Another scripture that is closely related
to John 3:2 is Acts 10:38, which adds information about Christ’s priesthood
mission. The two scriptures are tied together by the concept that God was with
Christ. Here is Acts 10:37-38, which records what Peter said to a group of
Gentiles or non-Israelites – “That word, I say, ye know, which was published
throughout all Judæa, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John
preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the
devil; for God was with him.” This passage reiterates that “God was with”
Jesus, so it is talking about Christ’s priesthood ministry. The anointing that
God gave Jesus imparted two things – the Holy Ghost and power, which shows how
closely connected the Holy Ghost is to priesthood power. We also learn that
Christ’s priesthood ministry included going “about doing good”. Moroni 7:24 provides
information about the scriptural definition of ‘good’ – “… and all things which
are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good
thing come unto them.” If it weren’t for Christ and his power and ministry, men
would remain in their fallen state and not receive anything good. So the word ‘good’
means something that reverses the effects of the fall or brings men out of their
fallen state into a saved or redeemed state. When the scripture says that Jesus
went “about doing good”, it means that he went about bringing men out of their
fallen state into a saved state, which is consistent with our definition of
priesthood.
In Acts 10:38, we learn that another
aspect of Christ’s priesthood ministry included “healing all that were
oppressed of the devil”. The ‘oppression of the devil’ is a good description of
the devil’s power, false priesthood, and work. The ultimate work of the devil
is to “encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down to
everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.” (Alma 12:6).
The dark priesthood of the devil stands in opposition to the priesthood of God,
although the devil tries to mimic God’s priesthood as much as possible. The
apostle John adds this about Christ vs. the devil – “He that committeth sin is
of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the
Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (1
John 3:8). Who hasn’t been exposed to the oppression of the devil? Essentially,
all of us have been. Who then needs Christ to heal them from the oppression of
the devil? Everyone does. What are the wounds resulting from the oppression of
the devil? Some that come to mind include pride, jealousy, one-time acts of
sinful behavior, addiction to sinful behavior, many forms of depression, broken
families, anger, hate, fear, shame, despair, and getting stuck on traumatic experiences
from the past. Christ can and does heal all of those and more. That is the
essence of his “Christ-hood”. The angel who spoke to King Benjamin said it this
way – “And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the
hearts of the children of men.” (Mosiah 3:6).
The title ‘Christ’ is a Greek word
meaning anointed, which is equivalent to the Hebrew word-title ‘Messiah’. Anciently,
men were anointed to receive priesthood – “And thou shalt anoint [the sons of
Aaron] … that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their
anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their
generations.” (Exodus 40:15). A man who is anointed is given a priesthood
mission. Acts 10:38 described what Jesus was anointed to do. The only other passage
of scripture that I know of that explicitly describes what Jesus was anointed
to do is found in Isaiah 61 [with my comments in brackets]:
1) The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the
meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
[My summary of this verse is
that Jesus was anointed to teach and heal, which aligns with John 3:2 and Acts
10:38, which we looked at above]
2) To proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that
mourn;
[One aspect of Jesus’ anointed
mission is to comfort, or give strength to, those who mourn, or who have been
wounded by the oppression of the devil; the next verse describes how he
comforts and heals]
3) To appoint unto them that
mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called
trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
[From an emotional standpoint,
Jesus heals our mourning and our heaviness and in place gives us joy and
praise; that healing includes being washing off ashes, anointed with oil,
clothed in “holy garments” (Exodus 28:2), and given the name of “tree of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord”; the result is that the Lord is
glorified because his work and glory are to bring to pass the eternal life of
man, which is what he is working towards in this verse]
4) And they shall build the old
wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the
waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
[Even as Jesus was anointed to
teach, heal, and comfort, he anoints us to work with him under his priesthood
mission to help build, raise up and repair those who have not yet been healed
from the oppression of the devil]
5) And strangers shall stand and
feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your
vinedressers.
[The verse adds information
about the mission of those who are comforted by Jesus – they will feed the
flocks, or feed the sheep of strangers (think of Jesus’ instruction to Peter
found in John 21:15-17 to “feed my sheep”; that instruction to Peter was a
priesthood injunction), and they will also become plowmen and vinedressers – my
understanding of being a plowman is someone who raises wheat and then makes
bread and being a vinedresser is someone who raises grapes and makes wine, and
both bread and wine are symbols of the atonement, so these people are bringing
the blessings of the atonement to “strangers” and “aliens”]
6) But ye shall be named the
Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat
the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
[Two more names or identities
are given – “The Priests of the Lord” and “Ministers of our God”; both of those
names describe what Christ intends you to become after he has fully healed you
or made you whole]
As stated by Peter in Acts 10:38, right after Jesus was
baptized, he was anointed by God with the Holy Ghost to heal all who were
oppressed of the devil. Soon after Jesus was baptized and anointed, he went to
the wilderness in order to fast for 40 days. At the end of those 40 days he
returned to his hometown of Nazareth. While attending a meeting at the local
synagogue, he “stood up for to read” (Luke 4:16). He read what we know as
Isaiah 61:1-2. Then he sat down and said “This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears.” (Luke 4:21). Based on his recent baptism and anointing, he
likely understood that the passage in Isaiah 61 about being anointed to preach,
heal and deliver was fulfilled when he was baptized and “the Holy Ghost
descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him.” (Luke 3:22). Therefore, Acts
10:38 and Isaiah 61 refer to the same spiritual anointing that Jesus received
right after being baptized. Also, it seems that the Jewish people at the time
of Jesus understood that Isaiah 61 was a prophecy and description of the coming
Messiah, or anointed one. When Jesus declared that he was the Messiah and the
fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, the people knew very well what he was saying.
They didn’t believe him. In fact, they thought he was insane, or worse, so they
“were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led
him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might
cast him down headlong.” (Luke 4:28-29). Keep in mind that this was likely the
first time that Jesus publicly announced that he was The Messiah.
Jesus was originally anointed to his priesthood mission
at the pre-mortal council in heaven. The anointing he received there was
actually an anointing of light and was accompanied with the reception of a new
name. (Oil happens to be a symbol of the light of the Holy Ghost.) Lehi saw
this event in vision as recorded in 1 Nephi 1:
8) … [Lehi] saw the heavens
open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with
numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their
God.
[This scene is the pre-mortal
council in heaven. The numberless angels are the spirits of those who would
eventually come to earth. In the book of Job this same scene is described in
this way – “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). God the Father sat in the middle of the council
with everyone circled around him.]
9) And it came to pass that he
saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster
was above that of the sun at noon-day.
[The being that Lehi saw
descending out of the middle of heaven had been with God the Father in the
middle of the giant circle. He had just been anointed with light because his
luster brighter than the noon-day sun and it was the reason that the morning
stars or numberless concourses of angels were shouting and singing. He had
received the name of ‘One’ in connection with his anointing of light, a name
that was revealed to the ancient Israelites, “The Lord our God is one Lord”
(Deuteronomy 6:4), and that he would refer to during the great intercessory
prayer, “that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:22).]
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