Anointed and Sent

Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me
to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." NKJV

Jesus was not only anointed to preach but sent out to heal, proclaim, liberate, and recover that which was lost. Jesus went about doing good and healing all.

Acts 10:38 “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” NKJV

Now God is with us to do the same.

Matt 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." NKJV

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." NKJV

Acts 1:8 describes a pattern of going or being sent out. As we begin to proclaim the good news close to home, our influence will increase and reach even to all the earth.

As Jesus gained influence, people searched for Him and large crowds followed after Him.
The demand upon Him was so great that, at times, Jesus had to find a place of solitude to rest and commune with His Father.

Jesus speaks with authority and the people are astonished.

Matthew 7:28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. NKJV

The people were used to listening to the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees who, evidently, didn’t leave much of an impression. Jesus was and is the living word of God who was made flesh and dwelled among them. Jesus was not just speaking the word of God, He was living it. If our lives are not doing the words that we preach, one cancels out the other. Like two witnesses in a courtroom who have conflicting testimonies, one will cancel out the other. Jesus lived perfectly in sync with His speech, therefore the people both saw and heard two witnesses that agreed and they were convinced of the truth.

Those who have authority are also under authority. Jesus only said what He heard His Father saying. He did nothing of His own accord but was in agreement with His Father.

John 12:49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. NKJV


Matthew 8:5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! NKJV

The centurion understood authority and immediately recognized the authority of Jesus. The great faith Jesus recognized in the centurion was also a type of authority: the ability to speak a word or command that causes the things that are not seen to appear. (See Hebrews 11:3) The centurion could speak and those under his authority would complete his words. God spoke and the worlds were framed. I believe that people who are not in submission to the authority structures established by God will have a hard time receiving from Him. The centurion had authority because he was submitted to higher authorities. He understood the chain of command, that his authority was from a higher source. He saw that Jesus had authority to speak and command sickness to go.

Jesus said that the centurion’s faith was greater than He had seen in all Israel. Again, I believe that was because the Jews were more apt to question Jesus’ authority than they were to submit to it. The religious people, especially, saw themselves as God’s authority and Jesus as an imposter. When the centurion spoke, his soldiers obeyed. When God spoke, the elements of all creation fell into place, but when He spoke to Israel, they would not hear Him. Faith hears and responds to the word of God and leads to authority.

Being anointed is only half of the picture: the other half is being sent. Jesus was sent with the authority of His Father. We have received an anointing and have also been sent to do the works that He did. In John 12:44, Jesus said that if we believe on Him, we believe on the one who sent Him. The two are one and cannot be separated.

John 14:12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. NKJV

There is no denying it: those who believe on Jesus also believe on the Father and have been anointed, and sent, to do the same works He did; and even greater works shall we do.