Jesus was Anointed to Heal

The anointing is the manifest presence of God’s power and it releases healing power. The first time Jesus taught in His hometown of Nazareth, He read from the book of Isaiah. This was His text on that momentous occasion, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me…” Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit.

Why was this anointing important? In the ancient kingdom of Israel, prophets poured a bottle of anointing oil (which represented the Holy Spirit) over the head of the one God chose for a special task. For example, a man called to be king was specifically anointed for the job of being king.

Well, Jesus was anointed for a special task. Let’s read the rest of the text Jesus read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18‑19). Jesus was anointed to preach good news, to proclaim freedom to those who were held in the bondage of sickness, to heal the blind, and to set free those who suffered under the oppression of Satan. In short, Jesus was anointed to bring healing.

Some people think the word “Christ” is nothing but Jesus’ last name, but in reality this word “Christ” is a title that means “Anointed One.” The anointing was so important in the life of Jesus that everyone who knew Him called Him “Jesus – the Anointed One.”

Did Jesus use His anointing to bring healing? In Acts 10:38, we discover that “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: [he] went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (KJV).

The word “oppressed” used in this verse is a compound Greek word formed from the preposition kata meaning, “down or under,” and dunasteuo meaning, “I hold power or lordship.” So this word refers to those who are held down under the power of Satan. You can understand the full meaning of the word if you will imagine a slave master using a whip to force a slave to carry a heavy burden. The slave is held down by the oppression of the master.

Sickness is a cruel taskmaster which oppresses and enslaves. Jesus came to set us free from the slavery of sin and disease. Jesus is anointed to release us from the burden of sickness.

 

The anointing destroys the yoke of sickness

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” (Isaiah 10:27 KJV).

During Bible times oxen were used to plow fields. A thick yoke was hung around their necks and a plow was attached to the yoke. For hours on end, the oxen would be forced to walk up and down fields dragging heavy plows through the earth. The yoke represented a great weight and a burden. Isaiah says the anointing power of God destroys the yoke. In other words, the anointing wrecks, demolishes, and ruins every weight and burden.

Sickness is a great burden. Your body may feel like it has been dragging around a great weight, but the anointing of God has the power to destroy the yoke of sickness. As we read just a moment ago, Jesus came to preach deliverance to captives (Luke 4:18). The sick are held captive by the yoke of illness, but the anointing of Jesus brings deliverance from the captivity of infirmity.

 

We can be anointed just as Jesus was anointed

If Jesus was already God, why would He need a special anointing to heal the sick? Jesus may have been God, but when He came to earth, He left his divine powers behind. We know this from Philippians 2:6-8, “[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself….”

Since Jesus appeared on earth as a man, He was unable to do anything supernatural unless He did it through the power of the anointing. Jesus did not speak one single word under his own power, instead He only spoke the words His Father told Him to say. “…The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (John 14:10). The miraculous works of Jesus were not done under His own human power, they were accomplished through the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of His Father.

Jesus was the Son of God, but He healed the sick as a man anointed by the Spirit of God. Every miracle of Jesus was performed through the power of the anointing. Now, are you ready for some good news? Because Jesus performed all His miracles as an anointed human being, we can perform the same miracles if we are anointed. We can be anointed in the same way Jesus was. He promised, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12 NRSV). If we are anointed with the same Spirit as Jesus, we can do the same works He did, and even greater works.

When Jesus commissioned the twelve disciples, he assigned them the same mission that He had been sent to accomplish. In Matthew 10:1, Jesus gives the disciples authority to heal “every disease and sickness.” In Luke 10:9, Jesus commands the seventy to heal the sick. Again, in Mark 16:18, believers are told that if they place their hands on sick people, they will get well. In all three cases, the followers of Jesus are commanded to do the same works Jesus did. The disciples were instructed to preach the exact same message Jesus preached and were anointed to perform precisely the same miracles He did. Since the authority given to the disciples extends across the centuries and now rests in the hands of every believer, today’s church can expect the same miracles. Healing should be a normal part of every Christian’s life.

Why do you think we are called Christians? Remember, I told you the word “Christ” means “Anointed One.” This means the word “Christian” can be translated as “little anointed one.” As Christians we are anointed just as Jesus was anointed!

 

Three Facts About the Anointing

 

1. The anointing is measurable

Elisha asked for a double-portion of Elijah’s anointing, and he received it (2 Kings 2:9). We know Elisha received double the anointing because the Bible records twice as many miracles that he performed than Elijah did during his lifetime.

Jesus had the anointing without measure (John 3:34). Any one human being only has a measured amount of the anointing because if we had the anointing without measure, our human bodies would not be able to handle the overwhelming power. Jesus flowed in all the gifts of the Spirit and He was anointed for every ministry office.

Today God anoints Christian leaders for a specific ministry office. Some are anointed to be pastors, some prophets, some evangelists, some teachers, some to help others, and some to be administrators (Ephesians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:28), but only Jesus was anointed with the fullness of all the ministry gifts and callings.

 

2. The anointing is transferable

When the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Christ’s garment, she instantly felt a transfer of healing power into her body (Mark 5:25-34). On another occasion, healing power was again conveyed by a piece of cloth that had become saturated with the anointing. This happened when the Apostle Paul laid his hands on cloth handkerchiefs and those pieces of fabric were used to heal the sick. The anointing was transferred from the hands of Paul into the cloth and then carried to those who desperately needed help (Acts 19:12).

The church at Antioch laid hands on Paul and Barnabas and the anointing was transferred to their lives (Acts 13:3). Later, as Paul laid hands on Timothy the gift of God (anointing) was transferred to Timothy’s life (2 Timothy 1:6). From these examples, we see that the anointing is transferable.

 

3. The anointing is tangible

The power of God can be felt by the physical body. Jesus felt anointing power leave his body when the woman with the issue of blood touched him and she felt power enter her body as she was healed. The anointing is not a figment of the imagination; it can be touched and experienced. Many times I have felt the power of God in my hands when I am praying for people. I can actually feel the anointing leave my body and flow into another person. On other occasions, I have felt the anointing as bolts of electricity shooting through an entire room. Often one can feel the presence of God hovering in a room like a cloud right above the heads of the audience.

Do You Need Healing? Be Healed in Jesus Name! 

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