A Saviour, Christ The Lord

 

And there were in the same country shepherds Abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, And the glory of the Lord shone round about them: And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Saviour, which is Christ the lord.           LUKE 2:8-11 

 

God sent His messenger, Gabriel, to make known to these shepherds that the one He had promised had been born. The shepherds had been anticipating the savior (or deliverer) as they had learned from the Scriptures. This promised-one would deliver man from the bondage of the sin nature, sickness and “the last enemy”, death. (All this had “entered” after Adam’s disobedience.) God’s promised-one would pay the price required for man’s redemption. That day, in the city of David, he had been born!

 

The angel’s message declared that the savior (deliverer) is “Christ the Lord.” The word “Christ” is translated from the Greek word “christos”, and simply means “anointed” or “anointed one.” The Hebrew word “mashiyach” also means the same. “Mashiyach”, in English, is “messiah”. A messiah is anointed, or an anointed one. The Savior would be anointed as the high priest, the priests and the kings had been anointed.    

 

And thou [Moses] shalt put them [the garments] upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office.                                                                                                                                                       EXODUS 28:41

 

  Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.                                                       I SAMUEL 15:1

 

And call Jesse [father of eight sons] to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.                          I SAMUEL 16:3,13

 

The purpose of God’s anointing was to mark out and enable individuals to serve His people according to His instructions.

In the early days of his public ministry, Jesus, the “Christ”, went through the region of Galilee and taught in their synagogues. He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and in the synagogue there he stood up to read. He was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

 

And when he had opened the book [unrolled the scroll], he found the place where it was written:

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor [ones in need]; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” And he closed the book [the scroll], and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”                                                                                                                                              LUKE 4:18-21

 

He was anointed to minister to those in need, to heal, to preach deliverance, to set at liberty. The phrase “to set at liberty them that are bruised” reads literally, “to send forth in forgiveness those who are broken by calamity.”

Not many years later, one of Jesus’ twelve apostles, Peter, went to Caesarea into the home of Cornelius. Among the things Peter taught the family and friends gathered there was: 

 

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.                                                      ACTS 10:38

 

The four Gospels are the record of the good and the healing done during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. In the closing section of the Gospel of John, he gives this summary:

 

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ [the anointed one], the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.                                                                                JOHN 20:30-31