The Anointed One

According to the Bible Dictionary, Messiah is an "Aramaic word meaning the anointed." The Greek equivalent of Messiah is the Christ. Messiah or Christ is a title referring to the office of the King or High Priest. In Old Testament times, kings were anointed to their office by a prophet and priests were also anointed with oil when they were called to the office of priest.

I know I wrote a little about Christ's role as the King the other day, but today, I want to be a little more specific about His authority. He is the King, the Messiah, the High Priest, the Anointed One. Again, from the Bible Dictionary, I learned that being the Anointed One means "he is the one anointed of the Father to be his personal representative in all things pertaining to the salvation of mankind."

Knowing that Christ is a title clarifies this testimony given by Peter:

"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

"And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

"He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:13-16).

It is a testimony that is repeated many times in the New Testament. It is significant that Jesus introduces himself using this title. "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world" (3 Nephi 11:10).

He was the Messiah the people were waiting and looking for. He has the authority from His Father to do all the things He did on the earth. Christ spoke of His anointing by quoting the prophet Isaiah:

"And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

"To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

"And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

"And he began to say unto them, This day is this scriptures fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:17-21).

In quoting Isaiah, Christ outlines some of the many things He has been given authority over. Preaching the gospel, healing, redeeming the dead, and performing the Atonement were things Christ did, not just because He was kind and knew they were important, but because He was anointed and given the responsibility, the stewardship, for our salvation.

In our church, priesthood authority and keys are vital to understanding how the church is organized and how it functions. Everything we do, we do through the proper priesthood channels. We do this in our church because it is God's way. He called and anointed His Son to perform the mission of the Savior.

I know this is a very basic explanation of a very important principle of the gospel. I know there is a lot more to it than what I've written tonight. I also know that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Chosen, the Anointed One. He received His authority from God the Father. And I know that His authority makes all the difference.