. Christ wants to substitute our ashes of our death-dealing brokenness with the beauty of His wholeness.

Renew, Restore, Redeem. God has proven Himself to be in the business of redemption all through history. He yearns to take the bad and turn it into something good, to restore what is broken into something whole, to take what is disfigured and make it become beautiful. God takes our weakness and uses it as a springboard for His power. He uses the ashes in our lives to construct something glorious and beautiful. Astoundingly, in the ultimate act of redemption, God has already proven that He can take death and make it come alive.

“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice. You are passionate for righteousness and you hate lawlessness and evil. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you more than any other, pouring out the oil of joy, the very fragrance of heaven’s gladness.” (Psalm 45:6-7).

Oil of Joy. Olive oil was a potent symbol of joy because whoever was fortunate enough to have an abundant supply of olive oil possessed: a healing ointment, a cooking ingredient for bread and other staples, a refreshing and soothing oil for dry and weathered skin, a fuel for lighting their lamps, an effective health food, a body cleanser and skin care ointment, the base for fragrant perfumes, an hospitable way to show honor when welcoming guests, a respectful way to care for the dead body of a loved one, and a valuable commodity that could be traded or sold for money. It’s no wonder why olive oil brought joy to its owners, and so was a biblical symbol of great gladness.

The Joy of the Anointed One. There may be doubts about this, since Jesus was also a “man of sorrows,” but Jesus was serious about fleshing out the importance of joy in a believer’s life. The spiritual fruit of joy is a delicious aspect of the tree of Jesus, and the roots of that tree are found in the traditional Jewish priority of joy. Let’s try to describe what biblical joy looks like; a deep-seated delight because of the settled assurance of God’s love; an encouraged understanding of God’s personal presence; an inner gladness based on the spiritual realities of God’s trustworthy character; a confident pleasure felt in our deep innards; an abiding satisfaction that all is well with God, that we are at peace with the Lord of the universe; a hopeful sense of well-being that rejoices in gratitude; a holy optimism that affects the whole personality. The only dependable source of our joy is the God of gladness, the joyful Anointed One, the gladness of the Holy Spirit. The joy of our faith is our most dependable and accurate foretaste of heaven.

“If you keep My commands, you will live in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands, for I continually live nourished and empowered by His love. My purpose for telling you these things is so that the joy that I experience will fill your hearts with overflowing gladness!” (John 15:11).

Joyful Jesus. When Jesus revealed His desire to give joy to His disciples, that He wanted His disciples to experience deep soul-satisfying joy, He was quite serious. Joy was vital to Jesus. “I pray that they will experience and enter into my joyous delight in you, Father, so that it is fulfilled in them and overflows.” (John 17:13). He desires that His followers find joy in their salvation, that their names were written in the Book of Heaven, glad that they were members of God’s kingdom. (Luke 10:20). Jesus wants us to experience overwhelming joy after times of sadness and sorrow. (John 16:20-22). He promises unlimited joy to us when we approach the Father in prayer. (John 16:24). Ironically, the Lord will bless us with overflowing joy while undergoing persecution in His name. We are promised by Him to experience deep joy when we have been seen as worthy to undergo slander and hatred due to our love of Jesus. (Luke 6:22-23).

“Send out your light and your truth, for they shall be my guide to lead me to your holy mountain, your dwelling place. Then I shall go to the place of worship, to God, joy of my gladness. I will rejoice and praise you on the harp, O God, my God.” (Psalm 43:4).

“Joy of My Gladness” – Simhat-Giyl; two Hebrew words taken together literally mean to spin around in joy; translated in a variety of ways, including ecstatic joy, the gladness of my delight, the God who makes joyful my youth, exceeding joy, keenest delight, exuberant joy. “The Joy of My Gladness” is a biblical title for God, and it reveals that joy is woven into the very character and personality of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They each find a unifying, joyful love in each other, and they desire to share their mutual gladness with us, the followers of the Anointed One. The Father anoints the Anointed One with the sacred oil of joy, the Holy Spirit of them both.