It All Points to Jesusનમૂનો

Wednesday, April 16

Oil

By Robbie Harms

Asheville Campus, Contributor

“In pouring this ointment on my body,
she has done it to prepare me for burial.”
Matthew 26:12 (ESV)

For us, oil is often a fundamental ingredient in recipes or what we change every six months in our car. To the early Israelites, though, oil represented something far greater: the presence of God.

In Exodus 30, God gave Moses instructions for making anointing oil, a mixture of olive oil and spices, including cinnamon and myrrh. Then, he instructed him to anoint all the holy objects: the Tent of Meeting, the Ark of the Covenant, and tables and lampstands. God did not tell Moses to anoint the Tent of Meeting to make it look shiny and smell nice. No, he told him to do it because anointed places represented connections between Heaven and Earth, consecrated spaces where God could speak to his people.

Sacred Places

In Genesis 28, when Jacob stopped for the night on his journey, using a stone as a pillow, he dreamt of a ladder connecting Heaven and Earth and the Lord promising him abundance. He was afraid and said, “‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it” (v.17–18 NIV). It became a sacred place, where God spoke to him.

If anointed places were the meeting locations of Heaven and Earth, anointed people were those set apart with a special, singular purpose: to serve as earthly representatives of God. Anointing was the act of pouring oil on someone’s head to consecrate them. Throughout Scripture, we read of priests anointed for holy service, with Aaron, Moses’ brother, the first., (Aaron, Moses’s brother, being the first). Anointing was the act of pouring oil on someone’s head to consecrate them.

The prophet, Samuel anointed David in preparation for him becoming king of Israel
(1 Samuel 16:13). “So, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.” Psalm 45:7 says it even more directly: “...therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

A Link Between Heaven and Earth

All of this leads to one person—he whose name means “Anointed One.” “Jesus” was Greek for “the Lord saves” and “Christ” was Greek for “Anointed One.” Oil was so significant that it was part of Jesus’ name.

Jesus was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, and he was literally anointed with oil, it seems at least twice during his ministry. All four gospels tell the story of his anointing. In Luke 7, Jesus was dining at the home of Simon the Pharisee when a woman who lived a sinful life poured a fragrant oil on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair, likely as an act of repentance and worship. Later, just days before Jesus’ death on the cross, we’re told Jesus was anointed. He was dining in the house of Simon the Leper when a woman—likely Mary, the sister of Lazarus, (the man whom Jesus raised from the dead)—anointed his head with an expensive perfumed oil. It was a precursor for preparing his body for burial, the ultimate symbol of consecration for Jesus’ coming sacrifice for humanity (Matthew 26). Days later, Jesus was crucified.

Oil, perhaps insignificant beyond the kitchen to us, was an integral substance and symbol in the story of Christianity. From Jacob in Genesis to Jesus in the gospels, oil was used to consecrate people and objects as links between Heaven and Earth. Jesus was—and is—the ultimate connection between human and divine—our Anointed One.

Reflect

Consider again the name: Christians are those who follow the Anointed One. Oil is so significant that it is part of our name. What does that mean for those who call themselves followers of Christ?