There's a ritual in the Bible
involving fragrant plants
and spices that make a rich oil to pour
on special objects or people.
This is called anointing oil
and its meaning is rooted
in the story of the garden of Eden,
where God provided water for the dry land
and formed the human, filling him with his Spirit.
This is the first anointing.
The oil is a liquid symbol.
It's the water of life
and God's Spirit combined together used to mark a person
or a place as a bridge between Heaven and Earth.
During his wilderness exile, Jacob had a dream.
He sees a stairway leading up to Heaven.
When he wakes, he anoints the stone on which he slept
and called the place, "House of God,"
A place where Heaven and Earth are one.
The Israelites built the tabernacle in the wilderness.
When it was completed, they anointed the tent with oil,
marking it as a place where God's heavenly presence
has come down to Earth.
Israel's priests and their kings were anointed
with oil to set them apart as leaders,
to mediate God's heavenly wisdom to the world.
But they rejected God's wisdom.
They led with violence, leading to ruin and exile.
Their failure created hope for the ultimate anointed one.
One anointed, not merely with oil,
but with water and Spirit—not merely a bridge to Heaven,
but Heaven itself come to Earth.
This is Jesus Christ.
More than a name,
Christ is a title.
It means "anointed one," the new human,
the ultimate priest, the cosmic king—
God's heavenly life coming
into our world in a new way,
a surprising way.
And after Jesus rose from the dead, he spread his anointing
out into the world through his followers,
Christians, from the word "christ,"
anointed ones who follow the anointed one,
people marked by God's Spirit so that more
and more of Earth can be filled with the life of Heaven.