“The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Luke 4:18
The
overly-tanned speaker in the silk leisure suit flashes a set of perfectly
capped teeth and adjusts His face in what he assumes is a pious expression. “Naaaw, breth-ren!” he shouts. “I fe-e-el th’ anointin’ comin upon me!”
He then proceeds to fleece the flock and sell $99 chances to receive the same
“anointing” he claims to have. Unfortunately, people are falling all over each
other to “sow” their hard-earned money into this “ministry.” What he calls “th’ anointin’” is indeed found in
scripture, but not in the way he thinks. Second Peter 2 gives a scathing review
of charlatans like this.
In
contrast, the genuine anointing by the Holy Spirit is described in Luke 4.
Jesus stood in the temple and read from the scroll of Isaiah, concluding with
the startling announcement that He was the fulfillment of that prophecy. He
then spent three years demonstrating what true anointing looked like: loving
the unlovely, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, and proclaiming salvation
and forgiveness to all who believed in Him. His anointing led him straight to
the cross—not to a gold-plated mansion financed by the sick and the desperate.
He gave everything and took nothing. His anointing empowered Him to carry out
the plan of God, because His reward was not limited to this material world. He
offers that anointing to anyone who will receive it.
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