Joshua Anointed

#37: “Joshua Anointed” by Brendon Wahlberg

The name Jesus Christ is so familiar to us that we might sometimes forget that “Christ” is not a last name, but a title. We know that the name “Jesus” may be translated as “Joshua”, and that even gives us the correct impression that Jesus had a common name in his day. But the Greek-derived word “Christ” sounds more exotic. Christ is a translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah”, which means “Anointed.” So, Jesus Christ is Joshua Anointed. Despite Jesus/Joshua being a common name, “Anointed” was a title with great significance. It was the “Anointed” which set Jesus apart.

During key moments of the Gospel of Matthew, two very different people call Jesus “the Christ.” “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (16:15-16) “Then the high priest said to him, ‘I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’” (26:63) One person, Peter, calls Jesus the Christ because he joyfully believes it is true. The other, the high priest Caiaphas, is angry and fearful that it might be true. Notice that for both people, the title of Christ goes along with being the Son of God. So we have two titles to understand, “Anointed”, and “Son of God.” What do they mean, and how are they tied together? The obvious place to look and see from where these titles come is the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament scriptures that were holy to both Peter and the high priest.

Anointing is smearing or rubbing a person or an object with precious scented oil. A person or object is anointed in order to show that it is dedicated to God. Good examples of this are found in Exodus. “The Lord spoke to Moses: Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh [...] of sweet-smelling cinnamon [...] of aromatic cane [...] cassia [...] and a hin of olive oil; and you shall make of these a sacred anointing-oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing-oil. With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant, and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt-offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand; you shall consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them will become holy. You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, in order that they may serve me as priests.” (30:22-30)

“You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and wash them with water. Then you shall take the vestments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the decorated band of the ephod; and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy diadem on the turban. You shall take the anointing-oil, and pour it on his head and anoint him.” (29:4-7) Perhaps in these passages, we can see part of what upset the high priest Caiaphas in Matthew. The high priest Aaron of old was anointed. If common people were giving Jesus the title “Anointed”, would they see him as the true high priest of Israel instead of Caiaphas?

There was much more for Caiaphas to worry about. Besides the high priest, another important anointed person in scripture was the true King of Israel. A good example of this is found in 1 Kings. “There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ And all the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth quaked at their noise.” (1:39-40) From the very beginning of Kingship in Israel, the King was anointed with oil. Samuel the prophet anointed Saul and David. Anointing, instead of crowning, was the ceremony by which a King took office. The oil was a symbol of the King’s relationship with God. The King was given the title of “The Lord’s Anointed.” As applied to King David and the House of David, the word Anointed basically meant King.

So Caiaphas was also afraid that the people calling Jesus “Anointed” might follow him as a King of Israel, of the house of David. This was sure to cause great trouble with the Roman authorities, and the high priest worked to keep the Romans pacified, in order to protect the vulnerable Jewish people.

Caiaphas called Jesus Anointed and Son of God. Did this mean that Caiaphas had heard of the strange manner of Jesus’ birth? Was Caiaphas thinking about the Christian concept of the “only begotten Son of God”? Or, did “Son of God” mean something else to him? Notice that he called Jesus Anointed and Son of God as if they meant the same thing. Most likely, to him, they did. We read in 2 Samuel that the Kings of the house of David were adopted as “Sons of God”. “Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. [...] your throne shall be established for ever. In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.” (2 Samuel 7:11-17)

“Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said: ‘I have set the crown on one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found my servant David; with my holy oil I have anointed him; [...] He shall cry to me, “You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!” (Psalm 89:19-26) If we look at the two passages above without seeing them as prophecies about Jesus, but instead seeing them as Caiaphas might, we can see how the high priest would think of an Anointed King and a Son of God as the same thing. The Anointed King of Israel was also an adopted Son of God, according to the scriptures. So, of course Caiaphas was upset. If the people were going to follow Jesus as a figure like that, then Jesus deeply threatened the religious and political status quo the high priest protected.

As fearful as the title “Anointed” was for Caiaphas, it was hopeful for Peter. When Peter called Jesus the Anointed, the Son of God, he was expressing the Jewish hope for a savior. Although the title of Anointed was held by kings and priests of old, by Peter’s time, there were no more kings in Israel, and even the high priest was no longer anointed, but invested instead. The anointed leaders were gone, but the need for them remained. Over time, the words and ideas - King, Anointed, Son of God - were associated with a hoped-for future savior who would deliver the people from their suffering.

It is ironic that, despite Jesus being called the Anointed, he was never ceremonially anointed with oil as King David was. And yet, for David, the anointing with oil was the moment when the King received God’s Holy Spirit. Christians believe instead that Jesus was anointed directly with the Holy Spirit; no oil was needed. “And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16-17) “That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:37-38) Oil or no oil, Jesus was still all of the things an “Anointed one” had meant in the past: High Priest, true King, and Son of God.