Acts 10:38- how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. NKJV
I was a teenager when I was first anointed with oil. The pastor took a bottle of oil that represented the Holy Spirit, poured oil in his hand, placed that hand on my forehead, and prayed for me. Not long after that, I was anointed by another minister. He poured water from Israel over my hands and prophesied that my hands would be healing hands. It’s interesting to me, that as I decided to write on this verse, I remembered both of those incidents.
But the incident that touched me beyond human intellect and physical boundaries happened in a dream. I had been fasting and praying for God’s glory to manifest in my life. One night, in my dream, the Glory of God showed up. It was a thick cloud and I was twirling in it, enjoying His presence, when I heard a voice. The voice spoke out of it and said, “I have anointed you!” Then I woke up. But I was so overwhelmed with the realness of the dream that I got up from my bed and went into another room and worshipped Him.
In our text, Peter was talking to Cornelius. He told Cornelius:
The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all— that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached
Acts 10:36-37 NKJV
Peter referenced the day that John baptized Jesus because on that day, God sent His Holy Spirit to alight up Jesus and He never left Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17). At that time, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.
After Jesus was anointed by God, things got really interesting. Peter said that Jesus
went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Acts 10:38b NKJV
I have heard many pastors and teachers say that Jesus was able to heal because He was God. And in a sense, that it is true. However, Peter states that it was the anointing of God, at His baptism, that empowered Him to heal all who were oppressed of the devil, because God was with Him.
Matthew 8 is my favorite chapter on the works of Jesus. It seems that Jesus went from one experience to another. First, He cleansed a leper by placing His hand on him. Then He healed the centurion’s servant, by speaking the word. Later, He and his disciples went to visit in Peter’s home and Peter’s mother-in-law was ill. With a touch, the fever completely left her, and she got up and served them. That evening Jesus cast out demonic spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. The lame walked, the blind received their sight, the dead were raised, and multitudes were healed of their diseases.
And here, Peter is sharing the gospel message with Cornelius, the centurion, and he is quick to point out that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power! While the anointing was certainly available for healing, it was also available for Jesus to fulfill God’s plan for His life!
God anointed Peter, the apostle to the Jews. When Peter ministered, unusual things happened. In his first sermon, over 3,000 people were added to the church. We already saw how he raised Dorcas from the dead, and we read how people were healed by his shadow falling on them.
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was also anointed by God. One night while he was preaching, a man fell out the window and broke his neck. Paul wasn’t worried, he just raised him back up! The anointing on their lives affected the people around them and they ministered as Jesus had.
Today, most ministers are more concerned about the structure of their sermon than they are about the power of God manifesting in their midst. I guess, it’s because we don’t see the move of God in such a magnificent way.
But just for a moment, let’s pretend that the Bible is true when it said that God never changes and He would never leave us. If that is true, then we should see miracles taking place in our lives. We should actually expect God to move in our services and to see healings, miracles, and breakthroughs! As God is calling people into ministry, He is anointing them to do the same things that happened in the Bible, if we can believe it. Maybe not in the same way, or to the same degree, but things should happen when we pray because God has also anointed us!
It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.Isaiah 10:27 NKJV
God spoke to His people in the book of Isaiah. He told them that the hand of the enemy would not be against them for long because the day was coming when He would take the burden off of their shoulders. The day was coming when the yoke would be removed off their neck. Their sins had led them to a place of bondage, but God promised them that when the yoke was removed from their neck, the anointing oil would destroy the yoke. So not only would He make sure the yoke was removed, but the anointing would see to it, that the yoke was destroyed!
As His anointed people, we are to be His hands removing the yoke off of people lives, and then walking in the anointing enough to have it released into the lives of others so that the yoke is destroyed. A yoke that is removed can be taken up again, but a yoke that has been destroyed has no more power in it!
In these last days, we will need a lot of things moving forward to fulfill the call and the purpose on our lives. But one thing we cannot afford to be without is God’s anointing! It should be said of us, “how God anointed His people and they went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, because God was with them!” I don’t know about you, but I want to be used by God and want to allow His anointing to flow through me as it flowed through Jesus and the saints in the book of Acts! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 