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The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, tells us that Jesus turned to His disciples and asked: "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (v. 13 NIV).
They answered, "Some say You're John the Baptist, who was raised from the dead; others say You're Elijah or Jeremiah or some other great prophet."
Then He asked them an incredible
question.
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" (v. 15 NIV).
It doesn't matter what your preacher or some theologian may say about Who Jesus is. All that matters is what you say about Him.
I like Peter's answer: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (v. 16 NIV).
Jesus is the Christ!
Glory to God! But what does that mean?
The Anointed One
The word Christ means "anointed" - one anointed to break every yoke of bondage. Jesus was and is anointed to break every yoke of bondage. (see Isaiah 10:27)
Luke 4 gives the account of Jesus going to Nazareth on the Sabbath day and standing up in the synagogue
to read from the book of Isaiah:
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
"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."
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
(Luke 4: 17-21 NIV)
Jesus was boldly saying to them, "I am anointed to break every yoke!"
Jesus was the anointed One the book of Isaiah was describing! Acts 10:38 says: "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power (KJV)."
Holy Ghost Power
Jesus had the Holy Spirit, and He had power. The word power in the
Greek is dunamis. We get our word "dynamite" from that word. Jesus was anointed with Holy Ghost dynamite inside Himself!
Jesus - the Christ, the Son of the living God - was anointed by God to break every yoke of bondage. He was anointed to cast out devils, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers and open the eyes of the blind. When did
He become anointed to do all these things?
Matthew 3:16 tells us how it happened. After Jesus stepped into the river Jordan and was baptized by John, then: "...heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him." (NIV)
The Holy Spirit came down and lit on Jesus, and at that moment,
Jesus was anointed! He was given the power to be armed and dangerous against the devil!
Jesus vs. the devil
Luke 7:11-15 shows us an example of Jesus exercising His authority over the devil. As Jesus and His disciples were walking into a city, a funeral procession was leaving. The devil had stolen the life of a widow
woman's only son, leaving her brokenhearted. But Jesus didn't put up with the devil and his operations!
As the funeral procession moved along, the mourners cried and wailed, but Jesus didn't join in with them. He was ready to demonstrate His power over the devil. He stopped that procession and walked over to the casket. Reaching
down, He grabbed hold of that boy and said to him, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" (Luke 7:14 NIV).
At that very moment, life came back into that boy's body! Then Jesus presented him to his mother, as if to say, "Mama, here's your boy!"
Jesus, anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, was armed and dangerous to fight
the devil!
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