God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day
to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.
Oh tidings of comfort and joy!
Our Christ has come! The Greek word Christos, which we’ve translated as Christ, literally means Anointed One. Jesus, the Anointed One, has come.
A key ingredient in the sacred anointing oil used at the temple was myrrh, the very gift that the wise men gave to Jesus when they visited the one the star had led them to see. This holy oil was only to be used on priests—those in service to God—not on “ordinary people.”1 (Exodus 30:22-33) Did the wise men know they were offering the anointing oil to the Anointed One? What does it mean to be the Anointed One, the Christ?
Only two types of people were anointed: priests, as mentioned above, and kings. Jesus was anointed as both our high priest2 (Hebrews 5:5-10) and our king3 (Matthew 2:2). To what purpose was Jesus anointed as king and high priest?
When Jesus first starts His ministry, recorded in Luke 4, He reads from Isaiah 61:1-2 and 42:7.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
Jesus, the Christ, came to set all things right and to free us from being bound by sin and Satan’s power. This truly is something in which we can take comfort and joy. Jesus Christ was born to save us all from Satan’s power while we were still blind from sin. As our high priest, He offered the ultimate sacrifice to atone for our sins once and for all. As our king, He leads us into an everlasting peace, and His perfect kingdom will never cease. He is our high priest and our king forever.
Lord, I pray that we may remember the hope we have in the Anointed One beyond this Christmas season and in our daily lives. May we put Christ on the throne as our king, and may we go to Christ as our priest in our trials. Thank you for rescuing us from sin and leading us in the way everlasting. To you be all glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
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1. Exodus 30:22-33-- The Lord said to Moses, “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, 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 testimony, 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 and its stand. You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”
2. Hebrews 5:5-10-- So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
3. Matthew 2:2-- saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”