Anointed

Well, I must say, I wasn't as impressed by the second episode of "The Bible" as I was the first.  There were a couple things that bothered me, but I won't get into them here.  I'm not sure if I like the fact that God's angels and His army often remind me of Ninjas - or if that bothers me.  I guess I just have never pictured angels looking and acting like Ninjas before.  Who knew?!?

Instead of Ninjas, however, I've decided to focus on the anointing of the Kings.  The prophet Samuel anoints both Saul and David as king of God's chosen people by pouring thick oil upon their foreheads.  This oil, which is depicted to look like thick honey, drips down Saul and David's faces (until you are afraid it's going to get in their eyes).  When we look at deeper into the culture and context of the Story, we find that the anointing of oil is the way in which someone was set apart and chosen by God.  Instead of crowning a king at a ceremony, Hebrew kings were anointed with sacred oil, perfumed with expensive spices.

I am currently reading a book by Lois Tverberg, my newest favorite author.  "Sitting at the Feet of Jesus" looks at how the Jewishness of Jesus can transform our faith - and I'm fascinated.  I read only a couple of nights ago about Kings being anointed with oil.  Lois explains that this expensive oil would only have been used for consecrating objects in the temple and for anointing kings and priests; it would have been more valuable than diamonds.  And the scent of the oil, left behind after being poured out, would have acted like an "invisible crown," conferring an aura of holiness on its recipients.  In the ancient Middle East, royalty was not only expressed by outer garments, as in jewelry and fine robes, but always by majestic "aroma" as well.

We don't often think about the smells of the Bible - but ponder with me a moment.  In Biblical times, the people did not have hot showers in the morning, nor did they even bathe often for water was scarce.  There was no deodorant, and Israel can be a hot place.  No fabric softener to scent the smell of their robes, no scented shampoo or conditioner that would linger in their hair.  There was no Bath and Body Works to provide yummy-smelling soap, lotion, body spray or hand sanitizer.  I can only imagine most of the smells that the people of that day smelled were not pleasant.  But there was this fragrant oil, expensive and sacred.  When you caught a whiff of it in their air, you would know that there was a king nearby, or someone who belonged to God in a special way.

The Hebrew word for Messiah is Mashiach, which mean "the Anointed One."  Christos, or Christ, is the Greek equivalent.  Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came to be the Anointed One.

As we look back on the week before His arrest and crucifixion, we see Mary, a devoted disciple using her hair to cover the feet of Jesus with this same kind of expensive, perfumed oil.  Although this act of devotion also points us to His burial at the end of the week, we can glean deeper significance from this holy anointing.  Mary may very well have been making a statement about who she believed Jesus was - Messiah and King.

The fragrant oil would have clung to Jesus for days.  While He sat with His disciples for the Last Supper, the aroma of the oil would have filled the air.  While Jesus prayed at the Garden of Gethsemane and when he stood before the officers who came to arrest Him, Jesus would have smelt of royalty.  Throughout his trial, and while being mocked and beaten, the aroma of Jesus, King of the Jews, would have been apparent to all nearby.

The aroma of Christ.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphant procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.  For we are to God the aroma of Christ [The Anointed One]..." (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)

We, too, are called to share this fragrant, holy aroma with Christ - anointed with oil in baptism.  My favorite part of baptizing babies is watching my pastor use oil to make the sign of the cross of the on the child's small forehead and hear him say, "You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever."  As children of God, we share in this anointing with the greatest "Anointed One" of all time.  And this anointing is with us, wherever we may go.

May we live that way.  May we go into the world knowing that we are kings and queens, inside and out.  May we be the aroma of Christ, the Anointed - bringing hope, light and love to a hurting (and often stinky) world.